Learning about Buying French Real Estate

The title of this is no joke. There is SO much to learn, as a foreigner buying property in... well, a foreign (to them) country.
Thank goodness for Realtors who are prepared to take the time to instruct, answer the gazillion questions and guide, most of all. We have been dealing with two different realtors, to be precise. One of them is English, been in France 13 yrs, is fluent in the language and owns the realty office from which he works. The other is a French national working for an English company who is semi-fluent in English, but we are finding that lots gets lost in translation. We are treading very carefully with this one.
First thing to know about Realtors in France. They do not have to sit ANY exams or be licensed to operate. The owners of the Realty company do, however. They are the Fall Guys, so to speak, except when it comes to hiring and firing of their independent contractor realtors. This is all a bit 'foreign' to us, when we come from highly regulated Realty Industry in both NZ and the USA. It makes no sense to us that anyone can become a Realtor here, and do it as a hobby and a way to make pocket change, with little more than a short course in form filling. The French Govt. makes it easy to be employed but not to be fired. No matter if we find our Realtors ethics challenging, there is no recourse for us as the client. Who do you complain to if they are independent contractors? Head Office cannot fire them, according to our source.
When I started this blog we had two realtors. We just declined to counter on the one property we really wanted to purchase, because the owners (French) do not see the renovations needed as we see them (cost of), and as it was their family home (Now ill parent in care, and they grew up there, so lots of baggage) they are finding it hard to let go (just our opinion). So we say farewell to the first of our properties, the Maison Maitre, which we would love to have renovated, but it wasn't to be. Onwards and upwards. Such a pretty area, and we love the trees lining the highway.

About those fees!
The price of a house is advertised with two prices generally. It is the law that the realty company has to advertise the price that the seller wants for the property, and then the Realtor's fees are added. These are known as Honoraires and are noted as a Euro amount AND percentage of the sellers price. This can range from 5-8+%. On TOP of that, you will have the Notaires fees. The Notaire is ESSENTIAL to ALL transactions. The Notaire is a specially trained Lawyer who does all the conveyancing/anything to do with the property. You do NOT need a Realtor to buy a property in France. You DO need a Notaire. While Notaire fees are generally advertised as being between 7 and 10 % of the sellers price, we were advised to budget for the 10%, because fees/taxes make up most of this.
If you want to avoid paying two lots of fees on top of the sellers price, we highly recommend that you search the Notaires site for properties that they represent.
https://www.immobilier.notaires.fr/
Also...If you pass a property with a For Sale sign (A Vendre, in French) on the gate, you can go to the house and knock on the door, and ask them for all the details/viewing.
You do NOT have to buy this through the realtor UNLESS they have shown you the house and provided you with any kind of service.
As a Notaire is essential to the purchase process, you DO have to purchase using a Notaire, so those fees are a given, and you should definitely budget for them.

For example: A house costs 150k euros. If you use the services of a Realtor,  they will charge you 6% (common) you are now paying 159k euros for the house. Add to that the 10% (On the sale price not including the realtors fees) for the Notaire, and you are adding another 15k euros to the price, over and above the Realtors. So, now you are paying 174k euros for the house...TOTAL. Are you prepared to buy a house in France? This is how the purchase is structured.

If you cut out the Realtor, take 9k off the total. Makes a difference!
Dont forget that you still have Insurance, Electricity (is expensive), Internet, heating (wood burner/electric/gas/solar etc), Fosse Septique (Septic Tank pumping), and/or Mains Drains. A cord of wood for the fireplace can cost around 250euros, depending on how short the cuts are. The longer the piece of wood, the less the price. You just have to get your chainsaw out to cut it to fit the firebox.

This is not a recommended method, and I went to help for the balance of the cutting. After Waz sharpened the chain, it was like slicing through butter, and we cut and stacked in a flash.

So, here we are, looking at more real estate, and further north. We have discovered the lovely town of Cognac and what I like to call the Golden Triangle of Cognac, Saintes and St Jean d'Angely...did I mention this before?...so we have been looking for a home somewhere in the middle. It isn't too far from any of these towns, and then we discovered Jarnac, on the currently flooded Charente River.

We had to meet our second realtor here at his office. We spent a couple of hours looking at properties on his computer screen (in comfort - big screen, comfy couches) and identifying two properties that might float our boat, as we like to say. We arranged to meet after lunch...lunch being the most important event of the day....everything closes at noon (except the restaurants) and dont open again until 1.30-2pm....BUT...
We arrived around the corner at the recommended Bar/restaurant, at 5 minutes to noon. We asked if we could sit at a table for two. NON! We are five minutes early and the kitchen is not ready until 12.
Ok..laughter all around, silly us! and we order a Grand Crème in the meantime...6.40euros. Ouch!
By the time we had finished our coffee the kitchen was opening...5 mins later! hmm....and we were shown to our table. The menu was extensive and the daily specials looked good, but we decided on the a la carte menu to order from...well, it was on the blackboard, actually. Waz chose a Burger...they are fat and juicy and you can order how cooked you want the meat. He likes medium, but this medium was a little au bleu. Caramelized onions, Comte cheese, and large slice of tomato. Delish! Along with the salad and some home fries it was fantastic, he said.

 I ordered something we had seen others eating on our last visit in December, in Pompadour. This is Camembert, Grille...roasted in the over, sprinkled with garlic and something else delicious, to dip into the toast and the potatoes. The little salad was excellent, but the avocado wasn't.

This was a meal for two, seriously! I couldn't eat it all, and Waz helped a little, but I had to leave a good deal of it. Highly recommended.

Full up to the top, we went walking to fill in the time until we were to meet up with the realtor at 1.30pm...or 13.30, as they say here.

We walked along the Charente River after a quick trip (quick because it was freezing, and our faces were numb). You can see what I am wearing?? gloves, hood, scarf, two jackets etc. Nasty!

 Dont let that sun fool you. CCCOOoooold! And the wind whistling up the Charente was brutal. I reckon it was at least -5C
The pretty town square...well it was the square just up from the bridge over the river.

 That is the restaurant on the right, where we completed our meal and left, fully satisfied.

 Walking down towards the river, we did a big chuckle as we watched this large truck negotiate the skinny streets in the town. He did about a 16 point turn.

 We are in Cognac territory here. This is the headquarters of Courvoisier. It is actually a Chateau on the banks of the river.

 We marveled that all the flowers and plants were still outside while the store was closed for lunch. Nobody steals anything! Trust!

 That gorgeous Chateau across the river is also all about Cognac.

 A Narrow Boat on the Charente River at Jarnac.

 The stunning Chateau that is the home of Courvoisier Cognac. They have a very modern façade facing the river, and offer tours of the facility during the summer months. Lots of things are closed during the winter, as there are very few travelers. We are a minority, that's for sure.

 The lock to the left, on the river, and the pretty park with the gates. It looks like you can tie a boat up there, when it isn't in flood.

We met up with the realtor and in his vehicle we drove about 15 mins to the first home to view. Both houses today were shuttered, no heat and they were colder than hell.
The first one we had seen on the internet, already, and it was one I had saved to favorites, strangely.

I was impressed with the 'interesting' wall paper. When I say impressed, I mean that while the colors of the walls are ok, the paper is a little bright and challenging. This is for another post. We are going back tomorrow to take our own photos, so you will have to wait for those:)
The house sits overlooking vineyards in an area known as premium Cognac growing countryside. I will have to research this further, but there are degrees of premium soil for the cognac grape varieties.
It is on a hill overlooking the gorgeous valley below, and while the wind was fierce when we visited, we are rather hoping that it isn't windy ALL the time, there. A breeze in summer might be welcome, however. The winters are dry, and we are hoping the summers are too. We hate the humidity of the Florida summers.

We didn't take photos this time around, preferring to really look, absorb, and think about how we might live in this house, and what changes we might make. Not too many, as it turns out.

Our next stop was on the outskirts of the town of Cognac. Not too far from the middle of town, but far enough to be somewhat rural, and in a hamlet. Close houses/neighbors, gorgeous outlook from two covered terraces, top and bottom, but an old house that was pretty mickey mouse, and a new part that was great, with three bedrooms, but the two just didn't work together. Too separate.
There was little land available, but the possibility to purchase land across the public right of way, directly below the property, and bordering a river at the bottom. Pretty, but I wasn't impressed with the price, then the amount of money we would have to commit to making it work for us.
I did some pretty serious thinking on it, as Waz really liked it. We like the location, but I dont want to live in a house I am always wondering how to live in, to be honest. I dont want to just 'make it work' for us.
That has since been crossed off the list, and we are returning to the first house, tomorrow, to take a further look, our own photos and discuss various issues with the realtor. One of the plusses on this property is that it is Turnkey. We can walk in there, with the way it is right now, and live in it fully furnished, which totally works for us. Until we have all our various shipments of household effects from both the US and NZ, we have nothing. We can keep the pieces of furniture we like, and sell the rest.
This house has been rented out as a holiday let, so it comes complete with EVERYTHING you might need to live there. There are many such properties in France like this.
The price is right, and the location is great. It is in a small hamlet of wine growers, with a Cognac storehouse opposite the house. The small village down the hill is accessible through the vineyards. Anyone can walk through farmland, as long as they dont damage crops etc.
The village has a gas station, a Boulangerie, a Mairie (Mayors office) and a couple of other stores, as well as a Chateau. The town we would use as our main center for commerces/hospital/medical/dental etc, is a large one and just 10 mins from the house. We went there today to check it all out. We will go to the other smaller town nearby, tomorrow, to see what is there, also. Supermarket shopping and all other stores are in this larger town.

We started out today going somewhere else, and took the long way there, of course, through some of the most stunning countryside we have seen. Huge valleys that looks well groomed - all those huge fields recently ploughed or bright green with their winter wheat crop. Stunning.

Everywhere you travel in France, there are Chateau. This is just another one. We were travelling very much up hill and down dale. Glorious loooong views.

 Thank goodness the locals are fixing these lovely buildings up.

 Cognac vines everywhere. Dont know how I managed to get that fire hydrant in the photo, lol.

 This is a lovely renovated farm house at the bottom of the valley.

 We arrived in the town at 1.30pm...13.30! We thought we might be too late for lunch, as we have been turned away at restaurants at this time before.
We had gone into the E. Leclerc supermarket to take a look around, as this might be one of our 'locals'. Cant tell you where, yet:)
As in many of these complexes, they have a Bistrot. We took advantage of the fact that they serve Dejeuner (lunch) until 1400 (2pm).
The Plat du Jour...plate of the day....was Pork Cutlets with frites and salad. 7.50 euros. We ordered a Grand Crème before the food arrived, which isn't normal, but we aren't normal...just desperately needed that coffee!
The meat was excellent and plentiful...two cutlets! and perfectly cooked, as were the frites. The salad was palatable, covered with a vinaigrette. Waz ordered the same. It was the least expensive option, and usually the Plat du Jour is good.

Satisfied we went shopping!
Well, Waz needs new slippers...warm ones...these might do it??? Puppies!:)

 We didn't purchase anything, but we did look at everything.
This Belgian chocolate shop was very inviting, and I managed a nice conversation with the woman inside. The chocolates were only for looking at:) At least for me!

After lunch we took one way streets up to the top of the town...right on the top of the hill. Of course there is a Chateau there, but this isn't it. This row of Town houses is rather gorgeous. the view out the back down the valley is glorious. We loved the town house at the end.

 THIS Is the Chateau. On the building on the left hand side is the WW11 memorial. The sculpture is lovely, and there are way too many names on the wall, per usual.
The Chateau is old, of course, and I dont remember when it was built, but it needs renovation. The walls are limestone and crumbling. You want to touch them, but they would crumble at your touch.

 There is a large conference center on the right there, with a gorgeous roof - kind of a Ski-jump roof, if you follow me.
It was also FREEZING up here.
Down we went, found the local Lidl and Intermarche, the Hospital and various other places we would need to know. Time to head for home. We figured to go the fast way home, this time.
We had to stop for petrol in Villebois Lavalette, and in the meantime we stopped at the next door Renault dealer to see how much a NEW vehicle would be. Our French conversation was a bit limited, but I understood most of what we said, if I couldn't reply very well, but they got the message of what we were looking for. Our choice of multi-purpose vehicle is 13k euros new!WOW! Ok...No! We dont want you to order for delivery tomorrow! hmm...how did that happen, lol.

On the way home, I love driving down this row of trees which are privately owned. They will be glorious in the spring.

Home for a much needed cup of coffee, a short break to deal with business and a long walk. We stopped up the road at a lovely home under renovation by an English fella, to return his dog to the house. It tried to follow us up the road. I met Max, one of the locals who was on the end of a chainsaw, and introduced myself. He was felling a large old tree to let the sun in on the back side of the house. We shut the dog inside and I rejoined Waz out on the road.
It was so quiet, on our walk and we took the time to just stand and appreciate the quiet, the birds, the sound of far off planes, and the fresh, cold air. Lovely:)
Time for bed. We have that Notaires appointment tomorrow at 9am. Looking forward to finding out more.

Well, that's it for today. Stand by for photos tomorrow...IF we decide this is the house for us, and it checks out properly.



Night night.