Thursday, June 2, 2011

The perfect French house?




More often than not when I view a house for a client, it does not live up to expectations or meet important criteria which means that the majority of houses I view never make the short-list of ‘possible properties’ to show my clients. There could be many reasons for this such as location, the state of the property or unrealistic pricing. So when I see a property which ticks all the boxes, I can’t help getting excited.

Today was one such day when I saw what I might even be prepared to call the perfect French house. By that I mean the type of house which is the epitome of the French dream for many; a classic, stone farmhouse full of character with lots of original features, some outbuildings and land, quiet but not isolated and lots of potential for the new owners to make it their own. This one even had roses around the door. What’s more, it was in that sought-after location on the edge of a nice village within walking distance of a bakery and a cafe.



Actually this is also the type of property that so many people are looking for in the UK but the prices have become prohibitive over the last decade putting such properties out of the reach of most of us. This is not the case here in the Ariège and the Haute Garonne though where you can still find a fantastic farmhouse (needing a bit of TLC) for between 200,000 and 300,000 Euros.

Thus, when I am exploring, I am always on the look-out for any property that might fit this bill. Certainly in this region we are lucky enough to have plenty of lovely traditional stone farmhouses but the difficulty is finding those owners ready or willing to sell.

Sure enough the house I just viewed is exactly what my clients have been looking for (unsuccessfully) for the last two years and they put in an offer on the first viewing which, after a bit of negotiation, has now been accepted. I do like a happy ending.


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