Ok, last post for now, I promise. Given that we are close to finding the right house, contentious question. And I know highly variable. But in general and relevant to end-2025: say I’ve found the perfect deep country property, Loire, 160k. Restored, no work needed. 2 acres of land. I know this is a ‘how long is a piece of string’ question but don’t know what the market is doing right now. If you were me, what would you offer and in general how do you make a fair and not insulting offer in France. I was thinking 150, for example?
This is a very stupid question I know. Just looking for general guidance.
No one can really answer that but, for what it’s worth, we went in at 20% below asking and settled somewhere around 10% below and I still think we overpaid. I don’t believe in worrying about insulting offers, it’s worth what it’s worth and I’m not going to pay too much so that I can salve someone’s feelings.
Thanks everyone for the advice. Karen, you raise the obvious point and I don’t know that yet. Just looking for rules of thumb and all of your replies confirm my feeling which is offer 10% down.
Has the agent given you any indication what the sellers are expecting? Is there anyone else in the wings? Forget the bargaining - what are you prepared to pay for it? How would you feel if you don’t get it?
We went in at full price. We were the first to see our place - they had only just printed the description and the agent wasn’t sure where it was. I saw it in March. OH saw it in April and made our offer and the house was immediately ours - no other viewers. The only thing that took time was having it meader through Safer (about which, of course, being in the UK, we knew absolutely nothing).
I think this is good advice - when I move across I will be more bothered about getting the right house in the right location than on saving 10%.
Of course that doesn’t mean you can’t check out comparable properties to work out the proper market value so you are not paying way over the odds, nor is there anything wrong with making a cheeky offer if the place has been on the market for ages. But I wouldn’t want to miss out on the ideal property by being pipped by someone willing to offer the asking price.
Ok Sue thanks a lot, now you have me going. What is Safer? Aside from that I really like this house in the Loire. But am thinking. Only 2 bedrooms? Fine for us but maybe not for a lot of other people, so it may stay on the market for a while. Incidentally, I did exactly same as you here in Spain. Bought same day, no offer.
Thanks both. So if I interpret this right, I need to check on land status (I know I need to do this anyway to check we will be allowed to keep horses on the 9,000 sq M of land). In any case, can I trust the agent to help with this or do I get an independent surveyor?
First off is the place correctly valued? Ie doesn’t look overpriced compared to similar in local market. If so then less reason for low offer.
However if there are things in the diagnostics that will be expensive then could justify a low offer.
Are you cash buyers? That also has a value if they are keen to complete.
Equally what is agent saying, how long has it been on market and how many others similar available locally? Smaller houses can be at a premium for first time buyers.
It’s for you to ask yourself these questions and work out whether a low offer is justified. The house we are buying has a non-confirming fosse, so we deducted 8% as a rough estimate of the cost of getting it up to standard. And settled on 6%.
But only you can say what you would be happy spending. We overpaid slightly for our current house, but got that back and much more in terms if the help we got from former owners. Who are now good friends.
For the horses the question is more do you need to build something for them, which will need permission. So get a CU on the land from the Marie to check you can do this. Unless you have lots (5+) and plan to register as a breeder which is a different matter.
Jane thanks a lot. Good advice. Unfortunately we are in a chain which I know puts us in a negative position. You sound like you know about horses and this is our big issue - in fact it’s the reason we want to move to France. We have a beautiful house here in Andalucia but our horses are housed 30 minutes away in unideal circumstances. We wrongly thought that in our area it would be easy to find fields for horses. We were so wrong. We are big animal lovers and have 2 rescue horses and 6 rescue dogs. We are just starting to investigate rules on horses in France. We know some of them but essentially I need the answer to one key question. How do I ensure that any house I buy will be accepted for horses. I don’t want to end up buying a house to find that we can’t keep horses there. It would ruin us. So you are saying that I should meet the Marie first to check this, yes? And not trust the agent? The house we have found does have 9,000 sq meters of land, existing large shelter, and room for hay.
what does your diagnostique say? Does “fully restored” mean double glazing and proper roof insulation? If so the price sounds good. My old stone house is a bigger than yours and I have electric air/eau heating that I got aid from the state for, a fully insulated roof and a wood burner and a gas hob. Elecs with the foul price rise about 2,880 per year double glazing which is not new but still remarkable, and I buy a small gas bottle for the hob, main cooking I think, apart from roasting under 300per year. Do the wash on cheap time at night, and no dishwasher or clothes drier. Yes; look at the bills. 6/8 sounds insane. It’s the elecs that is so awful, and i have been almost in tears with a nice lady frm EDF, she has to live too, and to have it heat the air above your roof wont do.
Kate, I am amazed by these electricity prices. I have research it ad infinitum and in theory prices should be roughly same in Spain as France. On standard rates. Some of these costs Spain vs France could be a deal Breaker for me. But thanks for the input, I appreciate it. Cheers, Matt
What are you paying per kWh in Spain? That would be an easy comparison. I have a place that sounds similar size to what you’re looking at, I have 3 horses, 2 ponies, goats. The house is pre-energy transformation so single glazing, oil heating, no insulation (aside from the 75cm stone walls) and I pay about a grand in electricity and a grand in fioul. I’m just on the basic regulated tariff so not the cheapest out there. If your place is more efficient I’d expect lower costs than that.
If your land is agricultural you won’t need to do anything in terms of permissions for the animals, just for any new structures you want to put up, although my experience has been that I can build or put absolutely nothing on my land… unless it’s for agricultural purposes, then it gets waved through almost immediately with barely a second thought! I reckon I could build a 5 bed house with a pool and as long as some cows not humans live in it there will be no planning issues Of course your mileage may vary as they say.
Thanks very much for that. I confess that my comparisons are at average prices, not specific. So I will look into the kw. Meanwhile: we are bringing 2 horses with us. Where are you? We could do with some helpful advice on this! Thank you!
Of course your mileage may vary as they say.