View from the Foothills of France

Some personal views on living, working,
bringing up family and making the dream happen in the most beautiful region of France. View from the Foothills of France also includes some personal and professional thoughts and tips on finding and buying the perfect property in the Ariège and Haute Garonne regions.

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How safe is the house buying process in France?

By nadia, on 5th August 2016

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The more I hear from friends and clients about the trials and tribulations of trying to buy and sell property in the UK and other countries around the world, the more I appreciate how regulated, fair and relatively un-stressful the French system is. In France, a vendor pays for the basic tests to be carried out on a property before it is officially put on the market. These include tests for electrics, gas, asbestos, woodworm, termites and natural risks such as flooding and earthquakes. These are done so that both parties are aware of any work required to bring the property in line with current regulations, not for the seller to have to make these good, purely so that the buyer knows the situation with the property before they make an offer so there are no nasty or unexpected surprises.

The process is then very straight-forward; an offer is made and a deal is agreed, the contract (Compromis de Vente) is drawn up by the Notaire (or Notaires), each party signs, the buyer puts down a deposit and only then does the Notaire begin the searches and proceed with all the expensive legal work. There is no such thing really as gazundering and gazumping and almost the only reason a sale might fall through would be if the buyer failed to secure a mortgage in which case, there would be a ‘clause suspensive’ allowing them to pull out without penalty. There could be various other clauses, agreed by both parties at the signing of the Compromis but, other than these, the sale will go through.

 Hence the French system is not defined by the stress which seems to be inherent in so many other property markets in the world and, most particularly in that of the home-buying process in England. In France, you can be very confident that once your offer has been accepted, your finance is in place and the Compromis de Vente is signed, you will be able to move into your dream home in around three months. There may be many other uncertainties around buying property in France right now but certainly the actual buying process is not one of them.

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Summer in the foothills of France

By nadia, on 25th July 2016

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Summer in the foothills – I am not sure there is anywhere better at this time of year.

Sunshine, blue skies, cooling breezes, mountain walks, picnics by the river or mountain lakes, cycling to favourite cafés, markets teeming with local produce, restaurant terraces full to bursting and a holiday atmosphere everywhere.

In addition, the property market here is very busy with some excellent value properties for sale. International buyers are out in force looking to snap up the chance of buying their home in France while the exchange rate and mortgage rates are still in their favour and house prices are bumping along the bottom.

Who knows what will happen in the next few years post Brexit (does anyone?) but my guess is that life will go on. If you are looking to buy a property in France for quality of life reasons then I am still very confident that you could do a lot worse than invest in what is definitely one of the most beautiful regions of France with just about everything you could want on your doorstep and a wide range of property at fantastic value.

Have a great summer wherever you are.

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An Immigrant’s View

By nadia, on 28th June 2016

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As an immigrant in France since 2003, I know how I would feel if my neighbours here had all voted to leave the EU in order to get rid of us.

I am British but have lived and worked in France for the last 13 years with my husband and four children. The experience of moving to another country, learning another language and setting up a business abroad has hugely enriched our lives. It has, I hope, increased our tolerance to different attitudes and behaviour and deepened our understanding of another culture and way of life. I am sure it means that our children have grown up with broader horizons, more open to new experiences and to people with different backgrounds to their own. Above all they have grown up as Europeans and I could not be happier that we have had the opportunity to have this adventure. It seems unthinkable that others will no longer have this freedom.

My generation has grown up in and enjoyed the peace, security and freedom that the European project has created. Future generations will now not have this and the break-up of Europe seems to me a massive step backwards, hugely short-sighted and very sad. Of course Europe is not perfect, it is a work in progress and there are still plenty of areas that need improving but none of us are perfect; all we can do is strive to be the best version of ourselves and Europe is still in its infancy, it needs nurturing and direction not abandoning.

Since moving to France, we have received nothing but kindness and have been welcomed by our neighbours, the children’s schools, by locals and by work colleagues; nationality, religion, race and culture have been irrelevant and I am so grateful for this. The fact that our foreign friends living in the UK now feel unwelcome and unwanted shows something of the British character that I never believed existed. We have been so lucky to enjoy the very best elements of being part of Europe and I am proud to be European. I only hope that future generations will find a way of following their dreams and living lives based on understanding and openness to other cultures, even with clipped wings.

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Europe in the Foothills

By nadia, on 1st June 2016

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The more mired down the Brexit issue gets in the arguments of immigration, the more we should realise how important it is that we have open borders, the freedom to travel and live abroad and education to help us understand foreign cultures. Even in our tucked away and rural region of France, there are people from all over the world from a great variety of cultures and religions speaking any number of languages. Today I collected my nine-year old son and his friend from tennis. Together the boys speak French, at home my son speaks English, his friend speaks Russian to his mother and Danish to his father. Another of his friends speaks French at school and Spanish at home and there are many Dutch people living here who speak at least three or four languages. The market stall where I buy our goat’s cheese is run by a German who speaks five languages fluently and has lived and worked all over the world and he is not unusual. And what’s more, we all live here happily, side by side in our adopted country along with the locals who welcome us with interest. This lovely melting pot is, to my mind, a perfect example of all that is good about the European project and open borders and our best chance of keeping this world safe from those who want to narrow our outlook, our understanding and our lives.

For anyone interested in the advantages of speaking more than one language or raising bilingual children, this is a great article from the Economist: https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2013/10/multilingualism-0?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/bringingupbaby

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