Stella - You are so right. The more I read, the more I wonder what is truly going on. I didn’t read the DDT initially. My husband summarised it. But there are a few notes that seem rather important. The inspector noted that the furnace was turned off and they couldn’t inspect it. That the stove was not connected and also couldn’t be inspected. That the firm wants to come back and complete the inspection on the parts they could not inspect, and that the owner should arrange for this. The inspection was done last fall with the first buyer, so why hasn’t that been completed??
KarenLot - I don’t know whether mid-70s is old and doddery. The house is unoccupied because it’s a holiday home for them and always has been. We were told that they only used it a few months per year and never rented it out. You’d think that means it’s in good nick and it does look good, but who knows. We’re at about 95% of asking price with all furniture and appliances thrown in.
Nigel and Stella - Thanks for the meteo links, it sure looks nice there right now!
hairbear - I won’t name names or agency since they’re English speakers and might even read this forum, but you can probably guess. We weren’t specifically looking through that agency. We originally found the listing on leboncoin.
At this point, whom do we contact with our further questions and concerns? The notaire or the agent, or should certain things be directed to one or the other? We are a day’s drive away so we can’t easily hop over on any weekday. If the stars align, we’d sign in 2 weeks. Sadly, I think the stars are not going to be anywhere near aligned.
Must say… you’re offering 95% of the price and yet all this waffle is going on…
You’d think they’d be bending over backwards to have everything to hand, to encourage you to sign…
Speak with your Notaire and tell him you’re not signing anything until all questions have been answered. Then it’s up to the Sellers to get their act together.
It’s a holiday home, so I doubt it has much insulation… folk don’t often bother… so be aware.
and, as they’re English… I’d particularly check the plumbing and electrics. Many Brits don’t use French stuff ( 'cos it’s cheaper in UK) … and this can cause a real headache for a new Owner in an emergency…
(It has been considered vice caché by French legals in the past. OK, the ex-Owner had to pay to have all the plumbing redone French-style, but the new-Owner had all the hassle in the meantime.)
and, yes, check the number of rooms/size of property and whether Permits have been sought… a bedroom in the basement… might be an addition/change of use…
With all the Seller’s lax attitude, I’d be questioning everything and certainly talk about reducing my Offer… mention that to the Agent and it might get the Sellers more alert to their responsibilities.
A good, honest chat with your Notaire… then let him do the work for you…
@Gabby you can send a private message to @hairbear. It and his reply will show up on your screen but no one else will be able to see the messages.
Click on the symbol for your account top right when you are logged in and follow to Message then you can send a private message to hairbear and his reply to you will have the same protection.
Fair enough. If it’s the very obvious though (for UK buyers) then I have no experience with them down here, but do have experience with them in another area.
I personally wouldn’t approach them again.
Why do housebuyers let emotions overtake practical thinking?
There are so many alarm bells ringing here that the noise is deafening.
Walk away while you still can.
Is there a definition of the above? One person’s “unfinished” may not be the same as another’s. I wonder what the threshold is? For example, would putting plasterboard up in a cave change it from one category to another (just asking for a friend )?
Stella - Thank you. If I’m reading you right, we should work only with the notaire and forget the agent for now. I guess since the notaire is an attorney that makes sense.
KarenLot - Thanks for the tip on private messaging.
hairbear - I sent you a message after following Karen’s tip.
Hi JohnBoy, and thanks for your message. While I understand where you’re coming from, I do not think emotions are taking over in this case. We do like the house, but we’re also prepared to walk away. But we feel it’s important to learn as much as we can along the way. As the saying goes, we don’t know what we don’t know. How can we make a smart home purchase without asking questions? Apologies if they come across as stupid or obvious.
If every potential home buyer simply ran away without trying to learn more about the process, few homes would get sold. Or a lot more people would buy a lemon and be miserable.
This forum is a goldmine of information and I’m glad to have found it. Hopefully one day I can return the favour and help a newbie with some useful nugget of wisdom.
Thanks to everyone who has replied so far. I’ll update next week once I hear from the notaire regarding our latest questions. I’ll probably have more questions too, sorry!
It’s not to do with one person’s view against another; if a space that would otherwise be void ( combles non aménagés) is developed then it could be counted as undeclared habitable space if there was no other reason that would exempt it.
In the case of a cave, they wouldn’t count, plasterboarded or not.
That’s my point, what’s the threshold for “habitable”. Bare block walls would’t qualify I’m sure, but plastered ones? Gabby has mentioned that one of the bedrooms is in the “cave”. What triggers the transition from cave to habitable?
From what I gathered at an Insurance Inspection… if it’s being used as a bedroom, it should be declared as a bedroom (which it was not).
(Folk can and will argue the toss, but what counts is what the experts decide at that particular moment in time… our mumblings get us nowhere… sadly )
I suppose I’m thinking too far ahead but I have a very large cave that I’ve excavated with a view to using it as a sort of workshop, storage space for motorbike, bicycles and tons of other stuff I seem to have accumulated and should really throw away I’m putting in a concrete floor and would like to plaster the walls but if that moves from a cave to a habitable space, given it’s size, it could have a disproportionate impact on my taxe foncière. I’d like to stay just on the right side on uninhabitable .
With a bit of luck and no bed in there that sounds like a storage room or games room.
I gather a lot of London suburban houses had games rooms that were built in their attic. Not 4th bedrooms, but games rooms. And advertised as such by estate agents. Ahem.
One of our cellars is starting to look like a medieval church, I’m in the process of cleaning up and pointing the joints, the arch work is taking time and giving me a stiff neck. Mrs W, slept down there during the last heatwave and wants it to be a heatwave bunker / bedroom and her artist’s work shop. Can’t see any problems in what you have in mind unless you rent it out type chambre d’hôte or selling the house advertising it as anything other than a cellar/workshop.
John: if your property is an old one, I would strongly advise against concrete in favour of limecrete and lime plaster rather than standard plasterboard.
I have 2 friends with old (200 years+) houses who have replaced earth floors with concrete: they now have damp coming up the walls.
Gabby: to me there are a number of warning signs that may not be first apparent:
that well known large English estate agency;
elderly British owners who only used the property as a holiday home;
lack of diagnostics for key areas / items.
My view is that once you have the complete diagnostics, you will then be in a much better place to make informed decisions regarding whether to proceed or not and perhaps a revised offer.
My own property purchase experience may be of interest.
L bought our house through that well known agency from British owners who had only used the house as a holiday home. I noticed two warning signs: the plastic garden chairs being used as bedroom furniture and the £1 round paper Woolworths lampshades. (Did I mention that the previous owners were a pair of incompetent, tight-fisted bodgers??). I had a professional survey carried out. The mandatory inspection revealed severe problems with the gas CH boiler – which was immediately condemned, the survey that I commissioned exposed issues with the roof beams.
My offer was 10% below their (reduced) asking price. Mistake – I should have offered 20% below!
BTW, the CH boiler was replaced at the vendors expense.
What only came to light once we had moved in was:
extensive problems with the electrics (whole house had to be rewired)
leaky ‘garage’ roof
amateur shoddy plasterboard work.
Almost 4 years later, are we glad that we bought the house? Yes – but wished that we had paid a lot less.
Most properties will have issues of one sort or another… mostly minor, but the major ones can be ghastly if not budgeted for.
If one can have a reasonable idea of just what one is taking on,… and make an offer based on that… all well and good.
We fell in love with our house on the first/only visit, before even getting out of the car… and we knew it would need “intensive care”. Still happy with our choice, impoverished but very happy… and it’s still not “finished”, even after all these years…
We too! Have spent again what we paid for it in bringing it up to scratch - rewiring / new lounge floor / replumbing /new central heating system / new bathroom / insulation / replastering / new fosse septique and pipework to bring that to conformity/new kitchen. And, like you, still not finished. @Gabby : Ours too was a second home for 15 years, not visited at all during some years. As soon as we moved in most of the stuff they left us (cooker/central heating boiler / wood burner in the lounge / washing machine/ etc/etc) had to be replaced. What was fine for 2 weeks in the summer definitely wasn’t for winter
We sort of knew what we faced, but not quite to what extent.
If you have deep pockets and you are prepared to spend as much again as you buy it for than maybe you can go ahead. But be under no illusion that this will be a place you can just move into and live happily ever after.
Ours was a second home for 25 years. We are veeeeery slowly improving it but my goodness it’s no fun in the winter However, in no way at all do I regret it
I must add that we had visited France especially to view properties on several occasions that year. Saw some lovely properties which turned out not to be so lovely, once we started asking questions… and we didn’t feel sufficiently drawn to any of them to ignore the warning nudges from our brains… (thankfully).
“love at first sight” has worked twice in our lives… once personal and the other structural…
The house is unoccupied because it’s a holiday home for them and always has been. We were told that they only used it a few months per year and never rented it out. You’d think that means it’s in good nick and it does look good, but who knows. We’re at about 95% of asking price with all furniture and appliances thrown in.
)?
While I understand where you’re coming from, I do not think emotions are taking over in this case. We do like the house, but we’re also prepared to walk away. But we feel it’s important to learn as much as we can along the way. As the saying goes, we don’t know what we don’t know. How can we make a smart home purchase without asking questions? Apologies if they come across as stupid or obvious.
I’m putting in a concrete floor and would like to plaster the walls but if that moves from a cave to a habitable space, given it’s size, it could have a disproportionate impact on my taxe foncière. I’d like to stay just on the right side on uninhabitable 
.
and it’s still not “finished”, even after all these years… 
