Le bailleur demande le devis au lieu de chiffrer.

In French, nouns usually need an article. So le bailleur means the landlord / the lessor.

Using just bailleur by itself would usually sound incomplete in a normal sentence unless it appears in a special context such as a heading, label, or dictionary entry.

Bailleur is a fairly formal word. It means the person who rents out a property or grants a lease, so in many contexts it is the landlord or the lessor.

A native speaker might also use propriétaire in some situations, but bailleur is more specifically tied to the legal or rental relationship.

Because the verb demander takes a direct object in French.

So:

• demander quelque chose = to ask for something
• demander à quelqu’un = to ask someone

That means:

• Le bailleur demande le devis = The landlord asks for the quote/estimate

French does not use a preposition like for here the way English often does.

Examples:

• Je demande une facture.
• Elle demande un renseignement.

Not:

• demander pour une facture

Both are possible, but they mean slightly different things.

• un devis = a quote/an estimate, any one quote
• le devis = the quote/the estimate, a specific one already known from the context

So le devis suggests that the speaker and listener already know which estimate is being talked about.

Un devis is a quote, estimate, or cost estimate, especially for work, repairs, or services.

For example:

• demander un devis = to request a quote
• un devis de réparation = a repair estimate

It is very common in business, construction, maintenance, and home repair contexts.

Au lieu de means instead of.

It is followed by:

• a noun: au lieu du café
• an infinitive verb: au lieu de chiffrer

In your sentence:

• au lieu de chiffrer = instead of costing it out / instead of estimating the cost

So the structure is:

• au lieu de + infinitive

Examples:

• Il téléphone au lieu d’écrire.
• Elle part au lieu d’attendre.

Notice that de becomes d’ before a vowel sound:

• au lieu d’attendre

Because au lieu de is a fixed expression. The de is required before an infinitive.

So you say:

• au lieu de chiffrer
• au lieu de partir
• au lieu de répondre

Not:

• au lieu chiffrer

Not exactly in this context.

The verb chiffrer can have several meanings, but here it means something like:

• to put a price on
• to estimate the cost
• to cost out
• to quantify financially

So au lieu de chiffrer means the landlord is asking for a quote rather than calculating or pricing it himself/herself.

This is more specialized than the basic idea of numbers. It is often used in business, construction, or budgeting contexts.

Because after au lieu de, French normally uses an infinitive when the subject stays the same in a general sense.

So:

• au lieu de chiffrer = instead of estimating the cost

It works like English instead of doing something, except French uses de + infinitive here.

If you wanted a full clause with a different subject, you would need a different structure, but in this sentence the infinitive is the normal choice.

Yes.

• demander un devis = to ask someone else for a quote
• chiffrer = to calculate or estimate the amount/cost

So the sentence contrasts two actions:

1. requesting an estimate from someone
2. doing the estimating oneself

That contrast is exactly what au lieu de highlights.

Yes. That would be grammatically correct.

The difference is:

• le devis = a specific estimate already identified
• un devis = an estimate, not yet identified or introduced

So the choice depends on context, not grammar.

This is the normal French order:

subject + verb + object + adverbial/complement

So:

• Le bailleur = subject
• demande = verb
• le devis = direct object
• au lieu de chiffrer = expression explaining the alternative action

French word order is often similar to English here, although the exact structures inside the sentence can differ.

A careful pronunciation would be roughly:

luh bai-yur duh-mahnd luh duh-vee oh lyuh duh shee-fray

A few useful notes:

• bailleur sounds roughly like bai-yeur
• devis is pronounced duh-vee
• au lieu de sounds like oh lyuh duh
• chiffrer ends with the sound -fray

Depending on accent and speaking speed, some vowels may sound more reduced.

It sounds fairly neutral to formal, mostly because of the vocabulary:

• bailleur is more formal/legal than everyday propriétaire
• devis and chiffrer are common in professional or technical contexts

So the sentence would fit well in administrative, rental, repair, or business contexts. It is not slangy or casual.