6 excellent reasons to work with SOFIME

In the first few months, an unaccompanied employee will spend about 30 to 50% of his working day trying to sort out their relocation by themselves (looking for appropriate areas where to find a home, looking for the actual potential home, wasting time in visits that are unlikely to be satisfactory for want of knowing the market well enough, sorting any paperwork related to the relocation…).

30 to 50% of time wasted on relocation issues… Isn’t that a lot especially for highly-paid employees?

All this without mentioning expensive hotel nights paid for by the employee’s company.

By working with SOFIME Relocation, businesses will:
- provide their employees with a positive relocation experience, at once hassle-free, smooth and comforting when one is away from home
- guarantee the worker’s efficiency at work and avoid any risk of failure: rather having to worry about their personal settling-in, and struggle in the relocation process, your employee will able to properly focus their work and be 100% dedicated to their professional mission
- limit and when possible avoid hotel expenditures
- relieve RH workload: your employees won’t need to come to you any time they have a relocation-related issue. We will be their main point of contact to sort out any everyday life issue they might have

By working with SOFIME Relocation, individuals will:
- do more efficient and better targeted visits, thereby saving much precious time and energy
- avoid having to transit via a hotel or a temporary furnished apartment, before properly settling-in and finally starting to feel at home in France
- speed up the integration process (understanding the French system quicker, being coached to handle it better, learning French and meeting the local French who will help you feel at home wherever you settle)
- get quick solutions for any issue they might face thanks to our wide expert network
- be less likely to endure stress and family tensions

Companies and employees rely on us and often wonder, and quite understandably so, whether the relocation company they have decided to work with, will be able to find the right accommodation in due time, and whether all their questions and worries will be properly answered.

Let our clients be reassured: we do not charge any money until the accommodation contract has been signed. In other words, we only get paid as and when our clients have chosen the home that suits them and signed the rental contract.

Serving our clients' interests are our sole purpose:
- Accommodation visits are not limited. There are as many as needs be. Our clients are therefore not forced to pick a place out of pure necessity. It is of foremost important that they should also like what they have chosen and feel they can be quite at home there.

- We may also negotiate for rental contracts to start at specific date that will be convenient to our clients, and we even sometimes negotiate the pirce for the rent when it seems excessive.

Payment only if we succeed in our mission: this is how much guarantee we give you of our dedication !

Efficient customer service and on-going support

SOFIME Relocation helps expats or inpats to find a solution to every possible issue they might experience in everyday life.

We are available Mondays to Fridays during working hours for any of your queries during your first few weeks in France.

Examples of areas we’ve already covered:
- from a simple to a more technical question about like in France and with the French
- looking home employees (homecleaner, gardener, cook, baby-sitter…)
- looking for a plumber, electrician, decorator, painter etc…
- looking for a dog-sitter
- helping with various paperwork

Our support aims at making your professional relocation as successful as you can hope for.
 

Sophie, founder of SOFIME Relocation :

« I started my professional life as a Marketing consultant in a consulting agency ; a few years later I joined one of the foremost international consulting agencies specialized in recruiting highly-qualified managers worldwide and worked as a “head hunter”. Anxious to broaden my professional spectrum and expertise, I qualified as a housing engineer. My master’s degree in hand, I was able to move on to my new career as a housing professional. After working for a while for a promoter, I decided it was time for me to start my own housing and relocation business.

A people’s person, with excellent interpersonal and organisational skills, always anxious to provide the best service and nourishing a true passion for housing, I created SOFIME RELOCATION in 2007.

Together with my team and partners, we support each of our clients from A to Z during their relocation process. We show our clients the same dedication as if they were our own family : from looking for the relevant home to dealing with school formalities, while doing our level best to enable a smooth integration process, we find the right solution for each and everyone.
Perseverance, reactivity and efficiency have been our guidelines since 2007 and have allowed us to meet our clients’ most specific needs."
 

Our clients confirm it…

Laure Bomy - the General Manager of Fédération Nationale des Boissons
« I have been impressed with Sophie’s efficiency and the quality of her services. Right from the first moment I met her, I felt I was in good hands. The first few questions she asked me, her perfect knowledge of the housing market, along with her genuine desire to have her client satisfied …all this was very reassuring. What seemed inaccessible before became like a dream come true : in less than 3 months, our appartment was found : the choice of places we visited was faultless, very well targeted and Sophie proved extremely flexible and reactive even though my schedule and profile were both quite difficult to manage. So all I want to say is “BRAVO, Sophie and THANK YOU one more time ! »

Fabrice S.
The CEO of a software company
We relocated from Dubai to France (Yvelines) in summer 2010.
With Sophie we were able to start refining our requirements while still in Dubai. Once in France we had only a few days to find a house to rent but Sophie was able to show us a good number of houses and apartments in a very efficient manner. She was very committed and also very helpful with all the paperwork. She definitely made our arrival in France much easier than we expected.

Raziye
A Manager relocated in Paris
- « It was very easy to communicate with Sophie even when she was on holiday ! As soon as she came back, and within 4 days, we found an apartment which respected my requirements: Sophie had scheduled 3 visits but I loved the very first place we visited : a brand-new studio rented from a private owner who happened to be extremely friendly ! Sophie looked after every single detail and sorted everything for me, including opening the electricity contract…I had nothing to do apart from signing the renting contract. Stay the way you are and work Sophie and again…thank you !»
 

Pierre I.
A Manager who moved back to Paris after relocating in London
"I resorted to SOFIME’s services to make my apartment search easier to settle back in Paris without too much hassle. I was provided with very efficient help (the visits were scheduled on the same half-day, so no waste of time and the places visited were the right match with what I was looking for). It really helped me save time and energy and it was just what I was hoping for considering my professional requirements.”

Vanessa L.
A Manager who moved from Germany to Paris
As I lived in Germany, I didn’t have much time to look for an appartment in Greater Paris. When I contacted SOFIME Relocation, Sophie Girault proved extremely proactive. During our first phone meeting, she was able to assess my needs and requirements in no time at all. When I came to Paris for the visits, everything was organised to perfection and I was able to visit 10 apartments in the same day, which was at once impressive and very efficient. So to sum up, I’d say Sophie is professional, efficient very friendly. Thank you so much for making my move to Paris smooth and hassle-free!

Nathalie et Jean Pécoul.
Managers in Paris
Our mission was impossible, with very short notice…and yet, 1 month after starting working with Sophie, we’d found our apartment. Sophie, you proved proactive and understanding of our circumstances and you were able to listen to us. You targeted in no time at all just what we were looking for. Despite the fact we had very busy and difficult schedules, you were able to schedule visits in a way that it was efficient for us. I’d like to insist on the fact you were able to listen to us, on your very friendly approach and above all we really appreciated the fact you targeted apartments that were the closest to our requirements. After visiting only 5 apartments, we’d found thanks to you the apartment that was right for us, in the arrondissement where we wanted to live., bearing in mind that we’d given you only 2 possible arrondissements which narrowed down the search considerably and made the mission all the more difficult. You have been able to meet our strict requirements and we can’t thank you enough for your help and support all the way to the moment when we were given the keys to our new home sweet home.
 

In France, our profession has been supervised since 1995 by SNPRM (National Union for Relocation and Mobility Professionals). Its European equivalent is the EARP (European Academy of Relocation Professionals).

SOFIME RELOCATION is a member of SNPRM and is EARP-certified.

Mobili-pass is a subsidiary allowance granted by the State to private businesses of 10+ employees who have subscribed to the 1% housing deal.
Thanks to this financial help, the fees of your relocation agency get partly reimbursed. It consists in a non-refundable allowance and may also be completed with a loan.

The amount varies according to the business’s location. In Paris and Greater Paris, it amounts to 2000€.

To be entitled to this allowance, here are the requirements:
- you should ask for it within the 6 months following the first day of your professional mission,
- you should be able to issue the original papers showing you have resorted to a relocation agency
- your relocation spot should be more than 70km away from where you were based originally and you should be in a rental in the new relocation area.
- you should be an employee with a French contract

The allowance is granted every 2 years maximum per family.

SOFIME will be able to tell you if you are eligible to Mobili-Pass and will apply on your behalf and deal with all the administrative details.