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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Home exchange; more benefits of owning a house in France

By nadia, on 24th November 2014

P1150247

Living like a Parisian for a week

Owning a house in France means that you can sometimes feel as if you are unintentionally running a hotel and restaurant, especially if said house happens to have a pool, a sunny climate and interesting activities on offer in the vicinity. Many of the reasons that you chose the property are the same reasons that makes it appealing to guests which is great but hosting people for a week is a quite lot different to having someone over for a meal.

However, there is another huge plus side to owning a house in a location where people want to come on holiday; you will find that suddenly you are in huge demand for home exchanges. We have just done our second home exchange, this time to Paris and we had a week in a beautiful apartment in a stunning building right in the very centre of the city, walking distance to just about everything. An apartment in central Paris sleeping six people would be hugely expensive to rent for a week so, in the current belt-tightening times, what could be better than exchanging homes instead, especially if it is the difference between having a holiday or not? The whole idea is such a clever and obvious concept; after all, why leave your house empty for a week and pay someone else to spend a week in their house – why not just find someone who lives in a place where you would like to go, who would like to visit the area you live and then swap houses, cars, pets, neighbours etc? Obviously it helps to not be too precious about your house and the scheme is very much based on trust but it is a trust that works both ways which is why it seems to work.

What’s more, living in a real home is so much nicer and more authentic than staying in a hotel like all the other tourists; we felt as if we were real Parisians not just visitors. We were able to go out every morning to buy our croissants from the bakery around the corner, eat out in our hosts’ favourite restaurants and live like locals for the week. Of course, we also did the museums and tourist sights and re-discovered some of our favourite Parisian haunts all the time knowing that our hosts would equally enjoy swapping the grey skies of Paris for the sunshine, green hills and mountain views of our beautiful part of the Ariège.

Maybe we have just been lucky but, so far, exchanging homes seems a win-win situation and by the number of requests we get on our home exchange site, it certainly seems to be a concept that is gaining in popularity. There are many advantages of living in a very beautiful part of France but being able to exchange our home for other wonderful homes was not one we had thought of until we realised that we lived in a place that everyone else wanted to come on holiday.

photo

The new glass floor in the Eiffel Tower

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Latest overseas property market update

By nadia, on 13th November 2014
Autumn in the Foothills

Autumn in the Foothills

Buying property overseas is proving more popular this year than it was in 2013 says the latest quarterly report from the Overseas Guides Company.

Spain, France and Portugal remain the most popular countries for British people to buy an overseas property, with Italy and Turkey bringing up the rear. The firm found that between January and September 2014, there was a 17% increase in enquiries for overseas property compared to the same period last year, rising from 29,299 to 34,287. For the third quarter of 2014, enquiries were up by 4.1% year on year, from 10,518 to 10,957 in the third quarter of 2013.

The months of April to June continue to be the most popular months for would be homebuyers to view and complete on overseas properties, the firm has also found.

Looking ahead, continued growth is expected in the key markets, with mortgage rates in the Eurozone remaining at historic lows and sterling likely to maintain a comparatively strong value against the euro.

There is also a sentiment that the bargain prices of homes in popular parts of Spain, France and Portugal won’t last forever, with signs that hotspots are already seeing slight price rises.

The recent Overseas Guides Company reader’s survey also showed that, for those people considering buying property abroad, Spain, France and Portugal are the most popular countries on the wish list.

France remains a firm favourite; not only have house prices across the country remained stable over the last year but the quality and variety of property combined with lifestyle factors, means that France is still one of the best value, safest and most popular place to buy a property overseas.

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French immigrants (aka the British)

By nadia, on 5th November 2014
European freedom has been hard won

European freedom has been hard won. This is the route of the freedom trail across the Pyrenees

I just read that in a recent poll, 52% of British people think that they should be free to live and work anywhere in the EU while only 36% think that all EU citizens should have the right to live and work in the UK. I guess that’s what’s known as having your cake and eating it!

I hope that, if and when there is a referendum in Britain on whether to stay in or leave Europe, voters will remember that the British have always liked to travel, explore and to live and work abroad and have always accepted foreigners to their shores; it is the combination of these things that have shaped much of how Britain is as a country.

The British are also the most numerous owners of property in France after the French and, however much we love to bash the Gallic way of life, many of us secretly love and envy it. Does the UK really want to be isolated and be subject to controls on where we can travel and live within Europe? Europe is the envy of the rest of the world because of the freedom and tolerance we have created between very different countries and cultures. It is a freedom that previous generations have fought and died to preserve and a privilege that we should not underestimate.

As an immigrant (why does that word have negative connotations while ex-pat does not?) in France, I am clearly biased but I would argue that countries gain more than they lose from welcoming foreigners to their shores. Long may it last.

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Prime ski property in the Pyrénées

By nadia, on 16th October 2014

Guzet view 2

Despite the current malaise in the French economy, the ski property market is bucking the trend and the demand for mountain chalets, apartments and barns in and around French ski resorts remains strong.

I just saw some truly eye watering figures for the price of property in the French Alps; apparently in Courchevel 1850 prices can reach €34,200 per square metre. In Val D’Isère prices are €28,800 per square metre and in Megève €25,700 per square metre according to Savills latest prime ski property report. And the trend is upwards.

Agreed, the French Alps are very nice but are they really more than €30,000 per square metre nicer than the Pyrénées or even nicer at all? In fact, what exactly do the Alps have that the Pyrénées don’t apart from Michelin starred restaurants, Russians and overcrowded slopes? Here in the Pyrénées you can buy a ski property in or close to many top resorts for between €1,370 and €1,700 per square metre and the ski resorts here certainly rival many of those you will find in the Alps. Most of the resorts in the Pyrénées are smaller than those in the Alps but often link in with neighbouring towns to give extensive ski areas, while retaining a quieter, friendlier feel.

Many of the ski resorts nestled in the mountains here were thermal spa towns before expanding into skiing and, in the last few years there has been huge investment in the skiing infrastructure. Moreover, many people, priced out of the Alpine resorts have realised that the Pyrénées offer a much better value alternative with weekly ski passes and ski hire much cheaper as well as accommodation and meals. In the resorts of Superbagnères or Peyragudes for example, a week’s ski pass will cost you €163 whereas a ski pass in Val D’Isère in the Alps is €260.

The Pyrénées also receive more snow than the Alps, albeit with slightly milder winters and, because the French resorts are on the north side of the range, the snow is much more reliable than for the Spanish resorts on the southern side. The largest and most snow-sure resorts in the Pyrénées are concentrated in the middle of the range in a relatively small area, away from the wetter and milder Atlantic coast and the sunnier Mediterranean coast.

I think the main disparity in prices comes simply from the fact that that the resorts in the French Alps are better known and get more publicity and media coverage. If you are looking for gold taps and basement gyms in your ski property and have the cash to pay for them, then perhaps you will prefer the Alps. On the other hand, if you are looking for some excellent and varied skiing at all levels, smaller and more friendly resorts, slope side restaurants and cafés that don’t break the bank, glorious unspoiled scenery without the crowds and some excellent value mountain property, I would choose the Pyrénées any day.

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