Free Paris
July 25, 2010, Paris, France: You don't have to spend a lot to enjoy a big experience in the City of Light. Sometimes, you don't even have to spend a little. Some of the best experiences this city has to offer come free.Dear Overseas Opportunity Letter Reader,
For the closing afternoon of our Live & Invest in France Conference this week, we invited our daughter, Kaitlin Yent, 21, who lived in Paris for four years and graduated high school here, to introduce our assembled group to some of the fun things you can do in this city at no cost.
Living here as students, Kaitlin and her friends were motivated to seek out every opportunity to make the most of their Paris experience...while operating on student budgets.
As Kaitlin explained to our group Friday afternoon, she and her friends learned that you don’t have to spend a lot to enjoy a big experience in the City of Light. Sometimes, you don’t even have to spend a little. Some of the best experiences this city has to offer come absolutely free.
For example, Kaitlin explained...
- One day every month and every Bastille Day, most all museums in Paris offer free admission. Every Wednesday, for example, La Maison Européenne de la Photographie (5-7 rue de Fourcy, 75004 Paris; tel. 01-44-78-75-00) and La Fondation Henri Cartier-Bresson (2 impasse Lebouis, 75014 Paris; tel. 01-56-80-27-00) offer free evening admission.
- Every Thursday, galleries in the 3rd, 7th, and 8th arrondissements offer vernissages--that is, free openings with wine. Often, you can often meet the artist or the gallery owner.
- Right now through the end of August, Paris Plage, the beach built from sand trucked to Paris and deposited along the bank of the Seine in the 4th arrondissement, offers free access to riverside fun, live music, games, even free water aerobics (not in the river but in the public swimming pool that’s part of the annual Paris Plage venue).
- You can take a free guided tour of the Fragonard Perfume Museum (Le Musee du Parfum), housed in a Napolean III townhouse.
- Galleries Lafayette, one of this city’s grands magasins, offers free fashion shows every Friday at 3 p.m.
- Several restaurants in the city provide complimentary plates of food when you can order cocktails. In the 11th arrondissement, La Cordonnerie (142 rue Saint-Denis, 75002 Paris; tel. 01-40-28-95-35) offers couscous with your drinks every Thursday and Saturday starting at 8.30 p.m. In the 10th arrondissement, the Tribal Café (3 cour des Petites-Ecuries, 75010 Paris; tel. 01-47-70-57- 08), one of the pioneers of this "formule," serves fried mussels every Wednesday and Thursday from 9 p.m. on, and couscous Friday and Saturday nights.
- Meantime, wineries around the city offer free tastings in the hopes that you will be tempted to buy bottles of your favorites to take home with you. The prestigious Caves Taillevent (199 rue du Faubourg Saint-Honoré, 75008 Paris; tel. 01-45-61- 14-09) gives tastings every Saturday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.; La Grande Epicerie du Bon Marché, (38 rue de Sèvres, 75007 Paris; tel. 01-44-39-81-00) does tastings Fridays and Saturdays from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. and almost every day during the annual wine festivals; and Petits Bouchons (105 rue Cambronne, 75015 Paris; tel. 01-47-34-89-31) organizes tastings practically every weekend, often with the wine makers themselves.
Kathleen Peddicord
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The Buyer's Market Of Our Lifetime
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Lief will detail not only specific strategies to follow to take best advantage of current market conditions, but also specific markets to focus on and specific current deals to consider.
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P.S. What else this week?- "France and the United States date to about the same time," began French friend and legal expert Jean Taquet in his address to our group assembled in the St. Petersbourg Hotel in Paris this week."The trouble in France was that, unlike in the United States, where the enemy of the Revolution wore red coats, the enemy of the French Revolution, the aristocracy, was unrecognizable on sight.
"Therefore, the French take it as part of the birthright of their Republic that no one and nothing can be taken on sight. Representations can be deceiving, the French believe. Therefore, they are interested in only what is written down, only what is on paper.
"This is the explanation for the French love of paperwork.
"I don't say this excuses the perspective, but I hope it will help you to understand why, in this country, the document and the dossier are all that matter." Here's another thing to understand about the French perspective...
- "I have just recently discovered your website and its interesting and exciting information," writes a new reader this month.
"However," she continues, "I have to say that most all the countries you promote outside the EU as safe (this is part of your pitch) are regarded as unsafe to dangerous by different government agencies counseling their citizens about international travel, including Canada, the United States, France, and Switzerland.
"We have young children, and personal security is top on our priority list when it comes to making a move abroad...
"And then this, from another concerned reader, in response to a recent report we published on low-cost medical and dental care in Malaysia.
"Kuala Lumpur has the highest murder rate in the world! I would not go there if the dental work were free..."
Let's take the general safety question first…
- "It's always a good idea to rent first when making a move overseas," writes Asia Correspondent Wendy Justice, "especially in a place like Malaysia, which is so culturally and ethnically diverse. In a place offering so many options, you want to spend time on the ground before making a determination as to the right location for you.
"From the hustle of the capital city of Kuala Lumpur to the laid-back state capitals on the island of Borneo...from the historic charms of Georgetown, Melaka, and Ipoh to the idyllic beach communities of Cherating, Kuantan, Teregganu, and Mersing, each region of this country comes with its own way of life. You should try one or more on for size before thinking about investing in a home of your own in this country.
"The good news is that it's easy for a foreigner to find a rental in Malaysia…"
- Lind Adams of the United States writes this week to ask:
"Kathleen, could you please address some of the possible pitfalls to watch for when attempting retirement to Panama? With all the vast experience and knowledge you and your staff have, I am sure you could offer some good information on things to be cautious about when making such a move...
"Here you are...10 things to understand before you move to Panama..."
ALSO: From Global Real Estate Investing Guru Lief Simon:
"Paris is a market that holds its value."
That's how Devon de la Salle from the French property agency Imoinvest began her presentation to our Live & Invest in France group this week. Devon's a real estate agent, but that doesn't make her assertion any less true.
Even through la crise, as the French call the global financial meltdown we've been living through, Paris apartments, indeed, have held their value. Ask a Frenchman why this is, and he might tell you it's because his countrymen are so stubborn.
Not to overstate the situation. There was a decline last year in number of transactions, but this is recovering. The number of sales transactions so far this year is up 76% compared with last.
There have been declines in values in sections of the city, as well, but, again, prices are rebounding. Average values across the city are up by 5.3% on an annual basis through April.
Why is Paris continuing so stable and strong? Maybe it has something to do with the French temperament, but I'd say it has more to do with the universal and perennial appeal of this city, the most touristed in the world.
And, importantly, Paris' ability to ride out the current storm has to do with the French banking system. There's no such thing as "creative financing" here in France.
"I worked as a real estate agent for years in California," Devon explained today, "and, boy, did I love creative financing during the heyday of the market in that part of the world. I made a ton of sales thanks to creative financing. But then we all saw the downside to this approach..."
The trouble in the Paris market today is lack of inventory. There are definitely more buyers than sellers right now. This means you have to be in the market, ready to make an offer when a property that fits your criteria crosses your radar, especially if your focus is the central arrondissements--that is, the 1st through the 8th.
Stephane Adler, our French notaire, who also addressed our group today, confirmed.
As in most of the world, there's no Multiple Listing Service in France. However, this country has what's referred to as the "notaire system" for the purchase of real estate. You can't buy a piece of property in France without a notaire, and for every transaction, careful documentation is kept, including particulars such as number of sales and price per square meter arrondissement by arrondissement.
In other words, even though you can't do a comps search, you can reference a great deal of information to help you read this market at any time.
Notaire data right now shows us just what anecdotal experience and real estate agent speak tells us, as well. This market slowed, and prices fell, slightly. But recovery is well under way.
I'd suggest that if you've ever considered investing in a Paris pied-a-terre, this is a moment of opportunity to act, especially if you’re shopping with U.S. dollars. The euro is down sharply against the Greenback, meaning you've got more buying power than you have had in more than a year.
Look for an apartment in the heart of the city (again, the 1st through the 8th arrondissements) selling for 300,000 euro, give or take. This budget won't buy you big (perhaps one bedroom), but it will buy you a solid asset that you can look forward to holding its value for you over the very long haul.
It’s a straightforward proposition for a foreigner to borrow locally to buy real estate in this country. Longtime friend Tahmiane Madani, Managing Director of France Home Finance, walked attendees at our conference this week through the process and the options.
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This Ain't Easy
The personal and financial benefits and advantages of a new life in a new country are many and can be extraordinary. You can figure out how to position yourself to enjoy them on your own, in time...or you can get help.
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This never-before-made-available, one-of-a-kind, one-on-one hand-holding service could be just what you've been looking for to get you from where you are now to where you dream you'd like to be.
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Kathleen Peddicord
Kathleen Peddicord is the founder of the Live and Invest Overseas publishing group. With more than 25 years experience covering this beat, Kathleen reports daily on current opportunities for living, retiring, and investing overseas in her free e-letter.
Her book, How To Retire Overseas—Everything You Need To Know To Live Well Abroad For Less, was recently released by Penguin Books.
