It is now becoming very difficult to
find a property at an affordable price.
This can be blamed on the increase
in property prices, obviously, but also on
the new enthusiasm for personalised
spaces, which reflect their owners' personalitiesÂ…
If you do manage to unearth
a real gem of a find, here are some
tips and stories to help you avoid turning
a renovation project into a family disaster
or a bottomless money pit.
There has never been so much of a feelgood
factor in the property market since
2000, driven by people buying houses to
live in rather than speculators, attractive
mortgage rates and all the security of
"bricks and mortar" . As there are more
old properties - 30 million, 57% of them
individual houses - than new ones, sooner
or later you are going to have to
renovate. But whereas you used to be
able to pick up a property for a song and
then do it up, nowadays the explosion in
prices means that these are becoming
very hard to find. This is the case in all
of the regions where there are the most
second homes, even though they are
more likely to be used as semi-main
homes for long weekends - due to the
reduction in French working time to
35 hours a week - and in preparation for
retirement - because you do have to
think about such things.
Basically, anything to do with renovation
and the difficulties involved in it is a
sure-fire winner: nowadays you can
hardly turn on the television without
seeing a programme about decorating
your house and giving it a makeover!