Houses in magazine articles

[PaulT]

Reading the various magazine articles on buying houses in France I also look at the pictures of property for sale in the area featured and often think 'that looks good value for money'.

Has anyone actually gone to look at a house that is shown in one of the properties and found it to be OK or is it like any other property on an Immobiliers site, very different in the flesh, or is that stone?

Paul

[Val_2]

Reminds me of a very naiive woman some years back who bought a house via local brit agent over here without even seeing the property, just a photo in a magazine and a description. Well, we went there a few weeks later after her initial first purchasing visit with the chap who had been asked to keep an eye on it and do some odd jobs and it was little more than a shack built into the mud of a hillside with dirt floors all through and only one standpipe for water and a couple of lightbulbs on a bit of wire strung up,plus a corrugated tin roof. The woman was so upset by this because she had been promised a house ready to move into with a shower and heating and it was little more than a primitive cave dwelling as the bank was so damp. I did hear later that she asked that same agent to buy it back and he sold it for a profit to a local farmer who had wanted it for the land anyway so he could knock it down. So the moral of this story is never to judge a french property by a photograph as they are always completely different and in many cases very dissapointing indeed.

[Cat]

If a house seems to be very cheap, there will be a good reason (and it is unlikely to be generosity).  As in the UK, condition and/or proximity to something horrible are the two most common reasons.  Size is another, some of these houses are tiny.

 

[johnnyboy]

Absolute must to go and see for yourself!!

 

We went to see a place a few years ago"would not be on the market very long" Had a bad feeling as we drove through the town,very run down and only the church looked well kept.

 

The "Mill" was in a decrepit corner of town with the abbatoire just on opposite side of lane!!!

 

After taking photo's of it all for posterity "call it grim reminder" we high-tailed it out of town asap!!!!!

 

Often wonder if anyone was silly enough to buy it:):):)

 

The philosophy of studying the house and surrounding area in the flesh has stood us in good stead throughout our protracted buying process and we are very happy with our new home "or will be when its finished". Had to see lots of places that were thought to be right for us by agents,only for us to be horrified by some and enchanted by others.Fingers crossed for Sept in hopes we can take our first vanload down!!

Johnnyboy.