Castles in France for less than a NYC apartment
 

Six castles in France that cost less than an apartment in NYC

http://www.buzzfeed.com/benrosen/6-c...artment-in-nyc

yes, but where are the castles? within commuting distances of the jobs that pay for those apts?

what amenities and staff do they have? heated pool? gym? theater? fine dining?

Spoken like a true New Yorker. Actually I think it was more of a joke than a serious comparison. In fact when I read it I was thinking that while the price seemed so 'reasonable' - at least compared to the NYC apts - that probably the cost of upkeep would make it exorbitant to live in even if you could afford to buy them. But doesn't look like any of those NY properties have pools or gyms or much at all in the way of amenities. The descriptions are pretty funny.

The purchase price of a château is not really representative of the cost. Maintenance and taxes will be far more expensive than even an apartment in New York.

Funny, nonetheless.

It's only for the moneyed, no peons that have to work for a living. Was thinking about buying one on the ones in Normandy, but couldn't find enough loose change.

Do you have any idea what it costs to heat one of those places?

It would be like trying to heat the Hearst Castle, which is actually an accumulation of parts of several castles and mansions from Spain (Aragon) and France. But of course the weather in that region of California is a bit more temperate.

I can't tell you how many French aristocratic families I've known and met over the years who inherited châteaux and were completely bankrupted by them. It's not a pretty picture, unless you've got millions and millions of euros.

I want that one in Normandy. We've driven past it and liked it, but there was no for sale sign on it at the time. If it gets down to $2 million I'll buy it. Unless I see something I like that's going for $1.5 million first.

>>yes, but where are the castles? within commuting distances of the jobs that pay for those apts?

what amenities and staff do they have? heated pool? gym? theater? fine dining?<<

You customise it as a B&B/gite business, if necessary by doing a lot of the work yourself:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_WjaVTv3Ozc
http://chezjallot.com/

That will not bring in the type of income you get from a major job in finance or law or media in NY. You can;t run these places on $50K a year.

As for the first one - $1.6 M - the people across the hall from us sold their 2 bedroom, 1.5 bath tiny kitchen apt (but recently renovated) for about $1.3 million - in a middle class pre-war building (elevator, super and janitor but no doorman and certainly no foo foo amenities. Of course the maintenance is only about $1300 per month - which I suspect wouldn't begin to cover even the heat for a huge castle.

Patrick, I have to make a note to myself not to click on any of your links unless I an hour to spare for watching fascinating videos about insanely optimistic and creative Brits. Friends of yours?