Viewing a property in Languedoc

Our friend, James, had found an interesting stone building for us to view. We were looking for an old property to purchase and renovate, and because James lived in the area, and kept an eye out for attractive old buildings, we did not need to use a real estate agent, or immobilier, as they are called in France.

French estate agents are subject to strict laws and regulations. An agent must hold a licence called a carte professionnelle. James told us that there are many unethical people in the property market and anyone
using an estate agent should be sure to check their credentials.

Any property owner who wants to use the services of an estate agent to sell their property has to sign a mandate agreement giving the agent the authority to act on their behalf. There are two kinds of mandates, a mandat simple and a mandate exclusif. With the mandat simple, the owner can instruct several agents to sell the property at the same time. With the mandat exclusif, the owner can only use the one agent.

Most owners use the mandat simple, because they feel that the more agents trying to sell, the better. The problem with this, as far as the property seeker is concerned, is that in publicity, the agents are very reluctant to state exactly where the property is located.
This is because competing agents have a history of searching out the advertised property, and approaching the owner with an offer to sell the property at a lower commission. If a property is offered by more than one agent, the price can vary because of different commission rates, ranging from 5% to 10%.

We were up bright and early the next morning, partly because of jetlag and partly because we were excited to see the building in Ventenac. After our coffee (tea in my case) and delicious croissants, we drove the twenty minutes to Ventenac.

We drove through an avenue of old plane trees as we approached the village, turned a corner and there before us was the Chateau Ventenac overlooking the Canal du Midi. It looked beautiful in the morning light. We crossed the little bridge and took a road at the side of the chateau. Seconds later, we were parked in front of the building that could be our future home.












It wasn’t exactly love at first sight because the place was very run down, but we could see the possibilities. It was a very sound stone building and had the advantage of having a small cottage attached. The main building had been the stable for the chateau and we thought that the people who looked after the animals had lived in the little cottage.













The property had been abandoned for so long that there were mature trees and bushes growing in the courtyard, together with piles of old vines that were used for firewood.
The outside of the building looked very solid with only superficial damage to the rendering. It needed to have the dirt washed off, rendering repaired and a fresh coat of paint.













We knew we wanted a swimming pool and the courtyard was large enough to accommodate one. My wife had a great idea. She suggested having an elevated pool rather than one at the ground level of the courtyard. This would look a lot better, be safer and we wouldn’t have to dig as deep a hole.












We were more than satisfied with the outside of the building, and the village. Next, we look at the inside.

Find your French property at French-Property-Sale.

Trains, planes and automobiles…and boats to France

My wife and I were on our way to France to view an 18th Century building that we were seriously considering purchasing. This time, we flew into Carcassonne from Stansted Airport near London.

Holiday homes in Languedoc have become very popular with people from the UK and Ireland because of the convenient budget flights to the area from airlines like Ryan Air, EasyJet, Flybe, and BMI. These airlines fly from Birmingham, Blackpool, Bournemouth, Bristol, Dublin, East Midlands (Nottingham), Glasgow (Prestwick), Liverpool, Manchester, Shannon and Southampton.

They fly into airports in, or within easy reach of, Languedoc-Roussillon like Carcassonne, Perpignan, Montpellier, Girona (just over the border in Spain) and Nimes.

By regularly checking the websites of the budget airlines, you can get flights for as little as a few pounds plus the taxes. Rent a car at the airport and you’re all set.

You can also easily travel to Languedoc by train. We’ve found that trains in France are fast, on-time and clean; and a very relaxing way to travel. The so-called "bullet trains" from TGV can get you to the south of France in about 4 to 5 hours from Paris. You can also get the train from London to the Languedoc region.

You should always book well ahead of time, as all seats are reserved. You can book a ticket from London to Montpellier, Perpignan or Toulouse on the RailEurope website.

In addition to the fast TGV trains there are slower regular trains. To check routes and prices on the French national railway visit the SNCF website.

If you prefer to have your car in France, but don't want to drive all the way, you can use the French Motor Rail service, where you and your car travel overnight by train to Languedoc.

If you do want to drive from the UK, there are many ferry crossings to France. The most popular departure ports are Dover, Folkstone, Newhaven, Plymouth and Portsmouth. The budget Ferry operator is Speedferries, but like the budget airlines, this is a no frills operation. For more comfort, but higher prices, try P&O Ferries. Other ferry operators are: Brittany Ferries, Sea France, and Condor Ferries.

While driving in France, if you do all your traveling on the autoroutes, you’ll be paying out quite a lot in tolls. From Calais to Narbonne will cost you about 80 euros on the autoroutes. There is always a free, slower alternative route, and usually more attractive, on the Routes National.

We arrived in Carcassonne, a small efficient airport, and picked up our rental car. Within 35 minutes we were at James’s house, and were bombarding him with questions about this new property he had found for us.

You can find your french holiday home at: French-Property-Sale.

Do we get our French vineyard?

It was the last day of an agonizing two months of waiting. Surely, the government wasn’t going to step in now and prevent us from buying the vineyard in France that we’d set our hearts on.

Every time the phone rang, we thought, “This must be James.”

Eventually, I picked up the phone and heard the distinctive overseas line. It was James. His first words were,” I’m afraid I’ve got bad news.”

He’d just spoken to the notaire, who had received a hand-delivered letter from SAFER. At noon, on the final day, they informed our notaire that they would be exercising their right to purchase the property. Apparently, there was a young French couple who wanted to take over the vineyard and run it as a going concern.

James philosophically said, “It was just not meant to be.”

We were very disappointed. We had been reading books about winemaking, and had told all our friends about “our vineyard.” Now we had lost the place because we were not French.

James’s final words were, “I’ll keep looking.” But we were not in the mood to consider a move to France after they had rejected us.

A couple of months later, James called again. He sounded very excited. “I’ve found the perfect place for you,” he said. “And there’ll be no problems with SAFER on this one. It’s in one of the most beautiful villages in the area and it’s cheaper than the vineyard..”

I was silent, thinking about our last adventure in the French property market.

“Hello, are you still there,” asked James.

“Yes, but I’m not sure we want to go through all that again,” I replied.

He insisted on telling me about his new find. He had stopped in a village called Ventenac-en-Minervoir, which is on the banks of the Canal du Midi. He started talking to a group of old folks sitting on a bench. Apparently, James often discovered unique properties by approaching locals and asking them if they knew of any barns or stone houses for sale. This way, he often found out about places for sale, but not listed with agents.


One of the elderly men told James he had a barn in the village, that he was thinking of selling and he took James to have a look at it.

James eyes lit up when he saw it. It was much more than a barn. It was a large stone building that was architecturally very attractive. A big arched gateway led into a huge courtyard. The owner, Monsieur Azam, told James that the building was once the stables belonging to the Chateau Ventenac, just down the street.

I was hooked, James's enthusiasm made it sound like the ideal place for us to work on and prepare for our distant retirement. James emailed some photos, and although it looked very run-down, we could see that it had great possibilities.












It looked like we would be going to France again.

Find your dream property in France at French-Property-Sale.

We buy a vineyard in France?

My friend James sent us a video of the vineyard he recommended that we should buy. “It’s a great price,” he said. “The land is worth more than the asking price alone, without the building.”

We loved the look of the land, vines as far as you could see, and it adjoined the vines of the old monastery next door. There was a small river at one end of the property. However, the building looked very plain though, no attractive shutters, no balconies, and ugly looking doors. James assured us that we could make it look good.













We decided it was worth a visit, so we made arrangements to travel to France to see the place. It was November when we arrived, the vines were bare. It was cold and raining. However, the place actually looked better than on the video, but it needed a lot of work, a heck of a lot of work. We loved walking through the acres of vines and we excited by the thought of drinking wine from our own vineyard.













A procession of friendly monks walked past as we inspected the outside of the building. This was such a nice scene, we suspected that the owner had arranged it, to make the place look charming. We returned to James’s house thinking that we may make an offer.














We consulted a wine atlas and were encouraged to find that our prospective purchase was a respected domain. James pulled out his drafting pad and sketched the possibilities for renovation. He estimated that we would spend as much on the renovation as on the purchase price of the property.

James told us that the price was originally was about 195,000 Euros (it was in francs at the time), but it was reduced as the owner would continue to work the land, and profit from the sale of the wine.

This was because the owner wanted to avoid a problem with the Socit d'Amnagement Foncier et Etablissement Rural (SAFER), the government agency that controls the sale of agricultural land. One of SAFER’s functions is to keep agricultural land in local, French hands. French law provides that SAFER is notified by the Notaire of the exchange of any contract concerning the sale of agricultural land. SAFER then has two months in which to decide whether to exercise their option to purchase and resell to local, French buyers.

To help to avoid SAFER stepping in, the seller, a local Frenchman, would continue to work the vines and give us a percentage, and so the price was reduced by about 15,000 Euros.

We decided we’d make an offer. Before we did, we went to the bank to apply for a mortgage. This was easier than I had expected. On James’s advice, we had opened a bank account a couple of months earlier, so we were already customers. All we had to do was prove that we had enough income to cover the mortgage.

With the confidence that we would get a mortgage, we went ahead and made an offer. The offer was accepted without any haggling, which made us feel that maybe we could have offered less. Nevertheless, the Compromis du Vente was signed at the notaires the following day.

The Compromis du Vente is the agreement to sell. It is this document that determines the form of the final bill of sale, the Acte. The Compromis du Vente is the most important part of the buying process. Once it has been signed by both parties, and the seven-day cooling off period has passed, and the 10% deposit sent to the notaire, then the house is yours. Except for the "Clauses Suspensive" which are additional clauses added to the Compromis du Vente, some are standard, some more complex. These clauses can actually be anything, like pre-approval of planning permission for a terrace, some work to be done, or even that you sell your house first, however the seller has the right to refuse some of the clauses.

Then of course there was the "Droit de Premption". In France when a Seller disposes of their property certain authorities have the right to purchase the property in priority to the proposed purchaser. In our case SAFER. James told us not to worry, as the land would still be worked by the French seller.

Now there was a two month wait to see if SAFER would step in.

Next time: Do we get our vineyard?

To find your vineyard in France: French-Property-Sale.

Want to buy a property in France?

The first decision to make after you’ve decided to purchase a property in France is to decide in which area of France you’d like to live. It was a bit different for us. We were not even thinking of buying a house in France when we visited Languedoc several years ago.

We were planning a trip to France when I learned that James, my best friend from high school, was now living in the South of France. I managed to get in contact with his mother and found that he had given up his law practice and was now a builder in Languedoc. I phoned him, and after getting reacquainted, we arranged a visit.

We rented a car in Paris and spent a leisurely three days driving south, sightseeing on the way. When we met up with James and his wife, Rita, we found that they had been in Languedoc for several years and were very happy living a quiet life after escaping the rat race. They were living in a nice house, which James had built himself. Beyond the swimming pool, which James had also built, they kept chickens, ducks, and a goat. An extensive vegetable garden meant that they were almost living off the land.

James had cashed in on the experience of building his own house and was helping people to renovate old barns, which were available at very reasonable prices at that time. James showed us some of the barns and other ancient buildings that he had helped turn into magnificent residences.









Sample of James's work. A renovated barn in the Corbieres.











We thought how nice it would be to have our own place in this beautiful region of France. This was nothing more than a dream, but when we bid James farewell, I half jokingly said, “Let me know if you come across a cheap, old barn we can buy.”

A few weeks later, I had a phone call from France.
“I’ve found you an old barn, and not only a barn, but a vineyard to go with it,” said the voice at the other end.

“A vineyard! I’ve got no idea how to run a vineyard.” I said.

“No need,” said James. The farmer who owns the property will continue to work the vines and you’ll get a 25% share of the wine every year. I can send you a video of the place, and if you like the look of it, you can come over a see it,” he added. “And you can pick it up for about 180,000 Euros."

I told him to send the video, we had nothing to lose, and the idea of having our own wine was appealing. I was already thinking about the design of the labels.

Once you've decided to buy a property in France, you need to select an area you'd like to live in. If you are planning to rent out your property when you are not using it, it's important that you pick an area where people want to spend their holidays. This usually means somewhere warm, near a beach, close to shops, and within driving distance from an airport.

Spend some time in your selected area by renting a holiday home, after a couple of weeks you'll know if it's the area for you. Visit gite.com for a selection of first class holiday rentals.

Next time: We buy a vineyard?

Look for your vineyard in France at French-Property-Sale.

What is this truck trying to do?

After half an hour of careful maneuvering, this truck managed to get into the courtyard of our property on the south of France. The arched entrance to our courtyard is only a few centimeters wider than the truck. But why did we need to get it in there?

We were close to the end of restoring the 18th.Century stables in Ventenac-en-Minervoir in Languedoc, when the mayor paid us a visit. We were filling the newly tiled swimming pool and he told us, very firmly, to stop. It was a very hot summer, water to the village was in short supply and the village council had initiated a ban on watering plants, washing cars and filling swimming pools.

This put us into a major panic. In a couple of months, we were hosting a big family gathering to show off our newly restored French dream house, especially the new swimming pool.

Locals in the village told us our only course of action was to drill a well on our property and use our own water to fill the pool. This sounded like a very expensive proposal, but what else could we do? Would we run into water bans in the future?

And it was expensive! 800 euros and the drillers couldn't guarantee that they would find water. Even so, we went ahead and figured that once we had our own well, we would be independent and we would be able to swim while others had empty pools.

What a surprise when the drilling team arrived. Their truck was huge. There was much discussion and careful measuring before Marcel agreed to maneuver his truck through our 350 year old arched entrance. We, of course, had to agree that they wouldn't be responsible if they knocked down our stone wall.

It took 35 minutes of careful reversing back and forth before we heard a loud cheer from the dozen, or so, spectating neighbours. The truck was finally inside the courtyard!















It was plain sailing (or plain drilling) from then on. We picked a spot to begin drilling and crossed our fingers. We were lucky, we reached water at about 8 meters. All that was left to do was to cap the hole and get the truck back out of the courtyard. It didn't take them as long to get back out. I don't know if it was the experience of getting in, or the cool beers I promised Marcel and his team in the local bar.

The ironic part of this story is that we have never used the well. We haven't even bought a pump to get the water out. Just before our visitors were due to arrive, the water ban was called off. A new pipeline to the village had been opened up. But we are prepared for the next ban, and will be ready to invite our neighbours to swim in our cool pool.

This story illustrates that when planning to renovate an old property always expect the unexpected. When budgeting, allow about 20% for contingencies, and you'll probably use it all.

You can see what the property looks like today at our website. If you're looking for a place to buy in Languedoc, visit French-Property-Sale.