holiday home

[Nebulous]

Hi folks

I've just joined the forum. We've holidayed in France on a regular basis and we are thinking about buying a holiday home there. We're getting a boat to Bilbao in late September, crossing the North of Spain then up the med coast fetching up in Calais almost 3 weeks later. In a caravan, with a dog.

We're planning on viewing some houses on the way, probably in the area around Carcassonne. Very much fishing in the bottom end of the pool- with a budget of around 60,000 euros.

The advice here seems to be don't! Expensive repairs, termites, electrics, shutters and buying fees all seem a real minefield. I'm glad of any suggestions, positive or negative, also suggestions on where to look, both area wise and specific houses welcome. Thanks

[andyh4]

I suggest you do some homework on the net first. Here is just one hit based on a search for Immobilier Carcassonne. Note that even with a 60k max they manage to slip in properties well out of that range.

http://www.logic-immo.com/vente-immobilier-carcassonne-tous-codes-postaux,60_99/options/groupprptypesids=1,2,6,7,12,15/pricemax=60000

lots of apartments, but fewer houses.

60k is not a big budget and you will have estate agent fees (possibly) and notaire fees to pay on top.

Do be prepared for some very basic structures with your budget if you are looking for a house.

It can however be done - good luck

Oh and welcome to the forum - excuse my manners

[NormanH]

You can certainly find a property in that price range

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/offres/languedoc_roussillon/?th=1&location=Toutes%20les%20communes%2011000&pe=3&ret=1

However house prices reflect not only the house itself  but other things such as the area of the town, whether there are any jobs (not a factor for you with a holiday home) and the condition of the house.

A simple example is that  Carcassonne itself is very depressed.

The restored 'Cité' is of course a huge tourist attraction, but if you look around the other part of the town you will find many empty shops, and there are loads of empty appartments for sale.

You can try an offer of aroubd 65/70% of the asking price.

It worked for me a couple of years ago a bit to the south of there.

[Chuck Norris]

Hi! Check out this catalogue https://tranio.com/france/ there are some decent options of holiday homes in different regions of France within 60K.

Also you can rent it out when you are absent to compensate expenses. Consider the idea of short-term rental, it promises 5-7% yields.

[Patf]

Houses in the Gers are relatively cheap. eg you can get a small townhouse in Mirande well within your budget. Also in the country, but will need more work.

One piece of advice - don't buy a house with a large garden, you'll be spending your entire holiday cutting the grass etc.

[alittlebitfrench]

There is no such thing as a 60 k euro house/appartement in France. Buy one for 60 k and expect to pay at least the same again turning it into somewhere liveable. Furthermore, once you have spent 120 k on the house it will be only worth 60 k....if you are lucky.

No point whatsoever. You will be chucking money down the drain. Not to mention the taxes and the stress.

Save your money. For me, 60 k is two holidays a year for the next 30 years. Or buy a motorhome like the rest of the French.

[Nebulous]

Hi folks - thanks very much for your comments. We have been looking at websites, reading up on what we need to do and have contacted a couple of estate agents.

We're looking for a village probably, 2-3 bedrooms, some outdoor space would be nice, without needing too much work! I'm certainly not looking to sink another 60k into it.

How can I find somebody who has bought for 60, spent 60 on it and is willing to sell for 60?

There is a lot of stuff out there which needs a ground up rebuild - basically a pile of stones that seem to have been moulded into a rough house shape. That may be ok for someone who can devote their life to it - but it isn't us.

This appealed to us and we thought it would be worth a look.

http://www.green-acres.com/en/properties/1638a-12250.htm

We're not going to be pressured into buying - It doesn't have to be this holiday, we can always research more and take another trip to view.

[alittlebitfrench]

Nebulous wrote:

"How can I find somebody who has bought for 60, spent 60 on it and is willing to sell for 60? "

Your answer is in your own post with that green acres advert. They are selling at 1200 euros per sq metre. They are having a laugh. More like 750 euros per sq metre.

Nothing to do they say !!!! Looks like an electrical nightmare.

I reckon they bought for 30k, spent 30 k and now selling at 60 k. Still worth only 30 K ish.

[Cendrillon]

Don't take too much notice of albf sometimes he has a very jaundiced view of things. Welcome to the forum by the way.

Undoubtedly a holiday home will cost you money to buy and maintain but it will also give you enormous pleasure and a second life.

Good luck with your search.

[mint]

OTOH, Cinders, sometimes albf hits the nail on the head!

I see a few holiday homes (or even full-time homes) around where I live and they do seem to languish on the market or simply get to look more and more unkempt because they are not lived in and taken care of all year round.

I agree that for 60 grand, you could holiday in a lot of lovely places for several years[:D]

[idun]

We had wondered about getting a pied a terre in France when we moved back to the UK and decided against it and I am glad for the reasons cited, maintenance etc etc and general costs. Also not knowing what the future held with regards to costs getting to and fro, ferries, motorway costs etc etc.

IF I was rich, or very well off, then maybe, but otherwise it is a resounding NON! from me.

ALBF, une dame I believe, et pas un mec[Www]

[NormanH]

That house looks to me to be near Capendu

Google Street View is your friend as you can look around the villages and get an idea of the area round about without even leaving home.

On the Toulouse side of Carcassonne, not far from the airport there  is this at Alzonne

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/989718842.htm?ca=13_s

It is of course nonsense to say that one can't find a house around 60,000€. Perhaps not in a desirable suburban part of Tours or a large town where people can get jobs, but if all you want is a holiday place in a village it is certainly feasible. Don't think of it as an investment though and don't expect to be able to re-sell easily. The factors that make a house cheap to buy also make it hard to sell.

I have paid 10,000, 15,000 and most recently  two and a half years ago,  25,000 (for an apartment  admittedly not a house).

I have never spent more than an extra 10k and never actually lost money, though only once did  I make any sort of profit on the sale.

My neighbours in Béziers have just sold after 17 years and had to reduce the price from 70,000 to 35,000, as the house needed completely renovating and it is in a squalid area.

House prices in the Aude where you are looking are pretty low as there is little work, but the climate is fine and communications not at all bad.

All the major supermarkets are available on the outskirts of Caercassonne, and there is a very recent Hospital.

On the other hand if you do need to do work be aware that such things as paint and electical equipment are very expensive.

[alittlebitfrench]

Norman wrote:

"It is of course nonsense to say that one can't find a house around 60,000€"

True, but its advertised price will be twice that. For example, if you can buy a house advertised at 120,000 euros for 60,000 euros you are of course buying a 60 k euro house.

Most areas of France are completely overpriced. A lot of houses in rural areas have negative value. That why new builds are so popular.

So if the OP looked at advertisements for 120 k houses instead with a view of knocking the seller down to 60 k then he is on a winner and should not lose money. Well, maybe a little.

[Nebulous]

[quote user="NormanH"]

On the Toulouse side of Carcassonne, not far from the airport there  is this at Alzonne

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/989718842.htm?ca=13_s

It is of course nonsense to say that one can't find a house around 60,000€. Perhaps not in a desirable suburban part of Tours or a large town where people can get jobs, but if all you want is a holiday place in a village it is certainly feasible. Don't think of it as an investment though and don't expect to be able to re-sell easily. The factors that make a house cheap to buy also make it hard to sell.

[/quote]

Thanks Norman - I like the look of that.  I'm not looking at it as an investment, more a bolthole, gradually moving to splitting my time fairly evenly between my current home and there.

[Nebulous]

[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]Norman wrote:

"It is of course nonsense to say that one can't find a house around 60,000€"

True, but its advertised price will be twice that. For example, if you can buy a house advertised at 120,000 euros for 60,000 euros you are of course buying a 60 k euro house.

Most areas of France are completely overpriced. A lot of houses in rural areas have negative value. That why new builds are so popular. [/quote]

I get that. I live in Scotland where there has been a constant battle to overcome rural depopulation. Houses have limited value and have at times been seen as a liability, rather than an asset. What has bailed them out and increased the selling prices has been an influx of people and money from elsewhere. So you get a bubble in London, people realise that they can get a 5 bedroom detached house for the price of their one bedroom flat and they ship out. Locals think they are silly for what they paid. They think they're lucky getting a house of that size at that price. Their enthusiasm wears off ...... but that's a different story.

Are you really saying that an absolutely silly offer is worth trying?

I like that for instance.

http://www.green-acres.com/en/properties/21538a-2753.htm

The agent claims it has been reduced already. Do you think 60k would come anywhere near it?

[alittlebitfrench]

Idun Wrote:

"Are you really saying that an absolutely silly offer is worth trying? I like that for instance. http://www.green-acres.com/en/properties/21538a-2753.htm The agent claims it has been reduced already. Do you think 60k would come anywhere near it? "

Good example Idun. That house is completely overpriced.

I would say that house is worth between 50 k and 60 k

800 euros per metre sq = 60,000 euros. But obviously it needs some work and it is not very practical house.

55 k max for me.

[alittlebitfrench]

Sorry Nebulous, I mixed you up with Idun in the above post.

Here is a website for you

http://www.meilleursagents.com/prix-immobilier/quillan-11500/

[NormanH]

Much depends on how kee,  the sellers are to sell.

1)The house in Quillan is on an English estate agent's site so is  automatically overpriced

If you can find who the original French agent is you stand a better chance of knocking them down, especially if it is a cash purchase.

2) Quillan is surrounded by absolutely lovely scenery and for the moment there is a rail connection to Carcassonne, though there is talk of that bit of the line finishing at Limoux, a town I personally prefer to Quillan.

3) There are quite a lot of English around there some of whom are desperately trying to sell up, as the honeymoon wears off, and they are worrying about Brexit (another thing which would have less impact on you if it for a holiday home)

The flat I bought in 2014 was on the market for 45,000. I said I didn't want to pay more than 30,000 with Notaire's fees included.

In the end I got it for about 500 more than that all fees paid.

If I were bothered to waste money 'modernising' it as the fashion victims of TV programmes seem to consider necessary I could have spent quite a bit. Just putting in double glazing and rewiring would be about 8000, but I haven't even done that..

here is another at Capendu

http://www.century21immoconseil11.com/trouver_logement/detail/589724705/?came_from=/annonces/achat-maison/s-0-/st-0-/b-0-100000/

A sim

[NormanH]

Is this  the one in Quillan on ay 99k?

http://www.century21-aci-quillan.com/trouver_logement/detail/665642175/?came_from=/annonces/achat/s-0-/st-0-/b-0-100000/tri-date-desc/

[mint]

Norman says, it depends on how keen the sellers are to sell.

Well, it also depends on how keen the buyers are to buy!  I am sure the OP would have weighed up the pros and cons and has already said that they are not in any great hurry.

It's one of those conundrums, isn't it?  When is the right time to buy?

With the pound at a lowish exchange rate and volatility could be expected until there is some definite government action on Brexit, there are more factors to consider even than in "normal" times.

In the last couple of years, I have seen purchasers from abroad paying prices that are absolutely eye-watering for the sorts of properties that no French person would consider buying.  And I mean NO French person as, not only did they take forever to sell, they did not have any French viewers!!!

TBH, movement in the exchange rate could potentially add thousands to the cost of purchase or indeed knock thousands off?[:-))]

I think that sudden changes to the exchange rate could have more of an effect frankly than making low offers and hoping the sellers would bite.

[Nebulous]

Yes that is the same one, which is also being offered at 90k.

That's another interesting one you've found in Capendu.

The first one I linked to is in Trèbes.

Thanks

[NormanH]

Trèbes is very handy for Carcassonne, and has a nice pleasure port on the Canal du Midi, but does get a lot of traffic going through as the main road (non-autoroute) to Narbonne goes through it as does a branch of the Minervois road from Béziers.

I go through it on average once a month.

The house looks as if it would be in the quieter bit off the road though..

This one is a bit closer to Béziers on the canal du Midi

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/967709099.htm?ca=13_s

at Argeliers

I think it is a private sale

[NormanH]

Going further over towards the coast you have this one betwee, Narbonne and Béziers, in Coursan which make it very handy for the beach or the Autoroute down to Catalunya:

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/1010936312.htm?ca=13_s

[grumpyaudeman]

Hi

Quillan is just down the road for me it's the pits After 18 months nearby cannot wait to move back to the Pays Basque The Aude is a very poor area cheap properties but poor services and the locals are not friendly beggars are everywhere begging a cigarette I have lived in France 20 years and this area is not on my hit list we have to travel 30 minutes along a tight gorge to Axat for a Doctor and dentist because there are no professionals locally

[Nebulous]

[quote user="NormanH"]Going further over towards the coast you have this one betwee, Narbonne and Béziers, in Coursan which make it very handy for the beach or the Autoroute down to Catalunya:

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/1010936312.htm?ca=13_s

[/quote]

Thanks very much Norman - that's very kind of you. That's the best one I've seen yet. Last year we travelled up from Girona and spent a few days on a campsite at Loupian near Mèze. We assumed property nearer the coast would be more expensive but I really like that.