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 10th October 2008
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Property Buyer's GuideWelcome to our guide to buying property in the Lot, Lot et Garonne and Tarn et Garonne departments. Useful InformationLinks to help you buy your place in the sunThe Purchase Process  A step by step guide to buying your own little piece of sunny south west France.How Much Will it Really Cost?  In France, the buyer pays the agency and legal fees which could make that dream home more expensive than you thought. Make sure you know what the price really includes...The Role of the Notaire  An essential part of every property sale in France and more than just a tax collector...What to Watch Out For  Once you sign the compromis de vente, you are committed to buy, or forfeit 10% of the price. Unless you make use of clauses suspensives...Which Airport? Public Holidays Did you know that Good Friday is not a public holiday in France? Why not print out our list of holidays for 2008...more... |
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Although the property market in France is quieter than usual, some agents are suggesting this is actually a good time to buy. There is a huge range of choice available and many sellers are willing to negotiate on price which can more than offset any recent changes in the exchange rate. The current slow down is not likely to last forever and once things pick up again prices can only increase.
The recent dramatic shift in the GB pound to euro exchange rate has contributed to a slowing of the French property market. The shift in the rate from around 1.45 to 1.25 has effectively reduced the purchasing power of the pound by about 15%. In response to this shift we are seeing increasing numbers of properties with reductions in the asking price.
The French property market is largely dominated by multiple agency selling. Each vendor tends to list their property for sale with a variety of local agents. The sole agency or exclusive deal is still relatively uncommon. We have uncovered a selection of these rare sole agency properties from less than €100k to more than €1 million...
Following the success of our Property review for 2006, we have repeated the exercise again this year. Looking at the main trends in 2007 and the outlook for 2008 - a good year for property in the Lot and Quercy?
The recent currency exchange rate fluctuations have reduced the buying power of people moving from the UK to France. But French property is still outstanding value compared to the UK. Sell your detached four-bedroom house in Sussex for £425,000 and see what you could buy in the Lot and Quercy region of southwest France...
The Midi-Pyrenees is the largest region in France, and possibly the most diverse, stretching from the undulating charm of the Dordogne valley in the north to the snow-capped peaks of the Pyrenees in the south...
What makes an ideal holiday home? A property that is ready to move into, low maintenance and easy to "lock and leave", or is a pool really an essential item for those long hot summers? Here we present a selection of properties from our Featured Property Agents.
Glorious Aquitaine, fabled land of many rivers, once stretched from the Loire valley to the Pyrenees, that was many years ago when it was a rich, medieval dukedom, when Eleanor was its Duchess and her court attracted the greatest troubadours of the age...
Leslee Carsewell, originally from the East Coast of the US fell in love with France at an early age and dreamt of one day having a house there. Here she tells the story of her barn purchase and renovation.
Stephen Leitch concludes his cautionary tale of getting a new house built in the Lot. Having waited over a year to get started on the building, the actual construction of the house goes quite smoothly and is actually completed ahead of schedule. Ready to move into? Well not quite, as EDF haven’t yet connected the electricity...
So, you’ve decided you want to buy – a permanent residence, a holiday home, a DIY project, somewhere you can relax with your friends and family. No matter what your motivation, you need look no further than Lauzerte en Quercy Immobilier to get you started.
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What profession allows you to live the dream in France and make a living at the same time? Beautiful countryside, interesting people and memorable lunches are offset by hours of driving, difficult clients and sheer hard work. Alison Hibbard of Quercy Gascogne Immobilier gives us an insight into life as a French Estate Agent.
Welcome to L'Oustal Immobilier. Trui Seys and her multi lingual team have years of experience of finding people their dream homes in this beautiful region of South West France. They have developed an enviable reputation for providing a professional and friendly service...
Quercy Immo is based in Puy L’Evêque, a medieval village on the banks of the river Lot in South West France. As well as our extensive catalogue of properties in the Lot valley we have properties in the Montcuq, Fumel and Monflanquin areas, making the area we cover and the types of property we market extremely diverse...
Lauzerte en Quercy Immobilier are located in the beautiful hilltop bastide of Lauzerte one of the many “Plus beaux villages” in this region of France. Bilingual mother and daughter team Marie-Helene and Aurelie Franqueville have been helping clients find their dream home in the Lot and Quercy for more than 15 years. We spoke to them recently to get their views on the current state of the property market, who is buying what and for how much.
Stephen Leitch continues his cautionary tale of getting a new house built in the Lot. After a year of battling through the minefields of French bureaucracy, architect’s sloth and planners lethargy to achieve the full planning permissions, the building can finally get underway...
For many, the Lot and Quercy region in the south of France is the ideal place to buy a property – far enough south to experience true heat and sharp light, well serviced by airports with low cost flights from the UK and still relatively undiscovered – but what are the prices like?
Having a house built to your own specification in rural France is an increasingly popular way of realising the dream of French property ownership. But is it really as simple as the Immobiliers, Builders and Architects make it sound? Stephen Leitch presents a first hand account of the many pitfalls to be avoided.
Looking for that perfect property in the beautiful Quercy Blanc? A little stone holiday house perhaps, or a lovely Maison de Maitre? Perhaps a fabulous barn conversion? Agence Immobilier Quercy Gascogne (founded in 1963) are at your service...
As an owner of a French home, you already understand the importance of protecting your valuable asset. Until now it has been hard to find an insurer who provides comprehensive protection combined with a flexibility that covers all eventualities - but that has now changed... 
Ariane Delmonte and Monique van Veldhoven came to France seven years ago and established a Gite business in the village of Albas in the Lot Valley. Here they recount some of their feelings and experiences on their adventure so far...
Lot resident and regular Forum contributor Papibryn shares some of the results of his research into alternative energy solutions for homes in south west France. In this article he outlines the options for solar heating.
Phil & Donna Voice moved to France in 2004 and spent many hours driving around, visiting Immobiliers, viewing websites looking for the right house. In their case the house was found quite quickly but this does not always happen...
Preparing your pool for the winter is an essential task that will keep the pool and equipment in good condition ready for quickly re-opening the pool in the spring. Here is a guide to the procedure that should be followed...
Bill and Rosalind spent 3 years trying to find their dream home in France. They couldn't find what they wanted and decided to build their own. In the first of a series of articles they describe finding their perfect plot and why they ended up much further south than they first expected...
I bought what? Well, we really didn’t plan a purchase, but... While we were vacationing in France last year, we decided to act on our previous plans to take a look at a few properties, and one thing led to another...
The Quercy has become enormously popular in the last few years, and popularity brings price rises. However it is only in the last five years that we have seen a real increase in the foreign population and the vast majority were retired older couples. The situation is just beginning to change again...
Many people dream of moving to France, and as a general rule these dreams include derelict stone houses that within the year look like something out of the pages of House and Garden. It does happen of course but not very often...
This month we feature an interview with Alain Ifergane of Ifergane Immobilier, a long established agency with an office in Figeac...
We’re coming to the end of a quieter and much more stable year in the property market. The huge price rises of recent years and subsequent seesawing in sales seems to have levelled out and supply appears to have caught up with demand...
Finding a good tradesman in France isn't usually too difficult – finding one who can do the work quickly is quite a different matter! It helps to understand how the building trade functions so that you can comprehend why your builder will take a long lunch hour and disappear at midday on a Friday.
As Peter Mayle famously reminded us, Provence has been described as a cold country with a high rate of sunshine, although as we all know, the summers are consistently hot. Exactly the same can be said of the Lot and Quercy region, but let’s look at some actual figures...
