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.

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