Due diligence when buying ski apartment

Hi everyone!

I wonder if anyone has any experience with the following. When buying a small apartment in a larger block of flats in France, what are the common traps you could fall in to for unforeseen issues and costs?
Is there usually something like an owners co-op which is responsible for contributing money towards maintenance of the building? How can you check if there are any major works planned that will likely cost new owners a lot of money?

Does anyone have info on a recommended due diligence checklist or something along those lines?

thank you all!
Andre

Syndicat de copropriétaires is probably what you are thinking of, and yes, they are fairly common, just generally, irrespective of whether it is in a ski resort or not. This is something to watch out for, as you need to know as the potential buyer, whether that syndicat has voted any works in the coming year to which you might be asked to contribute financially and yet have had no say in the matter, e.g. structural work, insulation, roofing, guttering, etc. You shoud ask for the recent decisions of the Assemblée Générale Ordinaire or Extraordinaire, and get hold of the budget forecasts.

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This makes interesting reading…

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@Andre1979 the ANIL link… read on down the page and open up all the sections… it talks you through what to do/check etc BEFORE buying… well worth the trouble to read it from top to toe in my view…

Most flats in france in blocks of more than 4 will be in a co-proprieté. So you buy your flat, and have ownership of it, but all the common parts are in the coprop, and you have shares equal to the size/position of your flat. There will be a syndic who takes charge of the management, with most usually a resident’s committee which votes on what is to be done once a year…

The rules governing coprops are strict, but despite that there are good coprops and awful ones. Your estate agent should give you a copy of the coprop document, and you need to look at it carefully, plus past minutes of annual meetings, and the budget. You should be able to find out what the charges were for the past couple of years, and whether there are significant works planned and not yet paid for. You should also be able to see if works have been carried out and there are still “appel du fonds” outstanding.

The document will also tell you whether, for example, heating is collective or individual. Important considerations as collective heating and water reduce your control over your budget.

Look here

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