Great Crash 2 Arrives In France And Is Devastating Prices

[Realistbear]

http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchli..._buyers_ma.html

It's a buyer's market in Dordogne

House1810THE lead news item on France 3 Perigords yesterday evening covered the

tumbling property prices

in the region.

Estate agents around Sarlat told of older properties

falling in price by around 15 per cent since the turn of the year,

and how they had many homes still on their books.

One agent said that he had 300 properties that had been up for sale for more than a year and that potential buyers were checking online, before putting in bids well below the sales price.

It would also seem that British buyers are tightening their belts and are no longer willing to spend large amounts, while buyers are also looking to purchase new builds.

Spain, Ireland, France....we are next.

Edited May 24, 2007 by Realistbear

[Badger]

and many are totally unaware of what's happening in these countries (and USA) judging by those I've spoken to.

[Gone baby gone]

You have to feel sorry for the mugs who have bought a holiday home in France and a large property in the UK as investments. Well, actually, you don't

[wotnocrash]

people have heard that PG has been buying up in France... enough to put anyone off!

[Converted Lurker]

people have heard that PG has been buying up in France... enough to put anyone off!

you could put forward an argument that his timing was spot on given what he paid, where he bought, and the fix the vendor was in. France might be a great place to spend cash over the next five years IMHO

[Guest grumpy-old-man]

you could put forward an argument that his timing was spot on given what he paid, where he bought, and the fix the vendor was in. France might be a great place to spend cash over the next five years IMHO

wedll I got my place about 25% under its valuation, but I will have no chance (& there is no point) selling mine until after this big crash. I might even keep it long term to retire to although I don't think so now.

A lot of the English we met when we lived there in 2005 had spent ridiculous amounts of cash on run down stone buildings & spent hundrends of thousands renovating them, they are in for a big shock.

[Servettien]

A lot of the English we met when we lived there in 2005 had spent ridiculous amounts of cash on run down stone buildings & spent hundrends of thousands renovating them, they are in for a big shock.

Were they planning to rent them out or was it to live in themselves ?

[Converted Lurker]

wedll I got my place about 25% under its valuation, but I will have no chance (& there is no point) selling mine until after this big crash. I might even keep it long term to retire to although I don't think so now.

A lot of the English we met when we lived there in 2005 had spent ridiculous amounts of cash on run down stone buildings & spent hundrends of thousands renovating them, they are in for a big shock.

where are you GOM?

[Guest grumpy-old-man]

Were they planning to rent them out or was it to live in themselves ?

the majority i spoke to bought a longere type property & renovated it both for themsleves & then to make gites out of the rest of the building.

There is a website for expats called www.angloinfo.com where they had discussions. It was a very useful site.

[Guest grumpy-old-man]

where are you GOM?

I bought in Morbihan, Brittany (south Brittany, with slightly better weather). Mine is rented out on a 3 year lease to a lovely young French couple.

I think this will get hit the hardest as it is overflowing with brits (also germans & amercians apparently, although I never really met any)

Edited May 24, 2007 by grumpy-old-man

[Guest The_Oldie]

I made an offer on a place in Brittany last month, 65% of the asking price and the agent didn't bother to get back to me . Perhaps I'll make a new offer of 60% in a month or two.

[Guest grumpy-old-man]

I made an offer on a place in Brittany last month, 65% of the asking price and the agent didn't bother to get back to me . Perhaps I'll make a new offer of 60% in a month or two.

you need to hang fire imo Oldie, wait a couple of years & then pick up a nice restored place at a fraction of the cost.

[Converted Lurker]

you need to hang fire imo Oldie, wait a couple of years & then pick up a nice restored place at a fraction of the cost.

shame on you, 'flying to let' and pricing out the young indigenous population you or Oldie got any good links? Suppose you had 100K cash, what would you buy, where etc

[Guest The_Oldie]

shame on you, 'flying to let' and pricing out the young indigenous population you or Oldie got any good links? Suppose you had 100K cash, what would you buy, where etc

Buy to live in, in my case . City centre apartment, asking price 230,000Euros I offered 150,000Euros cash. I'm in no rush though, I'll buy now if the price is right, but am happy to wait a couple of years if necessary.

[Guest grumpy-old-man]

shame on you, 'flying to let' and pricing out the young indigenous population you or Oldie got any good links? Suppose you had 100K cash, what would you buy, where etc

no it wasn't like that. We sold our only house in the UK & bought a family home in France. We decided to come back (search, the reasons have been stated before), but didn't want to buy in the UK due to this site's advice & my own homework.

So, I decided to rent it out to local French couple & charged them a 100 euros a month less than I could have got. I also pay the tax fonciere & tax d'habitation, even though I only have to pay the lesser one. I also left them with a full tank of gas costing me 800 euros & told them they could use it.

There was no point me selling because I knew I had bought at the top (less about 25% ish) but I had to work a lot whilst I was there doing the place up & learning french.

I used all French artisans (or just about) & drove a French car. This way I didn't p1ss all the neighbours & locals off, as many of the English do.

I know you were only joking, but I would like to point this out.

[adren]

people have heard that PG has been buying up in France... enough to put anyone off!

Muppettes!

[nohpc]

Is Durdoygne a nice part of France to buy? Very interested if so. Are prices dropping across the whole of France or just in certain areas. I have heard that buying property and selling there is a beaurocratic nightmare and they will tax you extremely heavily so I am still unsure of the market there. Could be some good buys over there in the next few years but if I did I would want it somewhere like in the film " a good year " where the wine tastes great and the women are gorgeous.

[chunks]

http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchli..._buyers_ma.html

It's a buyer's market in Dordogne

House1810THE lead news item on France 3 Perigords yesterday evening covered the

tumbling property prices

in the region.

Estate agents around Sarlat told of older properties

falling in price by around 15 per cent since the turn of the year,

and how they had many homes still on their books.

One agent said that he had 300 properties that had been up for sale for more than a year and that potential buyers were checking online, before putting in bids well below the sales price.

It would also seem that British buyers are tightening their belts and are no longer willing to spend large amounts, while buyers are also looking to purchase new builds.

Spain, Ireland, France....we are next.

A Place in France

What ever happened to those two muppets Nippy and Nigel who bought and did up a place there. The tv series was on a couple of years ago.....quite entertaining in aFawlty towers kind of way.

[wickywackywoo]

http://www.thisfrenchlife.com/thisfrenchli..._buyers_ma.html

It's a buyer's market in Dordogne

House1810THE lead news item on France 3 Perigords yesterday evening covered the

tumbling property prices

in the region.

Estate agents around Sarlat told of older properties

falling in price by around 15 per cent since the turn of the year,

and how they had many homes still on their books.

One agent said that he had 300 properties that had been up for sale for more than a year and that potential buyers were checking online, before putting in bids well below the sales price.

It would also seem that British buyers are tightening their belts and are no longer willing to spend large amounts, while buyers are also looking to purchase new builds.

Spain, Ireland, France....we are next.

Excellent news! I love the Dordogne and would love to buy a place there one day.

[margesimpson]

Excellent news! I love the Dordogne and would love to buy a place there one day.

I viewed 12 properties last April and September in the Charente and Limousin and into the Dordogne and have all 12 internet sales pages bookmarked.

Of the 12, only four have sold - one has been on the market for three years. I felt really sorry for the owners because they were desperate to sell and move on, but they simply were asking too much.

Of the eight that are still for sale, seven have been reduced by 10%, 20% and in one case 35%. Nine were owned by Brits (although three were empty when we visited because two were holiday homes and the other had gone back to the UK because of family problems).

I was due to return in April of this year, but cancelled viewings because I feel prices will fall further.

So once again the problem isn't just falling prices - it's a lack of buyers at any price.

[Guest grumpy-old-man]

Is Durdoygne a nice part of France to buy? Very interested if so. Are prices dropping across the whole of France or just in certain areas. I have heard that buying property and selling there is a beaurocratic nightmare and they will tax you extremely heavily so I am still unsure of the market there. Could be some good buys over there in the next few years but if I did I would want it somewhere like in the film " a good year " where the wine tastes great and the women are gorgeous.

I think this depends on if you are an ar$ey english person who can't be ar$ed to learn any French, & yet also expects everyone to run around after you, put no research into the French property process at all, make all the wrong descisions, use English companies to carry out all the legal work, buy from English immobiliers that are not registered.....

or perhaps you choose not to do any of the above. We found it a very, very simple process, from start to finish.

we also found all the other services that the English seem to struggle with quite easy, I put it down to my "have a go French launguage skills" & always asked for help starting with the phrase " I do not speak very good French, please can you help me" in a quiet voice, wait my turn quietly & always smiled.

[SeenItAllBefore]

I spend a lot of time in the Lot, the region immediately south of the Dordogne. The market for old stone houses there is heavily dependent on british buyers and I haven’t heard of anything selling since things stalled in the second half of 2004 in the UK. All the brits I have met who have settled over there come from the South-East so I am surprised that things have not picked up in tandem with the current boom in that area. If anything the differential between rural France and the South-East has widened even further in the last couple of years - you can buy a big, restored place in a nice village for less than half what you’d sell one for one in the Home Counties. Despite this, the fashion for buying in rural France has just waned for some reason. I know people who bought in 2002 for £250,000 and spent another £100,000 in restoration costs but now can’t get their money back.

[tahoma]

I'm off around France & Spain shortly in a motor home, mainly to case out where I would like to buy/rent there. Wouldn't mind Midi-Pyrenees as I want to be near the mountains, or maybe Aquitaine for the sea...

Learning French and Spanish already. I agree with GOM - how far would some pompous French twit get over here if they had no English?

[Goldfinger]

I'm off around France & Spain shortly in a motor home, mainly to case out where I would like to buy/rent there. Wouldn't mind Midi-Pyrenees as I want to be near the mountains, or maybe Aquitaine for the sea...

Learning French and Spanish already. I agree with GOM - how far would some pompous French twit get over here if they had no English?

Tahoma, my best wishes for you planned trip, by the way. I think the area around San Sebastian/Biarritz/Dax is very nice, since you have the

fantastic Atlantic coast (e.g. arround Hossegor/Capbreton), but also mountains nearby as well as these fantastic cities like San Sebastian,

Bayonne and Biarritz. I just love the dunes and those forrests Napoleon planted. And the food!

[wickywackywoo]

I bought in Morbihan, Brittany (south Brittany, with slightly better weather). Mine is rented out on a 3 year lease to a lovely young French couple.

I think this will get hit the hardest as it is overflowing with brits (also germans & amercians apparently, although I never really met any)

Hello grumpy-old-man

I've been thinking of buying in France for a long time and probably will when prices have crashed.

Couple of questions which you may be able to help with (or anybody else who knows).

What is the French equivalent of counci tax like? I realise that's a broad question, but is it generally more expensive than its UK equivalent or less. I am likely to buy in either Brittany or the Dordogne for about £150k and live there six months of the year. Do you still have to pay the council tax equivalent when it's empty? I believe there are concessions in the UK when a house is empty.

Obviously it could get pricey if you are paying local taxes in both countries.

Also, any idea on the land tax. I'm hoping to get somewhere with an acre or two.

Any help much appreciated, I have searched the web but found it hard to get anything useful.

Edited May 24, 2007 by wickywackywoo