A Place in the Sun - A very positive report?

[Monika]

Amanda Lamb on Channel 4 "A Place in the Sun" was very positive about the French Housing Market.

Could it be that there is no Credit Crunch in France because the French don't borrow on their Credit Card as the English or Americans do? Will the Pound sink with the Dollar? Should we now join the European Monetary system or is Brown waiting until one Pound is worth one Euro?  

[Catalpa]

How long ago was the program made? Or were her comments recent?

[Gastines]

My wish on these shows is that they would give a few more facts on the finances side. It would be more use to potential buyers in any area if they had some idea of the costs involved in buying ,selling,CGT and the old bugbear of Inheritance. After watching Location.ditto ditto a few times I've come to the conclusion that everyone in UK must be a millionaire, perhaps a show for people at the other end of the budget would be interesting.

Regards.

[Pickles]

[quote user="Catalpa"]How long ago was the program made? Or were her comments recent?[/quote]

According to the end credits, the programme was made by cutting between a "find a property for these two people" in Corsica from early 2007, and some more recent material looking at different parts of France, with early 2008 exchange rate captions and voice-over.

Regards

Pickles

[Val_2]

I am always amazed at just how much money SOME of the people featured have to spend on buying a holiday home overseas. If they have taken out a large mortgage or used their UK property to finance it, I wonder how long it will last before they are forced to sellup especially if they are in employment and get made redundant etc. I know I couldn't sleep with all that money to pay back. Also they don't seem to have any normal folks on those shows trying to buy a home with a lower budget and they never touch upon the real problems of health,finding work,speaking the language either. Pure entertainment value only.

[Renaud]

How about Amanda Lamb replacing Alistair Darling?

[bigears]

hi

To my mind these people and programmes are not responsible.  They always paint an unrealistic picture.  Comments such as 'you can rent this out for 500 a week' without any reference to paying local tax and what it is, is not responsible to my mind.  How many people have been seduced by this type of programme only to find the reality is not quite as rosy.  Inheritance issues, tax issues, employment issues an health service issues spring straight to mind as important considerations.  Surely  most of 'our houses' will appeal to the foreign buyer market, which is driven not so much by the french economy but by the foreign buyers home county's economy.  Batten down the hatches for a few years. 

[Monika]

Surely  most of 'our houses' will appeal to the foreign buyer market, which is driven not so much by the french economy but by the foreign buyers home county's economy.  Batten down the hatches for a few years. 

Why would "our houses" only appeal to the foreign Market? I thought there was a new incentive on the way for French people to buy and "allow mortgage payment against tax"?

To my mind these people and programmes are not responsible.  They always paint an unrealistic picture.  Comments such as 'you can rent this out for 500 a week' without any reference to paying local tax and what it is, is not responsible to my mind. 

I agree and I see red when they say that the renovation will cost such and such, totally underestimating the costs of a renovation.

[bigears]

hi

the french do not wish to pay what they consider to be inflated prices, prces that the foreign buyer often finds reasonable.  Its not just the 'english' estate agents here in france but also the french ones who now realise that if the property appeals to the foreign market, it commands a higher price tag.  Unfortunately the foreign buyer is a bit more scarce today.  I'm in the limousin, it may be different elsewhere.

[Higgy]

We watch them for pure enjoyment but wonder where the money comes from especially the

younger buyers.  Our Cottage in the Correze was bought in 2001 we had to get a new hot water

boiler, septic tank, replace some oak flooring and give it loads of tlc as it had been empty for 5 years.

But the total budget for the house and repairs came under £30k.  We still love the place to bits and will be

there in April and then again for the Summer Hols.  We saw loads more for a higher budget but were

realistic as to what we could afford at that time and mindful of future running costs and taxes.

It is a 2 bed Cottage with 2 caves a floored grenier + nearly half an acre of grass, in a village with shops.

 

[Sprogster]

Monika,

The so called new incentive in allowing interest on a portion of your mortgage on your primary residence to be offset against tax, is capped at such a low limit to make it meaningless.

The type of old rural house that seems to appeal to foreign buyers does not find favour with most French buyers, who prefer new properties that are cheaper to heat and maintain, in urban areas near to work.

Most foreign buyers in France are second home owners and do not occupy their French properties through the winter and therefore do not have the same concerns as to the cost and practicality of heating an old house.

 

[Sprogster]

At the end of the programme it said in the titles that they were using exchange rates that applied in summer 2007.

Other than Paris and Pas de Calais, Amanda Lamb was advising caution and encouraging buyers not to be afraid to make low ball offers in what was a buyers market. The prospective buyers being shown around properties in Corsica ended up buying off plan in Dubai!

What they did not mention, is that there is a long standing element of hostility amongst locals to outside second home owners in Corsica, who have been known to burn them down!!

 

 

 

[LEO]

France ; "A Place in the Sun"

Taking the country as a whole, we get a little bit more sun than London and, a lot less sun than Spain or Portugal

I would hardly describe French living as , living in the sun!

[raindog]

[quote user="Sprogster"]

What they did not mention, is that there is a long standing element of hostility amongst locals to outside second home owners in Corsica, who have been known to burn them down!!

 

[/quote]

Yes the Corsicans are a bit like the Welsh in some respects.

[Val_2]

[quote user="LEO"]

France ; "A Place in the Sun"

Taking the country as a whole, we get a little bit more sun than London and, a lot less sun than Spain or Portugal

I would hardly describe French living as , living in the sun!

[/quote]

 

Certainly not here in Brittany, more like swimming with the ducks for the past year.

[Ian]

I quite like A Place in the Sun.

While I agree Brittany is hardly scorchingly sunny - I did see a version of the show that offered buyers somewhere in west Wales .. having lived there myself it makes Brittany look like the Kalahari!

On the subject of why don't they show us something more practical/prosaic etc - I have to say that I find the shows where they look at the bizarre, wacky and (often) expensive better viewing than when they take us to a constant stream of "...and here is another rather practical 3 bed on a lotissement - handy for school, work and the train station, with a low cost per sq metre and parking for the family saloon..". I know that's what most of us want - but it doesn't make for fun TV.

[cooperlola]

Well, of course the producers of these programmes aren't bonkers, are they Ian?  There are 250,000 or so Brits living here.  Clearly, the numbers actually moving over or buying here each year wouldn't produce an audience big enough for a programme on some obscure satelite channel, let alone one of the major ones.  These programmes aren't for people wanting to move, they're for a mass market audience of, mostly, dreamers who rarely get further away from home than their local supermarket.  Thus, it is unfair to treat them as a guide to moving abroad, they are just entertainment.  But the problems start when a small portion of that audience forgets what the programmes are for, and takes what they say as gospel and moves over here with the impression that watching an entire season of "Place in the Sun" has told them all they need to know about the process of changing the country you live in, and dragging your family with you.

[Iceni]

[quote user="cooperlola"]

But the problems start when a small portion of that audience forgets what the programmes are for, and takes what they say as gospel and moves over here with the impression that watching an entire season of "Place in the Sun" has told them all they need to know about the process of changing the country you live in, and dragging your family with you.

[/quote]

Some are born stupid, some achieve stupidity and some have stupidity thrust upon them. And so it will continue.

John

[Clair]

[quote user="cooperlola"]... These programmes aren't for people wanting to move, they're for a mass market audience of, mostly, dreamers who rarely get further away from home than their local supermarket... [/quote]

Ouch!

but true![:D]

[dragonrouge]

Raindog the quotation a 'bit like the Welsh' is I hope just a throw away remark? And one that was arrived at without very little thought process?

I feel a lesson coming on.

regards

[Ian]

Good point Coops. Just as well the TV schedules are not put together to protect the (surely very very teeny) "small proportion" of let's face it: bonkers viewers.  "I've watched it on reality TV - so now I know it all ...off I go!"

• I wonder how many parachute into rain forest armed with a poncho and hatchet cos they've seen Ray Mears (or worse Ant and Dec)?
• Begin a computer company, fuelled with business "know-how" after watching Sir Alan on The Apprentice?
• Or challenge their entrenched relationship / parenting beliefs and methods by exchanging spouses for a fortnight a la "Wife Swap"?

We the viewers need to take responsibilty for our own actions.  It's not Amanda Lamb's responsibility.

If I chose to take all my clothing advice from my more "flamboyant" gay friends in the style of "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy" - I would have only myself to blame for the result! [:)]

[cooperlola]

I entirely agree with you Ian.  But people do get very hot under the collar about the "facts" in these programmes, and the wonky view they project of life abroad.  The point is, n'est-ce pas, that that just is not what these programmes are really about.  They are entertainment, pure and simple.

[Frederick]

The comment has been made here that most second home buyers are foreigners ..........I suppose its a question of where you are ...in the South Vendee most holiday homes seem to be owned by the French .. Mostly  from Paris and from my observations used a lot less than the Brits holiday homes ....which has got me thinking ...."Is buying a second home on the coast to just leave empty.... in some cases for years un visited ...or at best  used once or twice a year somthing thats done to salt some cash away ? " The new road links that have made Paris an easy drive these days seems to have boosted the Vendee as far as house sales are concerned  in the village my place is in they seem to be selling quite fast even the very old  ones ..