Early drought in the Poitou Charentes ?

We seem to have by-passed Spring and gone straight into Summer with lovely temperatures throughout the middle of April and virtually cloudless blue skies.

But this is coming at a cost since 8 departments have seen the imposition of summer-style water restrictions.

Those worst hit by the drought are Seine-et-Marne, Essonne and Val-de-Marne which are on maximum restrictions with water even being banned for irrigating agricultural crops. Also affected are the Deux-Sèvres and Charente-Maritime where prefects have asked consumers and producers to reduce their usage. The neighbouring Charente and Vienne are also on a low-level alert.

We have had virtually no rain now for three months and there is a real risk of drought if there is no rain in the weeks to come. The forecast is less favourable for the Easter weekend, but not a lot of rainfall predicted.

Property with the WOW factor

It is rare for me to get too excited about a property - we see so many during the course of a year. It is unheard of for me to go overboard about a modern property - until now !

A fabulous ensemble made up of a stunning modern property built in 2006 and an ancient fully restored Maison d’Amis, set in one of “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France”.

The principal accommodation is approached from a gravelled drive with ample parking for several cars. The entrance to the house is through a choice of double patio doors into the 72m² lounge and dining area. The 2 large sliding windows (into wall cavity) lead onto the sun terrace with spectacular views. Flooring is quality wood laminate and there is a “Jotul” wood burner. There are also two oil filled electric radiators and satellite TV installed. The stylish 27m² kitchen is open to the lounge and has a feature island, and includes quality white goods including a dishwasher, washing machine, American fridge / freezer with ice-maker, electric oven, and microwave. The floor is the kitchen is a lovely ceramic tile. There is an electric oil filled radiator and a cavity sliding window to the terrace.

The guest bedroom is 10.24m² and has a wood laminate floor, oil filled electric radiator and a double window. There is a mirror fronted double wardrobe and chest of drawers. The guest shower room is 6m² with ceramic tiled walls and wood laminate floor. Comprising of a large glass shower cubicle, a modern wooden vanity unit, mirror fronted storage system, extractor fan and heated towel rail.

A modern spiral staircase from the lounge to a mezzanine office / 3rd bedroom area of 15m². Having a broadband connection, in-built storage area, electric convector heater, velux window with blind and fitted carpet. A 4m² shower room is adjacent to this with ceramic tiled walls and flooring. There is a large glass door shower cubicle, WC, glass and chrome vanity unit, extractor fan, heated towel rail and mirror fronted storage system.

Also on the 1st floor is the 16 m2 Master bedroom with it’s own 6m² walk-in wardrobe. There is a fitted 1.5m x 2 m bed, velux window with blind, fitted carpets, chest of drawers and electric convector heater.

The whole property is double glazed, and furniture is available by negotiation. Outside there is a superb sun terrace 125m² with great views, plus a 3m80 x 3m40 natural stone floored pool and outside shower.

The Maison d’Amis / rental cottage is well away from the main house and has two floors each of 30m². and can produce seasonal rental income of 10,000 Euros. The accommodation consists of on the ground floor a kitchen/lounge/dining area with electric hob, microwave / combi oven, dishwasher, ceramic tiled floor, oil filled electric radiator and encased 50 litre hot water system. A glass fronted door leads to the outside decking and barbecue area. There is an integral wooden staircase leading to the bedroom with built-in wardrobe, satellite TV and en-suite shower room.

There is outside access to the pool area from a glass panelled door. There is a block built and ceramic tiled pool with decking and outside shower, benefiting from more fantastic views. The whole is of this property is also double glazed. It is maintained in 1st class condition and has a large garden amounting to 6,600m², very rare in a village such as this. The situation within one of “Les Plus Beaux Villages de France” does qualify this property as something extra special. With the 2 beautiful swimming pools, and rental income potential, it is something that will have great appeal. No work required at all – just bring your suitcases. Just 30 minutes from the recently opened Brive / Vallée de la Dordogne airport.

Priced just in excess of 500,000 Euros

Top Choice

A revealing article in the French magazine "Télé-Star" has been followed up in a newspaper article in "La Montagne", highlighting the fact that the parents of Katie Middleton own a house in the Dordogne valley, seen as a great escape, and visited several times by Katie.

Until now, a well-guarded secret, the property is close to Beaulieu sur Dordogne, a beautiful market town with several restaurants and of course the River Dordogne flowing through it.

Next month sees the famous "Fete de la Fraise", since Bealieu is the capital of the strawberry growing area, when there will be a crowd of around 10,000 to see the event.

The Middleton's have used the new Brive / Vallée de la Dordogne airport, great value at 59 Euros each way, including baggage allowance and hospitality on the flight.

The Limousin has fantastic investment potential and has been featured recently in most of the major Sunday papers. In a recent survey carried out by Channel 4's "A Place in the Sun" this region was ranked as one of the top 5 property investment destinations in the world ! The new airport Brive / Vallée de la Dordogne will increase property values in this lovely picturesque area.

New technology - new energy

The terrible situation in Japan has the entire world looking at how it produces energy, both for today, and of course, in the future.

France is heavily dependant upon nuclear power, and has invested heavily in wind turbines, "éoliens", but they have many critics due to their lack of power when there is no wind, or indeed too much. Indeed, with an estimated life span of 20 years, it takes them 15 years to break even, so there is a period of just 5 years when they are profitable.

The impact that they have on the landscape divides opinion, but they do have a negative impact upon house prices.

In the Corrèze there is just one wind farm, at Peyrelevade, producing 9 MW of electricity. In comparison, a large solar powered plant has been built at Saint Priest de Gimel, producing 24 MW of electricity.

Given the low impact on the surrounding area, and the excellent sunshine records in south western France, surely this is a better way to proceed.

Peter Elias (Agent Commercial) www.allez-francais.com

Reduced by over 200,000 Euros

A fantastic property existing of a main house with a guesthouse and a swimming pool , this all on land of about 5 hectares.

The main house has an elevated ground floor: covered terrace of 28 m² , giving access to the entrances of the house and a guest room (18 m² with bathroom and separate toilet). Kitchen of 28 m², living room of 22 m², dining room of 45 m² , a study area of 26 m², a mezzanine of 10 m². Laundry room, side kitchen, toilet and cloakroom. A large, tiled terrace facing south of 90 m² overlooking a charming inner court yard.

First floor: A room of 34 m² with private bathroom, toilet and dressing, a room of 11 m² with private bathroom and toilet, and 2 more rooms of 10 m ², bathroom, separate toilet and hallway.Basement: cellar of 100 m² with a garage, cave and toilet.

Guesthouse: Ground floor: A terrace of 50 m² of which 30 m² covered. Kitchen-dining room bathroom/toilet and living room.

First floor: 2 rooms and separate toilet.Out buildings (450 m² ground floor 167 m² upper floor). A closed barn, a closed hangar, sloping roof and a little tower.

A swimming pool of 10 x 5m, heated and salt, finished of according to security norms. Solar shower, 105 m² beach and local installation. An area of approximately 5 hectares of which 3 hectares is forested. Superb location with all privacy, fantastic views and no direct neighbours.

Link http://www.allez-francais.com/details.php?pty_id=1279

Mandates, bon de visits & paperwork

Before an agent is able to market the property in France on behalf of a client, they need to have their formal consent, and this normally is covered in the “mandat de vente”.

This is normally, but not always, on a non-exclusive basis, allowing the vendor to sell privately or via another agency. This document details the vendors, the property to be sold, the asking price and the agency fees.

When as a buyer, you view property via an agency, it is standard practice to sign a “bon de visite”, in fact it is a legal requirement to do so. This document lists the buyer’s details, summarises in brief the properties to be visited etc.

It demands that the client will deal with the agency for any negotiations for the properties listed. This ensures that the agency will be paid any commission that they are due resulting from the sale.

Sometimes, buyers try to be devious, and go behind the agents’ back, in an attempt to save fees. They are still liable if they are taken to task, and if the buyers is proven to be an accomplice, they are also liable.

This was the recent decision of the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) in a case that came before them. They found that the estate agents had been formally instructed by the sellers on the sale of their property, for which they had a written contract (mandat de vente). The buyer and vendor tried to avoid the agency fees and deal directly with each other, with the vendor even cancelling the mandat. Although the contract had been terminated by the seller, the terms still required they pay the agent’s commission for potential buyers introduced to them up the end of the contract period. The commission continued to be payable for a period of 18 months for any clients who had been introduced to the seller up to expiration of the contract. By dealing directly with a introduced by the agent during this period, the court deemed that the seller had committed a breach of contract.

The commission payment due under the contract was 15,400€ and as the court considered that this sum was not excessive and reasonably justified, it was due by the seller.The court also examined the responsibility of the buyer in this particular matter. It found that they had dealt with the seller directly less than 2 months after having been introduced to the property by the agent. The court ruled that the buyer could not escape their responsibility for the commission by arguing that they were not party to the contract between the seller and the agent, since they had signed a ‘bon de visite’ which bound the buyer to deal irrevocably with the agent in their dealings with the seller. On this basis the buyer was equally complicit with the seller in defrauding the agent of their commission. As a result, the court found that the buyer and vendor were equally liable for the payment of damages.

Don't try to cut out the middle man - you have been warned !

Peter Elias (Agent Commercial) www.allez-francais.com

D P E reports - a waste of time & money

For several months, I have been very suspicious about the validity of some of the DPE (energy) reports that we have been receiving on our houses.

Some properties that are very well insulated do not come out very well in the survey, whilst some totally unrenovated properties seem to escape the wrath of the technician carrying out the diagnostic report.

We have 2 absolutely identical properties with differing reports, but in a recent independent survey, a company asked 16 diagnostic experts to visit 4 houses, and only 1 of the houses was classified in the same band by all experts. 2 properties, (50% of the sample), were actually classified under 3 different bands, by these so called experts !

Given that these reports will dictate the level of 0% finance that could be available on a property, these are pretty serious findings, but do not really surprise me.

For the full article (in French) follow this link
http://www.quechoisir.org/immobilier-logement/achat-vente-travaux/communique-dpe-des-diagnostics-toujours-aussi-peu-performants

Peter Elias (Agent Commercial) http://www.allez-francais.com