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Everything you always wanted to know about France |
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Number 94 - January 7 2005
France Voila, the newsletter and weblog from Rentals France and the French Property Digest. You will only receive it if we have been given your email from one of our websites and asked for more information. In this issue... 1. Wheelchair-Friendly Home Wanted 2. Read the Small print - even if it is in French 3. The Secret of Life 4. Another ten, on stone tablets 5. Nizas to Montblac - why we left Paradise Again my mailbag is full of questions about buying property in France. This newsletter is mostly a cross section of these and my replies. A lot of this interest is from people who have been encouraged to look at France for a lifestyle or investment and have read on the Internet that properties can be bought in France for a few thousand euro and sold or rented for vast profits. Like mushrooms, paid subscription only sites and online publications which offer "expert" advice and opinions on property, are popping up all over the place. I could buy a villa here for the price of subscribing to them all for a month. Like most investments, property experts can only tell you what happened yesterday, no one in the world can tell you what is going to happen tomorrow. Yes it is true that if you bought property in some places in France five or six years ago you could sell them for ten times the price today - I know this is true - I did it, but at the time, although I thought property was undervalued, not one of the people I recommended to do the same took my advice, not one bank or investment company would lend me a brass farthing. Anyone can be a millionaire if they could go back in time. When I did buy the small portfolio we now have in France, we were often told we would never get our money back - now we are told "aren't you lucky". The point I am trying to make is that all these investment advisors and property experts are mostly frauds and opportunists inviting you to play "find the lady" or selling you a diamond ring for 5 euro. If they really knew what they were talking about, they certainly would not waste their time writing about it and selling subscriptions to their hyped newsletters for a living. I know there are bargains, opportunities and fantastic deals to be done - everywhere - but nothing beats hard work, dedicated research and a lot of luck. Another misconception is that the South of France is an all year round warm climate - it is not, the winter months are cold and central heating is an important feature of life. Orange trees are rare and palm trees in most places will have to be wrapped up in winter to survive. There are some micro-climates which are good for mimosa, palm, and peach trees, and overall the climate is pleasant and healthy, but fur coats, gloves and regular visits to the bar for a brandy are important. ======= 1. Wheelchair Friendly Home Wanted Dear Tony I would like to set up a dialogue with someone in the Real Estate Business in France. I know that there are significant differences in the way the process is conducted there as opposed to the process in the U.S. I have been examining the possibility of buying a small house in Languedoc or one of the departments as far south and east as possible, mainly for the warm weather. Based on my limited knowledge it appears that Languedoc and environs would be the place to achieve that end. Looking at web-sites can be helpful but they can also make you crazy, never enough information, just enough to get your interest and no easy vehicle to get more. I have a unique situation, which may be more of a chore than you wish to take on, If it is out of your purview please let me know and I will understand. My partner is a stroke victim and wheelchair bound. I need a one story house, villa or reconditioned barn. It may have a small plot of land or not. Some outside access i.e. patio etc. would be great. A small two story would work as long as there is a bedroom, shower and toilet on the ground floor. Steps to and from the ground floor are a problem. I need room to park a car close by the entrance. I would like the location to be close enough to enable me to push a wheelchair to whatever shops or services might be available. I can't afford to go over Eu. 125,000. I can pay cash but may elect to get a mortgage for the sake of liquidity. Travel for us is not the easiest thing to do. I would be willing to buy "sight unseen" as long as the information were complete, and there were enough photos to give me a real idea of the property and location. That idea is appalling to most people, but..... If this is more of a challenge than you are up to, let me know. I would still like to keep in touch and will hold on to your E-mail address. As you can see without a lot of help this will be almost an impossible task to accomplish from here. If you choose to stay involved, please be on the lookout for something close. I will look at everything and will keep an open mind and respond honestly. Sincerely, Fred === Hello Fred Many thanks for you mail. I am happy to share my experience of our region with you. If a warm climate is important then you must realise that winters in Languedoc are not warm but can be cold. Not freezing usually, but this morning it was -3 centigrade on the school run and our central heating is at full blast this evening and has been since we moved in the beginning of November last year. This is for up to 5 months of the year. July and August on the other hand can be very hot, high 30s centigrade. Overall it is a very healthy climate. Near us the property you describe would cost a minimum of 200,000 euro. Last year we seriously considered a very nice place, a bit larger than you describe in your mail, the price was 275,000 euro and in my opinion this was at least 60,000 under its value. For 125,000 euro you would only find a selection of village properties or small town houses with accommodation on the first floor and no garden or outside areas. Legal and taxation costs plus agent fees can add from 8,000 to 12,000 to this price Further inland property prices are cheaper in remoter areas, but winters are much colder. However everything is possible, the are some developments of small units in the region and, I am sure you will get responses - please feel free to keep in touch and, yes, I will keep my eye open for anything which I think would be of interest. Best wishes Tony ======= ======= 2. Read the Small print - even if it is in French Hello Tony I thought I would let you know about this as it may well pay for gite owners who do not live on site to ensure they are covered. A friend recently had their kitchen flooded when a storm drain burst. It is a maison secondaire and used for occasional rental and friends and family. The insurance company have refused to pay out the £4000 for the repairs (the whole kitchen floor, cupboards, appliances were ruined). This is because in the terms of their insurance contract was a small clause advising that the property must be checked at least every 30 days whilst vacant. When asked by the insurance company if they had someone who did monthly security checks they replied "no", even though they had a keyholder for emergencies. As a result the insurance co have flatly refused to pay any compensation. A hard lesson and a costly one. It would therefore be prudent to advise all property owners to ensure they have either a friend or employ someone to check their properties monthly - a small outlay could save thousands. Best regards Linda ======= 3. The Secret of Life An unpleasant aspect of property in France, probably everywhere, is the way builders and developers inflate prices for the building work. According to Marcia in the Snoopy cartoon strip, the secret of life is "Charge What The Traffic Will Bear", so finding an influx of inexperienced buyers, builders have doubled or trebled construction prices in the last five years. A good friend often tells me, "A tile costs the same in London as it does in Abergavenny" material costs and labour costs have not increased dramatically in the last five years, but the quotes for building for Brits or Americans seems to be double that for some French people here. Another trick is for the developer to buy prime building land and then offer to sell plots on the condition they do the building, beware of this ploy as they demand a quick contract for a bargain parcel of land and then inflate the building price to make the development double the normal cost overall. here is a recent mail on this === Hi Tony Congratulations on a very informative and interesting newsletter (yet again). I was particularly interested in the letter from Michael re: remodelling property in France. We have just purchased a plot of land and are in the process of designing a house. You mention that it can be 5 to 15 times more expensive to remodel than to build new; do you have any ball park figures re: new building costs per square metre. I realise these can vary enormously with design, layout, location etc. but some of the figures mentioned to us (even at this early stage) seem exorbitant and much, much higher than the UK. Would appreciate any info. Kind regards Bev === Hello Bev Fully finished fitted and painted not including land (keys in your hand) not including land costs. A basic property should cost from 650 to 800 euro per square meter,. A luxury property from 1200 euro per square meter There is no upper limit of course Hope this helps Tony === Cheers Tony, yes this very much does help! We have been quoted upwards of 1200 euro per square metre for a very straightforward property (rectangle shape with simple roof structure) so will definitely be shopping around. Thanks so much. Kind regards Bev ======= 4. Another ten, on stone tablets I have had several long mail exchanges recently, Michael, a property developer from the US is evaluating investments in France and several other countries. From our mails I have summed up some of the points in a few maxims for property investors - here they are 1. There is a direct relationship between stress and gain 2. The "Garbage In, Garbage Out" maxim is as true for property location as for software development (and possibly for all business ventures) buy in a bad area and it will be a property in a bad area. 3. Luck is the most important business advisor you can have. 4. Local knowledge is the most important property asset 5. Experts get rich on telling you what you should have done, it is invariably too late to follow their advice and impossible to buy anything yesterday. 5. A gut feeling often comes before indigestion. 7. Follow your heart. Michael added... 8. There is a direct relationship between hope and fear. 9. Luck is also the most elusive helper, and does not advise upon request. But don't complain - things could be a lot worse. 10. There is a saying that "a good hunter doesn't shoot where the duck is, but where it is going to be" ======= 5. Nizas to Montblanc - why we left Paradise A lot of readers, especially those who have stayed with us when we were living in Nizas have asked why we moved from such a perfect and magical place. === Happy New year Tony I wondered what influenced your decision to move from Nizas to Montblanc as we have just purchased a property in Nizas. There seems to be huge development taking place or planned which may adversely affect the character of the village, was this a consideration? Our experience of house purchase has been really mixed; we've met some great people and now have good friends locally. But we could write a book about the intransigence of the 'local' builder and his lack of understanding when it comes to customer service. Some people who bought from this 'likeable' person are still waiting for him to complete building works up to 2 years later. I won't mention his name as I'm sure you will know him, or his reputation! He certainly won't be selling his properties to any of our friends or acquaintances now they've heard of our experiences. If any of your readers would like to gain knowledge from our experience of buying a home in France I would be happy to let them know who not to deal with and what not to do. Hindsight is a wonderful thing! Of course, when it comes to 'black' money this could be a complete chapter at least. If this money was declared just think what the French government could do, perhaps reduce the overall tax burden! But it is endemic and part of the way of life in France. I hope you can reassure us that our experience is not general and that Nizas is a good place to live. We wish you happiness in your new home and look forward to hearing how you and your family settle in to the village Regards Maggie === Hello Maggie We had 10 happy years in Nizas, we sold and moved for several reasons, the main one was someone offered a price I could not refuse. The second is we have a grown-up family wanting a larger town closer to activities, the third and possibly most important is that having the money to buy a larger property means we could look for a home with separate, independent ground floor accommodation so my Mother can live with us. Having signed to sell, we did not have anywhere to live, we then found this home in Montblanc which offers more than we could have wished for and is wonderful. Just as we have changed, Nizas also has changed a lot in ten years. If we were looking for a new home today I doubt we would consider the sort of village life Nizas offers. But this is no reflection on Nizas, we have wonderful friends there and will often return to see them. The landowners and "clique" running Nizas are making more millions from property sales now than wine, it was ever thus, "plus ca change". Your comments about the builder are normal for all builders in France - I know of very few who actually finish a job, ever. His work is of the highest quality, and price, likeable is not a word I would ever use about him, I refused to use him 10 years ago and we have been opposed ever since. This is not a loss as I believe he has the intellect of a snail and the manners of an ape. The "black" economy is a sad reflection on French attitudes to business - if you work for yourself, the only way to make a living is to be dishonest or, even better, be totally unemployed (and dishonest). I must admit our aim is not to settle into the village, but to settle into our home. Our family life has been spent mostly in France, our children are French, I doubt we will be a part of the "social scene" any more than the average person living in the UK . Wishing you health and happiness in your home. Tony |
