cathies

mcburja, please keep us updated Re your search. The house Kerouac posted looks nice.

Mathieu

Wow, sure is a nice house. Love the exterior - gardens, small pool and all.

Just out of curiosity, would the asking price be considered fair or good value in terms of location, structures, amenities, etc. ? Is that a fair price for what you're getting ? or is it too much... or a bargain ?

Good luck with your search mcburja.

Alec

t in Lot is pronounced.

pavot

Thanks for the help, cathies and Alec. I'll look into the Albas area, and I'll breathe a sigh of relief over my pronunciation skills.

I'd better start my own thread.

kerouac

Pavot, Lot is pronounced Lot just like in English, although perhaps the French pronunciation is a bit closer to Lut than Lot.

Mathieu, the last I heard, the owner was already expecting to accord a discount to any interested buyer. (He is a not-very-famous British spy thriller author.)

Mathieu

Thanks Kerouac. I've a passing interest in Real Estate prices:value and of course I wouldn't have a sense of what that might have been for the listing you posted. However if I were to consider it terms of dollars to euros for a similar sized, rural, property here in S. Ontario on the same size of land, it does seem a bit overpriced.

mpprh

You can check out house prices across France using http://www.leboncoin.fr

bilboburgler

Pavot, do you say "pavo"? ;-)

bilboburgler

Mathieu, I have friends and relations in the Ontario area and they are always amazed at the low prices in their area compared to France and rural France.

mcburja

I do think that it depends on what you're looking for. We also live in southwestern Ontario, and if you're looking at new houses here vs. new construction villas in France, then perhaps France does seem more expensive.

However, we're hoping to find une maison du village en pierre, which doesn't really exist here in quite the same way, so price comparisons are more difficult. Also depends on how highly one values the charm of a 15th C home vs. a 19th or 20th C "old" house here. We live in a great Victorian c.1878, and love it for the characteristics of that period, but in France, we really hope to find something much older than that, which in some respects is priceless.

So going back to my original two questions - any further advice on off season weather in different parts of the Languedo, and/or finding a good estate agent?

Pvoyageuse

It is difficult to recommend a good estate agent when you haven't yet decided on the area - Languedoc is pretty large and what local agents know best is ... well, the local market.
Have a look at Céret since you are not enthusiastic about Prades or the area between Perpignan and Narbonne : Fitou, or Gruissan and Leucate (the old village, not the new resorts).

susan001

I recently visited the Lot, and have thoughts of returning (with some dreams of buying something there -- probably not realistic in my case). I also visited the Languedoc, and many other places. Of all the places I saw, the Lot was my hands down favorite.

mcburja

PVoyageuse - it was really the gite owner (who would walk into the house we were renting and yell at my children for not hanging up their pool towels properly) who I was not enthusiastic about, so I truly will look at the area around Prades.

Susan - what was it about the Lot that won your heart?

hetismij2

Not Languedoc, but I know of a really nice house for sale in Limousin. An internet friend is selling up and moving back to the UK. It has a pool, and a separate holiday let.
30 minutes from Limoges airport.

Cathinjoetown

I am a U.S. citizen married to a UK citizen. When we moved to France four years ago I applied for and received a 10-year titre de sejour, relatively easily. The following may or may not apply to a part-time resident, we live here full time. But, if you can get a titre, it certainly eliminates the hassle of repeated long-stay visa applications.

Requirements change but be prepared to supply copies of your birth certificates, proof of residence, usually supplied by the mayor of your village or commune and, more respected, an EDF billing statement, your marriage license, evidence of both health insurance and financial self sufficiency. You do not need to disclose all your financial details--I think we just supplied our estimated pensions and social security monthly payments from the various providers.

Some or all of these documents may be required to be supplied in French, translated by a traducteur assermenté. Your mayor's office should have a list of approved translators, charges are around 35€ per page.

In our experience, none of these docs were required to be translated to purchase our house but we did supply birth and marriage certificates to the notaire. The translations were just for the titre de séjour for me and later, when my husband turned 65, for both of us to enter the French health system.

General advice, always start with the mayor's office--you may be sent elsewhere but it, for us, was amazing and gratifying that our local mairie did so much. And, as a coutesy and to lean the local ins and outs, I suggest introducing yourself at the first opportunity to M. or Mme le maire after your house purchase is completed.

A word about health insurance, you will not be covered automatically by any reciprocal agreement with the UK unless your husband is eligible for a UK state pension. Citizenship is not enough. For six-month stays, some form of travel insurance is probably your best option.

We live in Haute Garonne, not too far from Languedoc but I can't help much with house-hunting. We did a lot of searching on the net, Green Acres and similar. Our experience with agents was spotty, there's no such thing as multi-list but sellers can list properties with several agents. As with anywhere, the more specific you are about your wants and needs, the less likely you will be shown all the junk that has been on the books for years.

Very best of luck!

Cathinjoetown

How could I foget passports, everyone will want those!

kerouac

FNAIM is the syndicate of French real estate agencies and the members pool all of their offers at http://www.fnaim.fr/

StCirq

If you're spending summers in Canada, and if you haven't already done so, I would strongly suggest you take a trip to the Languedoc in mid-winter, to get a sense of what it's like at that time of year.

kerouac

That is extremely true. People tend to fall in love with places during the summer. You need to see the same areas around February to see if they still appeal to you.

hetismij2

I've only spent a week in Languedoc and I nearly left early. The equivalent of the Mistral was blowing and it nearly drove me mad. DH agreed we'd leave the following day if the wind was still blowing, but it stopped and we managed 3 lovely days there. I don't think I could live with that wind. Even the locals were getting upset by it.
It is an area popular with British people, we heard nearly as much English as French at markets and in shops.
Our hosts were British, who bought their house and holiday let on a whim almost, whilst holidaying there themselves. They hadn't realised what the winter was like there, and they now go to warmer climes for a month every winter.