Property Prices in France
May 20, 2010 by tony · Leave a Comment
With a stronger dollar and a weaker euro, interest in buying a home in France is strong. For me, having lived here for 20 years, it is obvious that France, especially Southern France, is the best place to live.
If you are thinking about buying property in France then the first question is – how much does property cost in France. A better question, perhaps is – how much do homes sell for in France.
All French property is sold and valued by the area of usable living space in the main house, not garages or utility rooms, but main rooms, bedrooms, living rooms etc. This is shown as the price per square meter, it does not include the land or outbuildings. This habitable area is very precise and will be shown on the legal documents, tax assessments and all paperwork for a property. All property in France is sold through a Notaire and this price is reported and the cost per square meter is calculated from actual sales made.
There are now a number of websites offering help for you to find the price of French real estate. I have written about pap.fr before they have search form you can identify the cost paid per square meter.
On Facebook today I discovered from a really good blogger PollyVousFrancais another really slick site http://www.meilleursagents.com/ – it even has a mobile app wher you can point your phone at some proeprties in France and get the price properties have sold for in that location.
It is important to stress that these are not valuation or even estimates of the price of a specific property in France – but aggregated figures on historical sales.
The two sites above are OK for a quick snapshot of price indication, but If you are thinking of buying property in France do some deeper research into trends from sites like….
Immoprix
Paris Notaires
National Institute of Statistics and Economic studies
Notexpert
Other sites good for researching data on properties and places in France include….
http://www.lescommunes.com/
http://www.fallingrain.com/world/FR/
The botom line is that any property is only worth what someone is prepare to pay for it – but don’t make the mistake of comparing prices in other countries with prices in France.
A Little Village House
May 22, 2008 by Tony · Leave a Comment
Tony,
OMG, as they say today, some 20 years ago I camethisclose to buying a house in the village of Puilacher, Languedoc. A friend in New York (I’m a Brit who went to NYC in 1970 and worked for The New York Times for 29 years) talked me out of it.
Well, you can imagine how I felt for many years. Until, that is, I went back about 8 or so years ago and saw that a vineyard company, I believe, had kind of taken the village over. However, my lifetime dream has been to live in Languedoc. Don’t know why, but it feels like home.
And you, you lucky *****, are living my dream!!
Is there any chance that a cheap, rundown kind of place might be available, do you know?
This shared ownership thing, which I read about in the NYT (as I’m sure thousands of others did), I’m not really sure about.
Does it really work?
Would love to hear about some place in those lovely hilly villages just west of Pezenas, a place I like a lot.
Oh my, of course I should have acted way back when. But it’s never too late, I guess, even if you are 69, as I am.
Best of everything to you and your family,
I hope to hear,
Terry
==
Hi Terence
I have just been offered a property in St Nazaire – just west of Pezenas – it is a very interesting offer and has masses of potential at a low price 130,000 euro – the village is perfect.
I have not put it on a real estate site yet but you can see the photos at
http://flickr.com/photos/cathar/sets/72157603703148866/
and
http://flickr.com/photos/cathar/sets/72157603707582939/
and a video I use to make notes before writing the details at
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zo_0-C3zh-w
Let me know if this is interesting
Fractional Ownership does work very well and is well established
Hope to see you over here
Best wishes
Tony
==
Hi Tony,
I guess at today’s prices, 130,000 is a low number, but when it comes to renovating the property then the numbers would of course climb substantially.
It is in fact everything I asked for, so no criticism on that score. But on second thoughts, maybe Fractional Ownership might fit my budget, not to mention my age, a bit better.
Oh, and when I said west of Pezenas, I should have said east! That’s the area I spent most of my time in over a number of years, and with which I am more familiar. (The first place I stayed in was Lacoste, up near Clermont-l’Herault).
Thank you for taking the time to bring the St. Nazaire property to my attention, but, as I say, perhaps I should be thinking Fractional Ownership.
Best,
Terence
==
Hi Terence
It will be hard to find anything reasonably comfortable for under 200,000 euro now – you are wise to avoid renovation – it will double the price.
Fractional Ownership is only working effectively in Paris – there may be some offers in Nice soon, but for village homes I do not advise it – prices start now at about 100,000 for one month in a good apartment.
The other option is to buy a place and then sell shares
Hope this helps
best wishes
Tony
New York Times Mentions Me
May 14, 2008 by Tony · Leave a Comment
The New York Times quoted me today about Fractional Ownership – I like their use of the phrase “Group Properties” – The property the mention is one I have visited, if you would like to learn more, please Contact Me
The Future of Realtors in France
In my blog over at New Bricks and Pantiles – I am taking stock about the work I am doing in selling real-estate.
I mention some of the techniques on the Internet which a buyer can use to search for a home and I say this will be soon available online from websites offering these services. Well today it is happening in the USA and every day more cities are added to the system. This post by Trulia shows one super tool agents are beginning to use.
This street mapping is not in France yet, but the writing is on the wall. Unless agents in France get real about their commissions and operate a Multi Listing System, then they will be out of business because no one in their sane mind is going to pay tens of thousands of euro for what can be a few pleasant afternoons on a laptop.
Finding the perfect house should be as easy as sitting in a pleasant cafe, searching through all the listings from compilation websites offering a mashup of agents, owners and mapping services – then with some deductive software and directories, finding the address of the owners, emailing, phoning or skyping the owner (or their keyholder) you select and calling round to look at a property.
You can sort through hundreds of offerings in an afternoon instead of the stressful and wasteful four or five you are offered, often blindfold, by agents in France.
All other “services” offered by agents, mortgages, selecting a Notaire etc, can be done online while you sit by the pool and you can get professional advice and comparisons of rates while your glass is refilled.
The many thousands of euro you save in commissions will more than pay for the five star treatment you are giving yourself and you may still have saved enough to buy a new car.