French Property

[davidg]

You are always taking a risk when buying property abroad.

or anywhere.

In most communes there is a town plan (PLU) with zoning for industry, shops, residential but of course PLU can be revised by the council. You are reasonably safe buying in the middle of a residential area where all the current land is already developed although you have no right to a view in France, so a neighbour could put another story on his house blocking your view of the Eiffel tower, or whatever. The recent change to the COS rules also lets people add 30% to their property.

If someone builds against the planning rules you need to take action in the local Tribunal Administratif but you'll need a good lawyer and even then getting any action enforced is extremely difficult.

[greengreen]

Telegraph - France faces 40pc house price slump

France faces a property slump of Anglo-Saxon proportions as the frothiest boom in French history finally tips over, threatening the country with an economic shock just as austerity hits.

"It is a gigantic bubble, all the more dangerous as it is spread across France," said Pierre Sabatier, from the consultancy PrimeView.

"It reached a paroxysm in the summer of 2011. There is a mix of incredulity and denial as it starts to burst but there can be little doubt that all levers propelling the market are disappearing."

have a read, there are a lot of comments!

[redwine]

http://www.lavieimmo.com/prix-immobilier/les-prix-de-l-immobilier-pourraient-chuter-de-40-d-ici-10-ans-14620.html

La Vie Immo.com

Les prix de l'immobilier pourraient chuter de 40% d'ici 10 ans.

The price of property could fall by 40% over the next ten years.

This is the French version of the Telegraph article dated the 27/4/12.

The article confirms what the Telegraph says although its not presented the same and it also mentions the role of the French g'vt with there tax reductions .

There are also a few links that are given one to an article about credit.

French banks will only lend to buyers who can pay the first 30% of there new property in cash.

No safe steady job otherwise no mortage will be granted.

A link is also given to the Paris notaries website that shows there predictions again price falls that have already but slowly started.

When it comes to primeview there is also a link but you cannot read there report unless you are prepared to pay 300 euros.

The readers comments all 41 of them when compared to the 150 or so comments on the Telegraph soon turn into insults.

Just like the Telegraph a few good comments and a lot of fighting .

[redwine]

http://www.sudouest.fr/2012/05/03/un-secteur-en-devenir-703859-3887.php

Meanwhile back in rural France far away from the world of the Telegraph and property life.

Sudouest south-west 3/5/12

Un secteur en devenir.

An activity to come.

Quote

The commune is attractive but the vendors often overvalue the price of there property with unrealistic prices that are not adapted to the local population.

Tonneins is today an attractive town and there's still a few buyers to be seen.

The town is not as morbid as it was ten years ago.Says an EA it also has a much better image than the nearby villages although there's not much work to be found.

Buying prices are between a 110K to 120K.

The town reflects local and national trends.

A first 2012 quarter shows price and sales falls of 5% to 7%.

The drops can be explained by high prices that are disconnected from reality.

A house put on the market for a 161K is finally sold for 137K.

The price falls are also intensified by the desertion of the english or the dutch.

Who are trying to sell today.

Old houses are far to expensive a couple who today can afford to buy an old house for a 120K might as well build a new house for a 136K.

An example a villa put up for sale price 300K sold for 225K.

Not forgetting that old property no longer benefits from the "zero % loans"and its difficult today to get a loan with a bank.

Prices are too high for the local population.

[redwine]

http://www.capital.fr/immobilier/actualites/logement-les-chantiers-de-francois-hollande-718072

Capital 7/5/12

Logements les chantiers de François Hollande.

Homes the building sites of François Hollande.

This is one of many articles about what the future g'vt plans are with regards to the housing problem in France.

They plan to build 500,000 homes a year.

A 150,000 will be social or council homes.

Social housing quotas will be increased from 20% to 25%.

The French gvt will give its land for free to the local councils to build on.

Councils who today refuse to build social homes are fined this fine will be multiplied by five.

The livret A will be doubled going from 15,300 to 30,600 euros.

New CGT tax increases on landowners who refuse to sell land for building homes.

Today the higher the prices the less tax they pay this will be reversed.

Rents will be regulated to stop landlords who once a tenant leaves the new tenant often finds that he is paying a higher rent than the previous.

This will work by geographic rents lets say an area that on average is 18 euros m2 .

The landlord will not be able to charge 25euros m2.

This seems to be the basic programme for the new g'vt.

[thod]

Prices are too high for the local population.

Lots of communes offer free land just to retain young people. The price of building comes in two parts. The labor, expensive in France even at SMIG, and the cost of the materials. Alas the price of the materials is set on world markets (steel, concrete etc). Thus if locals cannot afford material cost, no new houses can be built. This situation would be similar to Africa where the labor is cheap but they cannot afford the materials.

[redwine]

http://www.midilibre.fr/2012/05/15/la-television-anglaise-leur-offre-une-place-au-soleil,501281.php

Midi Libre 15/5/12

Limoux La television anglaise leur offre une place au soleil.

Limoux English tv have offred them a place in the sun.

Quote

Under a spring sun in Pauligne Mr and Mrs Thompson are shown walking in the direction of a pretty house with a view of the surrounding hills.

In front of them is Laura Hamiltion a star on english tv.

Its her who leads the visit she inspects the bedrooms the kitchen and the dining-room.

Filmed under the discret eye of the cameras from channel 4.

This is the third house that they have visited in a week.

We live in the north-west of England and we want to settle in the region after spending the last two years looking for property we asked channel 4 to help us.

In the UK the show is called "A place in the sun" and is watched on average by 2 million viewers.

Its aim is to help the british find the "home of there dreams" in the sun of the south of France.

The show first started ten years ago but was stopped for three years due to the "property crisis".

Today people are re-investing in property.

Six episodes are being made between Carcassonne and Limoux.

The success in the UK of "A place in the sun" confirms the new interest for the British in the SOF.

According to the directer of the show the days when the British sold there "french house" are over .

France is still very popular and even more so as many are afraid to invest in Spain .

Since 2008 prices have fallen by 25% says a local EA.

With a budget of 260K they are hoping to buy in Limoux with the sun.

For the same price in England we could afford to buy a much smaller house and it rains all the time says the couple with there "so british" humour.

TBH i have never seen this show but Carcassonne is famous for its empty BTL flats and its not so friendly locals and Limoux is out of the way i also suspect that the TV producers are only repeating what they have been told by British EAs who live or pretend to live in France.

A sort of never ending story .

[redwine]

http://immobilier-revelateur-de-la-nature-humaine.over-blog.com/article-tranches-de-vie-d-un-agent-immobilier-103102037.html

Ninon Ingrid and her sad life of an estate agent.

Les photos d'agents immobiliers finissent mal en général.

Photos taken by estate agents tend to be badly taken.

Quote

I often hear bad comments being said about photos that are taken by estate agents.

Some photo snaps in the kitchen of a client makes the kitchen look like a messy junk room.

Others zoom in on the red leather nailed settee that seems to take up lots of space in the sitting-room.

In the end the photo looks like an advert for a settee in a furniture catalogue rather than an advert for a house that is for sale.

Not forgetting the "classic" to much bright light photo just as if the EA did not know how to use a camera.

Well guess what an EA is not a professional photographer unless its his hobby and he has invested in expensive cameras with tripods and high power zooms.

Well in my agency we are well aware of the problems caused by photographs.

We use photoshop to give them a 'lifting' just like top-models who care about there waist.

Advantages

Our agency is well known fot its good quality photos.

Disadvantages

Well they far out number the advantages.

First of all it takes a lot of work and time to select the correct photos.

Also our attitude upsets the vendors who are not used to an agency that want to take good photographs .

Often on a sunny day with a tidy clean house and newly mown garden.

It also has to be said that many vendors just want a fast sale but without making any effort.

So whats the point of cleaning the house for the EA seeing as it is not the EA that is buying the house.

Another problem other agents who take rubbish photos of the same property but with a 1,000 euro (fees) less than ours are placed on seloger next to us.

The buyer naturally being human goes to them but these competitors do not invest in expensive cameras.

They often get the sale not my agency.

The last problem is theft of photos the vendors copy our photos despite the measures that we have taken to protect them.

Yesterday i found three of my photos on le bon coin copied and used by the vendor.

[redwine]

Envoyé Spécial France 2 17/5/12

Propriétaire à tout prix.

To own property at all costs.

I just thought that i would give a summary of last nights tv show on France 2 .

If you want to watch what i thought was a good programme you can watch it on pluzz.fr at least for the next 7 days.

The new face of the french property market with the "low cost" houses for 84K although they were built on the cheap with no insulation.

The low cost property developers that vanish with your cash leaving a wreck behind that is unfinished and is also dangerous.

The ex-ship containers that have been stacked up and turned into a home for the bargain price of 300K.

Not forgetting the famous Paris "souplex" living underground for 400K .

A souplex is actually a ground floor flat with a cellar the surface area is so small that they renovate the cellar into a bedroom .

On the show it showed two couples one with a ground floor surface area of 22m2 but the cellar was 35m2.

Actually the underground bedroom looked very nice with its false bedroom windows that opened up onto a brick wall.

There little boy couldn't sleep there because of a lack of fresh air!

The second couple were thinking about a renovation job in a cellar price 300K but they were put off by the sewage pipe that was going to be in there bedroom.

Especially when you heard an upstairs neighbour flushing his toilet.

The new "low cost" EAs in France.

A woman working from her home she takes 3% of the price in fees.

She said that one sale a month is enough for her to live on but she hadn't sold anything for the last few months.

She was trying her best to try and persuade a couple in debt with a bridging loan to drop there price as she had at last found a buyer but in vain or so it seemed.

In the end we were told that for the 1st quarter of 2012 newly built property had collapsed by 25% .

IMHO its a shame that the new housing minister 'Cécile Duflot" was not invited onto the show she replaces 'Benoist Apparu' the ex-minister who promised a new website that showed real sales prices in France.

He did not keep his promise.

[redwine]

http://www.boursier.com/actualites/macroeconomie/immobilier-courbefy-le-premier-village-francais-vendu-aux-encheres-483945.html

Boursier.com 22/5/12

Immobilier Courbefy ,le premier village français vendu aux enchéres.

Property Courby the first french village to be sold at an auction house.

Just an up-date about the deserted hamlet in the Limousin that was put up for auction a few months ago.

The second auction was held yesterday and it was bought by a company called Ahae press who are owned by an artist/photographer from S.Korea.

They paid 520,000 euros for the deserted hamlet ith its 21 empty buildings horse boxes a swimming pool and tennis court.

The village was abandonned in 2008 it used to be a holiday camp.

Ahae are planning to develop an artists green eco, cultural site for the future (what ever that means in the middle of no where )

IMO If i remember correctly the reserve price at the first auction was 230K so he paid more than double.

Its amazing what some free international marketing can do .

[shindigger]

If anyone has any news re softening prices/trends/meltdown in 34/Herault area, please post here.

I maybe buying there soon. I see stuff falling a bit in its own right, especially in the Haute Vallee in Languedoc etc, but anywhere near the sea, Valras for instance, still holding up.

Could be a snip there soon with the Euro and all.

Rightmove doesn't really show the reductions as clearly as UK Listings. Just shows description changes.

Maybe i'm doing it wrong..

[swissy_fit]

http://www.boursier.com/actualites/macroeconomie/immobilier-courbefy-le-premier-village-francais-vendu-aux-encheres-483945.html

Boursier.com 22/5/12

Immobilier Courbefy ,le premier village français vendu aux enchéres.

Property Courby the first french village to be sold at an auction house.

Just an up-date about the deserted hamlet in the Limousin that was put up for auction a few months ago.

The second auction was held yesterday and it was bought by a company called Ahae press who are owned by an artist/photographer from S.Korea.

They paid 520,000 euros for the deserted hamlet ith its 21 empty buildings horse boxes a swimming pool and tennis court.

The village was abandonned in 2008 it used to be a holiday camp.

Ahae are planning to develop an artists green eco, cultural site for the future (what ever that means in the middle of no where )

IMO If i remember correctly the reserve price at the first auction was 230K so he paid more than double.

Its amazing what some free international marketing can do .

Well it may be a bargain in some respects, if you have a group of like-minded hippie types who want to form an eco community or something of that nature. Seem to remember there were 20-odd homes, doubtless a bit wrecked though.

Mind you I wouldn't choose remote rural France for a project like that myself - planning permission, and indeed everything else might be tricky if the mayor and locals in the commune are xenophobes. Everything will depend on relationships formed with the locals, I doubt if he was able to do much local research from Korea.

[redwine]

but anywhere near the sea, Valras for instance, still holding up.

Rightmove doesn't really show the reductions as clearly as UK Listings. Just shows description changes.

Maybe i'm doing it wrong..

Can you please post a link that says that Valras is still holding up. Thanks.

Valras Plage or beach is not far from Béziers well lets be honest property prices are collapsing due to no work, no cash and the new social houses that are being built for the newly divorced and the unemployed a total of 7,000 are planned.

The Languedoc-Rousillon region is France's answer to the British Blackpool in the sun.

This is 'holiday home' land a place in the cheap sun for the french chavs.

There are 318,000 holiday homes in the Languedoc-Rousillon.

Making a total of 2 million beds for the summer holidays.

Looking at last years recent figures.

La Grau-du-Roi 16,100

La Grande Motte 13,700

Agde 27,700

Leucate 12,000

They are occupied on average 42 days a year.

37,000 are foreign owned and guess just how many are owned by the Brits?

BTW this region is nothing more than a cheap holiday in the sun area normally it can take up to three to five years to sell there.

Stay away or go and buy in Butlins .

Look on Se.Loger .com to find french property.

[shindigger]

Can you please post a link that says that Valras is still holding up. Thanks.

Valras Plage or beach is not far from Béziers well lets be honest property prices are collapsing due to no work, no cash and the new social houses that are being built for the newly divorced and the unemployed a total of 7,000 are planned.

The Languedoc-Rousillon region is France's answer to the British Blackpool in the sun.

This is 'holiday home' land a place in the cheap sun for the french chavs.

There are 318,000 holiday homes in the Languedoc-Rousillon.

Making a total of 2 million beds for the summer holidays.

Looking at last years recent figures.

La Grau-du-Roi 16,100

La Grande Motte 13,700

Agde 27,700

Leucate 12,000

They are occupied on average 42 days a year.

37,000 are foreign owned and guess just how many are owned by the Brits?

BTW this region is nothing more than a cheap holiday in the sun area normally it can take up to three to five years to sell there.

Stay away or go and buy in Butlins .

Look on Se.Loger .com to find french property.

Thanks for replying.

My info really comes from a long term lady friend who lives in a village near Beziers.

A place in one of those villages just east of Beziers would be good. 30 minutes to Valras. No problem.

She sent me a few links to places near Beziers this week. She was surprised that prices had come down a bit.

But I was in Valras in August last year, and saw no sign of meltdown whatsoever. A few beach side shops were closed, but really no sign of desperation.But if you are able to tell me the opposite i am happy with that.

Inland, i'm sure its different.

She has told me plenty about the work situation and economy in Languedoc, and the nice new prison near Beziers.

As for a comparison to Blackpool, i think you must be using this post to put Brits off!

I saw nothing to compare the two.

I won't be buying for a holiday home either. I would be in permanent, quite early, retirement.

I will take a look at the site you mentioned.

Thanks.

[redwine]

As for a comparison to Blackpool, i think you must be using this post to put Brits off!

I saw nothing to compare the two.

I won't be buying for a holiday home either. I would be in permanent, quite early, retirement.

I will take a look at the site you mentioned.

Thanks.

I should of said in the summer because out of season these resorts are ghost towns.

If you have ever been to 'luna park' in Cap d'agde in August then you will understand my comparision with Blackpool.

La Grande-Motte with its 2 million tourists a year was built during the 1960's and 1970's as the french version of Benidorm.

The reason being was that the french tourists were going to Spain for a cheap holiday so they built La Grande-Motte with its pyramids or rather blocks of flats that look like pyramids.

Just like here in the alps the ski station called Aime 2000 looks like an ocean liner in the mountains.

Its the word 'holiday homes' that is confusing .

This brings to mind a 'french chatéau' or 'demeures de prestiges' but on the languedoc-rousillon coast they are in reality nothing more than thousands of small flats that are used for the summer holidays.

BTW I only post french property news and i am not trying to put Brits off!!

Its up to you to do what you think is best for your future retirement in France .

[davidg]

According to a poll published today 58 % of French people think things will be the same or get worse under Hollande. The spin put on this by the French press is that this is good for Hollande as he can exceed expectations. Personally I think it is bad news as it means little optimism for the future, people will continue to tighten their belts. My business contacts told me a lot of shops and small businesses were relying on a post election bounce which is not happening.

[redwine]

http://www.midilibre.fr/2012/05/11/les-ventes-du-neuf-s-effondrent-sauf-a-beziers,499591.php

Midi Libre 11/5/12

Languedoc-Rousillon

Les ventes du neuf s'effondrent sauf à Béziers.

The sales of newly built property are collapsing except in Béziers.

Quote

The sales of new property are suffering.

Outside of the dept of l'Herault we have noticed a collapse of sales.

However this trend also concerns the entire region.

This is national the fall in sales for the first quarter of 2012 is -25% when compared to the same period in 2011.

In our region its not much better.

In Montpellier and its outskirts the fall is up to 52%.

667 sales compared to 1,385 for the same period in 2011.

Another sign of the direction of the market is an increase of newly built property that is put up for sale.

Today 2,160 new homes are for sale when compared with 1,846 last December.

Séte

36 sales compared to a 124 last year.

A fall of 71% to 79%

Séte expects to see a total of about 350 to 400 sales this year.

Béziers

First quarter 2012 a 158 sales when compared with a 102 last year.

The only increase in the region.

Nimes

A 69% fall.

48 sales in 2012 a 153 in 2011.

Narbonne

A 81% fall .

24 sales in 2012 a 127 in 2011.

Perpignan

A 74% fall .

52 sales in 2012 a 197 in 2011.

Conclusion.

"At this rate it will be very difficult to refuse to drop the price of property"

[shindigger]

Thanks for that Redwine.

[redwine]

http://www.ladepeche.fr/article/2012/05/23/1359519-quillan-tournage-britannique-a-ginoles.html#Séquence_1

A WARNING for fans of the channel 4 show called 'A place in the sun' according to this french newspaper the new show won't be shown in the UK until next autumn.

I was curious about how the Thompson's were getting along with there 'french dream property'.

Don't read this post unless you want to know what happened to the Thompson couple who are looking for property in the SOF.

La Depeche 23/5/12

Quillon .Tournage Brittannique à Ginoles.

Quillon.British tv filming in Ginoles.

Quote

'A place in the sun'

The head of the estate agency Century 21 in Quillon went to London last April.

He is British a certain Mr Alan Redhouse who was invited to take part and to give a public speech at the 'APITS' exhibition.

After is speech where he talked about the good points of living in our region.

He was 'invited' by Channel 4 to show and make vists in the high valley of l'Aude to an english couple who are in there sixties.He wanted to make five visits but Ch 4 only wanted three visits.

One near Prades the next Limoux and the third one in Ginoles near Quillon.

The day after the filming had finished they made an offer for the last house.

They paid 99% of the asking price with Mr Redhouse from C21.

The Thompson's are planning to move to France next July.

IMHO Channel 4 contacts a Brit EA in France they have found two sheep who want to live the dream in the middle of nowhere.

He makes a speech about happy France with the mag's and books about the dream.

They fall asleep afterall France is a dream.

Redhouse shows them property in the 200K range even though its really worth next to nothing.

He makes them pay the maxi price.

Sheep being led to the financial slaughterhouse by British EA's .

[whalebone]

As someone who has spent some considerable time looking at buying a maison secondaire and having experienced British agents and French agents, I can only say that it is the British agents who would happily steal the shirt off my back. In the vast majority of cases they are scrabbling around in the dust trying to con so poor fool to part with his or her money for a pile of rubble. In the time we have been looking we have watched as house prices have fallen, but the falls we are seeing now are quite considerable. I suspect we may be on the very edge of a dramatic downward shift in prices. So much so. that even after over 2 years of searching for a maison secondaire we have decided to step back and return to the market in late 12/2013.

And the best bit about this is that many of those sharks that are so called agents will have to shut up shop, and get real employment.

By the way thank you Redwine for your invaluable input to this forum.

[redwine]

http://www.directgestion.com/sinformer/filactu/15252-la-semaine-nationale-des-ventes-aux-encheres-notariales-du-18-au-22-juin-2012

Directgestion 30/5/12

La semaine nationale des ventes aux encheres notariales du 18 au 22 juin 2012

The national week of notarys auctions will be held from the 18th to the 20th of June.

Quote

The 6th edition of the national notarys auctions will be held in 9 towns acoss France.

Several auctions will be held during the week.

With a large number of properties being put up for auction.

The future buyers will have the possibility to bid for well over 60 properties.

In terms of results judging by the results of the previous edition 82% of the buyers were satisfied.

Notarys auctions are secured you deal only with the notary from the beginning to the end of the auction.

For the sales of property that come from justice cases or the courts this type of sale is decided by bidding against a candle or chronometer

The regions that are concerned this year are.

Ile de France

The south-west

Gironde

Dordogne

The Haute-Garonne

The south-east

Nice

Toulon

These are sales that do not involve EAs but be careful for the vendors who have already fixed a minimum price its the justice decision sales where you might get a bargain.

Worth keeping an eye on whalebone for the future.

[swissy_fit]

http://www.directgestion.com/sinformer/filactu/15252-la-semaine-nationale-des-ventes-aux-encheres-notariales-du-18-au-22-juin-2012

Directgestion 30/5/12

La semaine nationale des ventes aux encheres notariales du 18 au 22 juin 2012

The national week of notarys auctions will be held from the 18th to the 20th of June.

Quote

The 6th edition of the national notarys auctions will be held in 9 towns acoss France.

Several auctions will be held during the week.

With a large number of properties being put up for auction.

The future buyers will have the possibility to bid for well over 60 properties.

In terms of results judging by the results of the previous edition 82% of the buyers were satisfied.

Notarys auctions are secured you deal only with the notary from the beginning to the end of the auction.

For the sales of property that come from justice cases or the courts this type of sale is decided by bidding against a candle or chronometer

The regions that are concerned this year are.

Ile de France

The south-west

Gironde

Dordogne

The Haute-Garonne

The south-east

Nice

Toulon

These are sales that do not involve EAs but be careful for the vendors who have already fixed a minimum price its the justice decision sales where you might get a bargain.

Worth keeping an eye on whalebone for the future.

Got any links to these auctions?

I used to have a link to one site, seem to have lost it, but it was pretty rubbish anyway, took hours to check out what was available and there was never much in 01 or 74 anyway.

Any tips regarding buying at them would be handy as well if you know much about them.....

[redwine]

Got any links to these auctions?

Any tips regarding buying at them would be handy as well if you know much about them.....

Keep an eye on these three links during the coming weeks.

www.immobilier.notaries.fr

www.paris.notaries.fr

www.encheres-paris.com

www.auctions-paris.com (the above site in english)

Always keep an eye on your local press during the coming weeks in the legal pages.

Also a warning some are honest others are not.

Just looking at todays news with regards to the notarys.

A 5.8 million fraud in a notarys office in Bordeaux.

Angers

A notary who sold the property of an 87 year old woman for 70,000 euros .

He signed her bank checks and took cash out of her bank account to pay the bills .

This might seem to be if you like normal.

However theres a problem due to the fact that she died in 2002.

He has being cashing in her pension and sold her home because he never declared her death.

She was single and did not leave behind her any sons or daughters.

The court case started today in Angers.

IMHO Sometimes it is possible to find the odd bargain in the 01 and 74 but not very often again keep an eye on the local papers .

[davidg]

Any tips regarding buying at them would be handy as well if you know much about them.....

I can't tell you much.

My missus is a lawyer and is very dubious about them believing that the majority of notaries are crooks. I would do a lot of research before launching into them.

Some of the auctions are a bit of a fix. The mayor of Paris auctioned off 50 publicly owned flats a few years back but no announcement was made of the auction - bizarrely the marais crowd seemed to know about them though (must have picked up the vibes on the gaydar).

Regarding the above poster who is looking for a 2nd home, where are you looking? In the west of France you can probably make offers 50% under the advertised price at the moment according to my estate agent contacts. The market was 80% Brit 5 years ago, they are now just 5% of buyers and the French have not come back to replace them. Some people are desperate. You won't get a bite on every offer but if you have a range of properties.

Things are expected to get worse though. Deal with French agents as a lot are near suicidal.

btw if you want a barn conversion in the Limoges / Poitiers area for 25K euros let me know - bungalow, partly converted with all the double glazing to finish the job. New septic tank (watch out if you buy a property not on main drains the septic tanks have to come up to EU standards now and it is around 10K for a new one).

[swissy_fit]

Keep an eye on these three links during the coming weeks.

www.immobilier.notaries.fr

www.paris.notaries.fr

www.encheres-paris.com

www.auctions-paris.com (the above site in english)

Thanks Redwine, I will do so.

I can't tell you much.

My missus is a lawyer and is very dubious about them believing that the majority of notaries are crooks. I would do a lot of research before launching into them.

Some of the auctions are a bit of a fix. The mayor of Paris auctioned off 50 publicly owned flats a few years back but no announcement was made of the auction - bizarrely the marais crowd seemed to know about them though (must have picked up the vibes on the gaydar).

Regarding the above poster who is looking for a 2nd home, where are you looking? In the west of France you can probably make offers 50% under the advertised price at the moment according to my estate agent contacts. The market was 80% Brit 5 years ago, they are now just 5% of buyers and the French have not come back to replace them. Some people are desperate. You won't get a bite on every offer but if you have a range of properties.

Things are expected to get worse though. Deal with French agents as a lot are near suicidal.

btw if you want a barn conversion in the Limoges / Poitiers area for 25K euros let me know - bungalow, partly converted with all the double glazing to finish the job. New septic tank (watch out if you buy a property not on main drains the septic tanks have to come up to EU standards now and it is around 10K for a new one).

Not surprised about your wife's opinions of notaries, I guess that position will attract crooks.

I'm probably not in the market at the moment, unless something very good value came up.

Do you have any feedback from agents on the Geneva region? I can't see any sign of falls, if anything the contrary.

My mate just had his not-very-special house in the nearby Pays de Gex valued at nearly 700k Euros.

On the other hand a large 325m2 well-built house (classe C is rare in detached houses older than 3 years) with 3000 m2 land and nice pool about an hour and 10 minutes from here was offered to me for less than 400k. In the sticks though...