French Property Tips

There is a huge selection of French property, which is both a blessing and a curse.

The blessing is that you can have almost any type and size of house you want: town apartment, village house, farmhouse, château, maison bourgeoise and so on. Furthermore, you can have it with various amounts of land, with or without swimming pool, various outbuildings and so on. It can be in the mountains, plains or near the ocean. The choices are almost endless.

The curse is that it is very difficult to narrow down the huge selection to a specific set of houses. After all, if there are only 5 houses to choose from, the decision is not hard. If there are 5 000, then it is much more difficult. Here are some tips on how to go abot finding a property and narrowing down the choice.

To begin with, one can start by looking at the different regions of France, each of which have their own characteristics. In terms of weather, the south is generally hot and dry, the north cooler and wetter, the west has mild winters while the east has a continental climate. In terms of food and wine, the south-east has Mediterranean cuisine, while the south-west enjoys rich fruit harvests. Along the coasts, fish dishes are common. Inland, cheese and meat feature more often on the menu. Of course, each region has it’s own distinctive wine. There are also large cultural differences, for example the Dordogne has a large resident English population, while the Riveria is the playground of the international jet set. These various differences are discussed in more detail in various online references as well as books about France and French property. Perhaps on this basis, you may wish to narrow your search to one or two specific regions.

The next thing to consider is specific requirements that may further restrict your search geographically. For example, do you need to be near an airport or a train station? Do you want to be in the mountains or near the beach. Such questions can help you further pinpoint the specific areas that you should focus on for your house search.

Once you have set the geographical parameters for your search, the next step is to define the type of property you want. To begin with, what type of house (e.g. farmhouse or townhouse or château)? Also, what size of house, and with what attributes (number of bedrooms, number of bathrooms, size of kitchen, and so on). Then one can consider the outside of the house. How much land? Number, size and type of outbuildings. Is a swimming pool required? As one progresses through this process, one eventually defines the perfect house.

The next step is to start the search. Although one can do this in France, most people find it easier and cheaper to begin by looking online. There any many useful internet sites offering a wide selection of French properties. You can go through these to get a better idea of what is available and at what prices.

At some point, you will be ready to start contacting estate agents, either by EMAIL from the comfort of your home, or face-to-face in France. The key information you will need to provide them are:

• The geographical areas that you are interested in.
• The type of house and property you are looking for. However, you need to be careful about separating REQUIREMENTS from PREFERENCES. If you give a lengthy description of the perfect house, you may be in for a long wait. However, if you are clear about what you must have and what you are willing to compromise on, the estate agent will be in a better position to help you.
• Your price range.
• Your contact details.

I find that it is useful to write all of this down and make copies. Paper copies can be left with estate agents that you visit, while online copies can be emailed to estate agents that you find online.

Of course, this is only part of the process. One will still need to visit properties to inspect them, negotiate a price for your chosen property, go through the purchase process, and so on. However, the first step is to decide on where you want to live and what type of house. The clearer you are on these points, the faster and easier the search will be.

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