House-hunting update 1 (and general introduction!)
Oh boy! This is going to take some time!
In a French Estate Agents office there are pictures of houses for sale, with their prices and sometimes a bit of blurb. But when you go in there are no details sheets for you to grab and ponder. Instead it's "Bonjour" all round. Then "We are looking for a house to buy".
Then you sit at their desk and tell them all about yourself, your family, your taste in houses, your lifestyle and your budget. (One chap wrote on the form that I am Welsh and Pat is English.) This all takes a long time. You can only really do two estate agents in a morning, and that's pretty quick, and because we are British and not very chatty.
Then they look in their files and on the computer to try and find a house that would suit you. Some of them show you houses above your budget because they think either you or the seller will give a little. They all tell you that every area of Bordeaux is more expensive than the one they specialise in. One chap told us today that Talence is more expensive than Pessac. No way!
Then if there's a house you fancy they arrange a visit. It seems that these visits are always accompanied. They still don't tell you where the house is. You meet at the estate agents' office and they take you there. I asked one lady several times the whereabouts of one house and she said "not far from here".
Well today we saw a lovely little house. It has a smallish garden, but quite private and shadowed by trees that shade the cyclepath alongside. It is on an estate in Villenave d'Ornon, but nearer Pessac than we are now. Downstairs it has a kitchen and a lounge (lounge smaller than ours now), two bedrooms separated by a shower room and a really nice verandah which I liked a lot. Shady and cool in the evening. Then upstairs there was a big landing overlooking the lounge (a splendid office for me!) another bedroom and a bathroom. The house is at the top of our budget.
The estate agent was a nice chap and the lady who's selling is moving to Brittany. The estate agent quickly outlined what happens when you buy a house. Basically you make a proposal to them of a price, and they consider that. When they agree they get on with the surveys - the vendor has to get people to certify that the electrics, woodwork, sewage and everything is OK and you have 7 days cooling off period. When you are sure you are not going to cool off you put down your deposit and the matter is put into the hands of the solicitor who does all the legal and planning searches. Once he has completed his work everyone meets up in his office, the rest of the money is exchanged, everyone shakes hands and you get the keys. This all takes about 3 months, during which time you shop around for your mortgage and arrange the release of the money. Oh - and solicitors' fees are 8% of purchase price, roughly.
Bon. That seems clear enough.
Tomorrow we are off to see a house in Pessac which is quite big and pretty recent, but is rather cheap because it is on a road which is busy at rush hour.
On Wednesday we are going to see two more houses in Pessac (and I know where these are becase I peeked at the agent's computer screen!)
Then another agent sent us information about 7 houses by email and there are two in Pessac that we have asked to see.
So the search has begun!
In a French Estate Agents office there are pictures of houses for sale, with their prices and sometimes a bit of blurb. But when you go in there are no details sheets for you to grab and ponder. Instead it's "Bonjour" all round. Then "We are looking for a house to buy".
Then you sit at their desk and tell them all about yourself, your family, your taste in houses, your lifestyle and your budget. (One chap wrote on the form that I am Welsh and Pat is English.) This all takes a long time. You can only really do two estate agents in a morning, and that's pretty quick, and because we are British and not very chatty.
Then they look in their files and on the computer to try and find a house that would suit you. Some of them show you houses above your budget because they think either you or the seller will give a little. They all tell you that every area of Bordeaux is more expensive than the one they specialise in. One chap told us today that Talence is more expensive than Pessac. No way!
Then if there's a house you fancy they arrange a visit. It seems that these visits are always accompanied. They still don't tell you where the house is. You meet at the estate agents' office and they take you there. I asked one lady several times the whereabouts of one house and she said "not far from here".
Well today we saw a lovely little house. It has a smallish garden, but quite private and shadowed by trees that shade the cyclepath alongside. It is on an estate in Villenave d'Ornon, but nearer Pessac than we are now. Downstairs it has a kitchen and a lounge (lounge smaller than ours now), two bedrooms separated by a shower room and a really nice verandah which I liked a lot. Shady and cool in the evening. Then upstairs there was a big landing overlooking the lounge (a splendid office for me!) another bedroom and a bathroom. The house is at the top of our budget.
The estate agent was a nice chap and the lady who's selling is moving to Brittany. The estate agent quickly outlined what happens when you buy a house. Basically you make a proposal to them of a price, and they consider that. When they agree they get on with the surveys - the vendor has to get people to certify that the electrics, woodwork, sewage and everything is OK and you have 7 days cooling off period. When you are sure you are not going to cool off you put down your deposit and the matter is put into the hands of the solicitor who does all the legal and planning searches. Once he has completed his work everyone meets up in his office, the rest of the money is exchanged, everyone shakes hands and you get the keys. This all takes about 3 months, during which time you shop around for your mortgage and arrange the release of the money. Oh - and solicitors' fees are 8% of purchase price, roughly.
Bon. That seems clear enough.
Tomorrow we are off to see a house in Pessac which is quite big and pretty recent, but is rather cheap because it is on a road which is busy at rush hour.
On Wednesday we are going to see two more houses in Pessac (and I know where these are becase I peeked at the agent's computer screen!)
Then another agent sent us information about 7 houses by email and there are two in Pessac that we have asked to see.
So the search has begun!
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