• About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
FREE REPORT
BEST PLACES TO RETIRE
*No spam: We will NEVER give your email address to anyone else.
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
Live and Invest Overseas
  • HOME
  • COUNTRIES
    • Top Destinations
      • Portugal
      • Panama
      • Belize
      • France
      • Colombia
      • Dominican Republic
      • Thailand
      • Mexico
      • Spain
      • Argentina
    • Browse All Countries
    • Best For
      • Retire Overseas Index
      • Health Care
      • Cost of Living
      • Investing in Real Estate
      • Editor’s Picks For Retirement
      • Establishing Residency
      • Starting an Online Business
      • Single Women
      • Playing Golf
  • BUDGETS
    • Super Cheap ($)
      • Cuenca, Ecuador
      • Chiang Mai, Thailand
      • The Philippines
      • Las Tablas, Panama
      • Granada, Nicaragua
    • Cheap ($$)
      • Algarve, Portugal
      • Medellin, Colombia
      • Boquete, Panama
      • Carcassone, France
      • Buenos Aires, Argentina
    • Affordable ($$$)
      • Abruzzo, Italy
      • Barcelona, Spain
      • Las Terrenas, Dominican Republic
      • Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
      • Costa de Oro, Uruguay
    • Luxury On A Budget ($$$$)
      • Ambergris Caye, Belize
      • Paris, France
      • Panama City Beach Area
  • Real Estate
  • ARCHIVES
    • Living & Retiring Overseas
    • Raising A Family Abroad
    • Foreign Residency & Citizenship
    • Offshore Diversification
    • Our Latest On Coronavirus ⚠️
  • Making Money
    • International Real Estate
    • Banking
    • Employment
    • Investing
  • CONFERENCES
  • BOOKSTORE
No Result
View All Result
Live and Invest Overseas
No Result
View All Result
Home Real Estate

Buying Real Estate In The South Of France

Live And Invest Overseas by Live And Invest Overseas
Sep 30, 2013
in Real Estate
0
A view over the city of Minerve in Languedoc, France on a blue-sky day
208
SHARES
3k
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

How To Buy Real Estate In France

Back in July, I wrote about helping my parents find a new home in the Languedoc region of France, the “Other” South of France, as I call it.

My parents are already living in this region. It’s just that their current house, though beautiful, is too big, has too many steps, and needs quite a bit of pampering to keep it in shape. Plus, it’s not a home that you can lock-and-leave easily, something they’d like to do more often…

All good reasons to find a simpler, single-story (plain-pied in French) home.

My nearly 80-year-old folks are a little reluctant to move (who can blame them…it’s not an easy thing to do at any age) and need a bit of cajoling. So, during the last week of my summer stay in France, I persuaded my mother to view some houses.

I had made a list of five plain-pied properties from three local agent’s websites. One turned out not to be plain-pied and three had been sold but the agents had not updated their information. So that left one to view. It looked interesting online, a two-part home; half plain-pied, the other half, which could be closed off, made up of two floors… Off we went.

Unfortunately, it turned out that the main bedroom was tiny and right next to the kitchen, while the best bedroom was on the top floor of the other half of the house.

We thought that was it, but, no, a surprise from the agent. He wanted to show us another property in the village of Prades sur Vernazobre. It’s a pretty village but without any shops or services, just a bread van that visits each morning. The property was immaculate and checked off several boxes, though not for the budget or access to shops. It was plain-pied, with a pool (only 1.2 meters deep because the owner couldn’t swim!) with electronic pool cover. The house had reversible air-con, a neat little kitchen, efficient wood burner, large garage, and a small garden with an automatic watering system. (Thanks to this, the grass was green, not something you see at the end of August in the Languedoc.)

The four bedrooms were roomy and had electric shutters, the view was great, and the owner was a recently divorced builder who had built the property himself and done it well. (“Divorce wasn’t part of the final plan,” he told me with a shrug.) I was getting excited and willing to forget about the lack of services and hoping that the owner would be willing to negotiate on price.

“What do you think, mum,” I whispered.

“It’s too modern, and we’d have to get in the car for everything,” she replied.

Pop went my bubble. But she was absolutely right. Not, perhaps, about it being too modern but about keeping your eye on what really matters when house hunting. To her it’s really important to be able to walk to the market, the bakery, the pharmacy, and a café on the square. She does not want to get in the car every time she needs or forgets something or has unplanned visitors for lunch or dinner.

What to do? Agents in France are notoriously unhelpful (though they are usually polite and often delightful, as is the case with M. Godias of Agence GTI, who showed us the property we viewed).

When searching for property in France (as in most of the world outside the United States), you have to remember that there’s no such thing as an MLS. This inefficient reality is compounded by the fact that French agents don’t keep their property lists up-to-date, don’t think outside the box, and don’t produce property “spec” sheets. What does that mean? More work for the prospective buyer—even down to getting out a measuring tape as you walk through a place so you can measure room sizes with the owner trailing along behind.

Because of this, many property vendors (particularly expat vendors who know how things could be run) are fed up with French agents and resort to private sales. This makes things even more challenging for buyers, who have to search independently to find what can be the best buys.

Understanding all this, I decided to put on my running shoes (literally) and headed off for a grande tour in search of “A Vendre” signs in my parent’s preferred village in the Hérault department of the Languedoc… Bingo! After a mere 15 minutes weaving my way around the little roads of Cessenon-sur-Orb, I found a freshly painted sign pointing toward the end of a cul-de-sac.

My heart wasn’t just thumping from the exercise. This was a house in a perfect spot. It looked well-kept and even had a friendly neighbor who came out to tell me the owners had moved but were still living in the village. I scribbled down the phone number and raced back, excited to share my find.

My parents were gee-d up by my enthusiasm so I arranged to visit the house the next morning with my mother. It was bigger than it looked from the road but was plain-pied (except for one attic room that could be closed off and a small, musty-smelling subterranean wine cellar). The kitchen was brand-new, the floors recently tiled, the décor fresh and subtle. There was a mature, but easy-to-manage garden, a lovely utility room, and a garden “shed” nice enough for visitors to sleep in. It was easy to imagine my folks there.

The price? We braced ourselves…then let out a collective sigh when we learned 250,000 euro. That’s good for a four-bedroom, two-bathroom house in a great situation in a popular village. I felt like I had struck the mother lode. I calmed myself and waited for my mother’s reaction.

She wanted to return the next day for another look with my father. Great.

Unfortunately, the day I had to return to the UK. Sitting up front with my dad for the drive to the airport, I remarked that I was happy that at last the property ball was rolling and maybe he, too, would like the house in Cessenon.

He said, yes, it was good to have options.

“Options” I wondered. “What other options?”

“Well, I’ve been thinking about buying an apartment back in the UK, in Oxford maybe,” my dad replied.

Well, you can take a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink…

Anyone looking for a very nice house in Cessenon?

Lucy Culpepper

Continue reading: We won’t just give you the upside…we’ll give you the truth

Tags: 'real estate'French countrysidehousing marketMLSsouth france
Share83Tweet52
Previous Post

Weighing Your Options

Next Post

We won’t just give you the upside…we’ll give you the truth

Live And Invest Overseas

Live And Invest Overseas

Live and Invest Overseas is the world's savviest source for top opportunities to live better, retire in style, invest for profit, do business, and own real estate overseas. Established in 2008, the Live and Invest Overseas' editors and correspondents have more experience researching and reporting on top opportunities for living well, investing for profit, doing business, and owning real estate around the world than anyone else you'll find.

Related Posts

Porto, Portugal
Argentina

Where (And Why) Should You Buy Property Overseas In 2022?

by Live And Invest Overseas
June 15, 2022
0

Most people think that purchasing real estate overseas is about having a second home to go to when you want...

Read more
Quaint colorful houses of the Alsatian city of Colmar, France

How To Tell If You’ve Found Your Ideal Home Overseas

June 14, 2022
Serene street in Colonial Zone of Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic

8 Things You Need To Know About Bank Financing Overseas

June 13, 2022
View of Ponta Verde in Maceio, Alagoas, Northeast of Brazil

Investing In International Real Estate

June 12, 2022
General view of apartments for rent in Portimao, Algarve, Portugal

The Best Property Deals To Expand Your Portfolio Offshore

June 10, 2022
Copacabana beach in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

The Top Countries With Favorable Exchange Rates

June 7, 2022
Malaga, Spain

The 2 Rules To Minimize Risk When Buying Real Estate

May 31, 2022
Next Post
ecuador beach town

We won’t just give you the upside…we’ll give you the truth

Start Your New Life Today, Overseas

A world full of fun, adventure, and profit awaits! Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and we’ll send you a FREE report on the 10 Best Places To Retire In Style Overseas Today.







LIOS Resources


  • New To LIOS
  • Ask An Expert
  • Media Center
  • Contact Us
  • FAQs

Quick Links


  • Best Places To Live
  • Best Places To Retire
  • Finding A Job Overseas
  • Real Estate

Sign up for our free daily e-letter, Overseas Opportunity Letter, and get your FREE report: The 10 Best Places To Retire Overseas In 2022

  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms
  • Unsubscribe

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Countries
  • Budgets
  • Archives
  • News
  • Events
  • Bookstore
  • Newsletters
  • About Us
  • Members Area
  • Contact Us

© 2008-2021 - Live and Invest Overseas - All Rights Reserved.

Sign up for FREE and learn how to live the good life on a modest budget, find bargain property, and more. Plus, check out our free report on the 10 BEST PLACES TO RETIRE.

RETIRE OVERSEAS AND LIVE LIKE ROYALTY

The World’s Best Places To Be In 2022?

Discover Them Here…