House Hunting in ... France

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The property has a three-bedroom, one-bath guesthouse, a heated swimming pool and a marble-floored orangerie now used as a gym and pool house. A neighboring town, about a mile away, has a supermarket, a fishmonger and several restaurants. The city of Laval, with a population of around 53,000, has a medieval old town, Gothic and Renaissance churches, a museum of naive art and boat tours on the Mayenne River. The property has helicopter clearance. Paris is about two hours and 40 minutes by car. From Laval, the TGV train ride to Paris takes about an hour and 50 minutes.

MARKET OVERVIEW

The real estate market in France has not yet recovered from the 2008 global economic crisis, agents said. But prices for chateaus in the Loire Valley and neighboring department of Mayenne, which have dropped considerably since their peak, have hit bottom and stabilized, agents said.

Bernard Rochet, the founding director and chief executive of Diva Immobilier, a real estate agency near Paris that has the listing, said chateau asking prices have dropped 20 percent to 30 percent from their peak. He added that was a generalization, because no two properties are alike.

Mr. Rochet said that given more realistic current prices, homes were no longer selling with steep discounts off their asking prices. Buyers have begun to return to the region because of the better prices and because they again view real estate as a sound investment.

Trevor Leggett, the chairman of Leggett Immobilier, a real estate agency based in the Dordogne region of southwest France that has an English-speaking clientele, said interest rates were as low as 1 percent, which is motivating buyers inside and outside France.

Franois-Xavier Le Nail, the director of Cabinet Le Nail, an agency based in Mayenne that focuses on chateaus and historic properties in northwestern France, said prices have stabilized in the last year. His company had more transactions in early 2016 than at the end of 2015.

A property with land, a bit of elegance, and in fairly good condition costs between 800,000 euros and 1.5 million euros, or about $880,000 to $1.65 million, Mr. Le Nail estimated. Prices go up from there, depending on features including lot size, condition and quality of any restoration, he added.

Mr. Le Nail said it was too soon to know how the British vote last month to quit the European Union would affect the real estate market. However, he said, Frances presidential election in the spring of 2017 might keep buyers on the sidelines, as they wait to see the next administrations fiscal recipe.

WHO BUYS IN AND NEAR THE LOIRE VALLEY

Mayenne, north of the Loire Valley, is a department of France named after the river that runs through it. The part of Mayenne closer to the Loire Valley, where this house is situated, has a similar atmosphere, Mr. Le Nail said, but it is an under-the-radar destination, particularly among foreign visitors.

Mr. Le Nail said the Loire Valley and the surrounding area have understated but stable appeal. We are not in a bling-bling area, he said. People who buy in the Loire Valley are really looking for something real: Have your vegetable garden, ride your horse, pick your cherries, eat your salad, he said.

Mr. Leggett said his company has recently sold properties in the Loire Valley to people from Britain, Belgium and the United States.

BUYING BASICS

Foreigners can buy property in France without restrictions, said Steve Jakubowski, a lawyer with Avocats Picovschi, a law firm in Paris. Transactions are handled by notaries, but he recommends getting a lawyer as well. Transactions are done in euros.

Closing costs, paid by the buyer, total about 6 percent to 8 percent of the purchase price. They include the notarys services, state and local taxes and registration fees. Sales are almost always carried out with the help of a real estate agent. But Mr. Jakubowski said that in some cases buyers or sellers use a lawyer instead.

Foreigners can obtain mortgages, Mr. Jakubowski said, but typically need a down payment of about 20 percent.

Mr. Leggett advises prospective buyers of large estates not to underestimate the cost of possible renovations and year-round maintenance.

WEB SITES

Mayenne tourism: mayenne-tourisme.com

Laval tourism: laval-tourisme-uk.com/

LANGUAGES AND CURRENCY

French: euro (1 euro = $1.10)

TAXES AND FEES

Property taxes are approximately 4,500 euros, or around $4,950, per year. The agency fee is included in the asking price.

CONTACT

Batrice de Mersseman, Diva Immobilier, (33 1) 4514-0000; diva-immo.fr

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Source: http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/31/realestate/real-estate-in-france.html