Southwest France: Interview with an Estate Agent

Southwest estate agent Jerry Green talks to Karen Tait about the appeal of his local area and its property offerings…

My wife Caroline and I launched the Clé Rouge estate agency shortly after coming to France in 2005; prior to that our careers were in business development and management. Having settled in southwest France with our family, we recognised that there was a great opportunity to create an estate agency offering an exceptionally pro-active service to other people from the UK looking to buy property here.

Mainly the ‘Golden Triangle’ area between Bordeaux and Bergerac, which includes the western Dordogne (24), eastern Gironde (33) and northern Lot-et-Garonne (47).

Sunny microclimate, wonderful lifestyle, unequalled.

Lots of lively historic towns and villages with markets, music events, restaurants, and within easy reach of the beautiful city of Bordeaux and the beaches of the Côte d’Argent.

Our whole region is lovely, with varying countryside of vineyards, sunflowers and orchards, but I particularly like the area around the historic market town of Duras, where I am lucky enough to live.

Exceptionally easy. It’s within a day’s drive from the UK, and we have a good choice of year-round flights from Bergerac and Bordeaux airports. In 2026 the TGV will offer a service direct from London to Bordeaux.

For people looking to move permanently, it offers a wonderful climate, peace and tranquillity but lots to do when you want to; it retains its quintessential ‘Frenchness’ but is welcoming to non-French residents. It has always been a popular region for holiday homes, because of its easy accessibility, beautiful scenery and available amenities and activities. And possibly the best food and wine in the world!

The areas around the historic market towns of Eymet, Duras and Monségur are always particularly sought after for property. Just to the north is an area known as ‘Little Italy’ (because of the similarity with the scenery in the Tuscany/Umbria regions), which most people are not aware of but is very beautiful and offers some lovely property locations.

Most UK buyers are drawn towards traditional stone properties, which fall into three styles: farmhouses, barn conversions and more formal maison de maître style properties. Modern properties are popular with French buyers, while the less popular properties built between 1950 and 1990 can offer great value.

• Under €100,000: Very little; maybe a terraced village house in need of some improvement.
• €100,000-€250,000: From €170,000, a village house, a small stone country property (usually without a pool) or a brick-built 60’s/70’s/80’s home.
  €250,000-€500,000: This is the best-selling price range in our region, affording an attractive three/four-bedroom property in a reasonable location, possibly with a pool.
• €500,000-€750,000: As per the previous category, but perhaps larger with better location and views.
• €750,000-€1m: More prestigious, well-renovated property; many in this range are rented out for holiday lets at €4,000-€7,000 per week in high season.
• Over €1m: Prestige country house or small château.

For €139,750, a four-bedroom property with garden equidistant from the historic hilltop town of Duras and the riverside town of Eymet; the house would benefit from modernisation.

A neglected but beautiful property near Duras, with three hectares of park, a burnt-out house, enormous derelict stone outbuildings formerly used for clay tile production (now containing several old cars and motorcycles) and Roman ruins including brick ovens – all sold for €75,000. A spectacular renovation project.

My dream property is the one I live in, a 700m² former Knights Templar country house in a stunning location, which I have renovated with my own hands over the last 20 years! However, we currently have on our books an exceptional property (see below, €588,000) with spectacular views, which I would happily downsize to in a few years’ time.

We love our area and sell it enthusiastically to potential buyers at UK property shows such as the popular French Property Exhibition at Hammersmith in January each year. Once people visit our area, they rarely look elsewhere because of our sunny microclimate (offset by cool westerly breezes and pleasant relative humidity), the idyllic lifestyle, beautiful countryside and easy access to and from the UK. British clients (who tend to be middle-aged) are also drawn by the fact we have very low crime rates here and much better health facilities in comparison to the UK.

Prioritise making sure that the area has the amenities and lifestyle you want before actively searching for specific properties, otherwise you may end up buying the right property but in the wrong place. Then keep an open mind on style and location of property: find a proactive agent who will work with you to find the right property and help you with both the purchase process and the transition to life in your new permanent or holiday home.

It is generally quite easy because there is already an established English-speaking community here, which is also well integrated with the local French population. Some agents will also help you to settle in; for example, each July we host an evening event with food, wine and live music to which we invite all clients who have bought properties in the previous year so that they can meet other people and also make useful local contacts.

Good properties are selling very quickly, and we predict this will continue. However, this is, of course, dependent on outside factors such as currency exchange rates and international politics.

Jerry Green is a Director at Clé Rouge Immobilier in southwest France

Tel: 0033 (0)5 53 93 49 71

clerouge.com

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