Increased activity and sales

A few weeks ago, I was reporting on signs that the market was picking up. The trend was steady rather than spectacular, starting with properties below 250,000 €. I am delighted to report that this trend is continuing, and as August closes, it has been our best month for sales since June 2006, with properties moving in just about every price band.

Quite what has inspired this rush of buyers is quite difficult to pinpoint. The £ : € rate has in fact dropped below 1.15, at level at which it has been comfortable for many weeks. That is good news for vendors returning to the UK, but hardly likely to inspire the rush in the opposite direction.

In fact we have seen quite a change in the profile of our viewing clients, with a good International mix, made up of American, Canadian, Belgian, Dutch, Australian, and Spanish, plus of course the French & British that you would expect.

I think this shows that our exposure to different markets via our extensive website portals is an important factor, and that we offer 1st class service levels throughout, to ensure that clients are very satisfied with their Allez-Français experience, whether they buy via ourselves or not.

I suppose the simple facts are that at last, people are starting to find that house sales are re-commencing, and that one sale fuels another. Certainly, I feel that property prices have bottomed out now, and the market will be looking ahead with anticipation as opposed to fear.

Last weekend we had the unusual situation of 2 offers from different buyers for the same property, whilst the owners also had 2 other offers on the table via different agencies to consider. It just goes to show that if the property is competitively priced, there are buyers out there.

Peter Elias (Agent Commercial), La Moinerie, 79500 Paizay le Tort, Deux-Sèvres, France

E-mail: allez-francais@wanadoo.fr Website http://www.allez-francais.com

Vineyards Domaines and Chateaux

In a response to a recent enquiry, we have decided to set up a specialist arm dedicated to finding French vineyards for sale.

We have identified selected professional of the wine business, to work with in business partnership. They know that setting up in a wine region requires a certain number of surveys, analyses which only a viticultural expert, who knows all the aspects and characteristics of each zone, can provide.

We are confident that our experts and viticultural consultants combine their unique competences to audit, carry out surveys, analyse and accompany you to facilitate your vineyard acquisition project.

We are also going to be setting up a specialist department working uniquely on large Chateau estates, so if either of these exciting challenges are for you, do please get in touch with us to discuss your specific requirements.

E-mail: allez-francais@wanadoo.fr

Working with your French agency

www.allez-francais.com

The Allez-Français website allows you deal directly with us on the ground in France. We are not agents based in the UK working in partnership with 3rd parties. We do work with some French agencies to supplement our property portfolio. Generally, each house on the site has been visited by one of our agents, who has been authorised to sell the house by the owner. We can often offer additional information that is not available via the website.

Our team will answer your specific questions based on his or her direct knowledge of the property, and will arrange to send additional images and conduct accompanied visits with you. In addition to offering an excellent service we keep our commissions competitive.

We help you through the legal and linguistic process of buying a property in France - from viewings to contracts. We speak your language (so long as it is French or English)!
We keep our site up to date - no pictures of alluring properties that sold years ago. These properties are for sale right now! We remove them from the site within one week of a sales contract being signed. Furthermore, if we don't have what you want on our books, we will try and find it for you.

If you would like to view some properties, please contact us to make an appointment a week or two in advance. We only work by appointment, so it can be difficult to accommodate people at the last minute. We will ask you for you your name, address and a contact number (ideally a mobile when you are in France). It is most important that you turn up for appointments. Missed and late appointments cause considerable inconvenience both to ourselves and property owners.
We will not handle any client funds whatsoever, your deposit and final payment will be paid direct to the Notaire. All of our prices include agency fees, but do not include the Notaire's charges, which are mostly government stamp duty.
Before you view, you will be required to sign a bon de visite (a visit coupon). This is required under French law to prove that we have shown you the properties indicated on the form. If you do purchase one of the properties, it does commit you to do so through us, and pay the agreed and declared commission, which is quoted as part of the sale price. We will also advise you to sign a mandat de recherche (a buyers' mandate) which authorises us to search out properties on your behalf. It does not commit you to buying one. Signing this mandat absolutely costs you nothing, and could in fact save you money.

Peter Elias (Agent Commercial), La Moinerie, 79500 Paizay le Tort, Deux-Sèvres, FRANCE
Tel: 00 33 (0)5 49 27 01 22 or Tel: 00 33 (0)8 77 07 58 99 Mob: 00 33 (0)6 62 28 02 25
www.allez-francais.com

Who wants to be a Millionaire ?

I do ! For under a £1M you can buy a lovely small chateau, dating back to the 18th Century, magnificently restored, retaining numerous original features and set in 10 hectares of beautiful gardens, park and paddocks.

This delightful C18th Chateau style property has been fully renovated with great taste, comprises of a Manoir, 2 superb large holiday rental properties, several large outbuildings including stables, and the estate has a tennis court, carp lake plus 2 swimming pools. It stands in grounds of just over 10 ha, the lake having an island, and is situated in one of the most beautiful parts of Charente, just 5 minutes from Confolens (a small market town with an Annual Festival) and 45 minutes from Limoges or Poitiers airports.

Full details can be found on our website http://www.allez-francais.com/details.php?pty_id=972

Peter Elias (Agent Commercial), La Moinerie, 79500 Paizay le Tort, Deux-Sèvres, FRANCE

Tel: 00 33 (0)5 49 27 01 22 Mob: 00 33 (0)6 62 28 02 25 Tel: 0871 717 4176 (UK)

E-mail: allez-francais@wanadoo.fr