On the Road to Lyon

On the road again…this time to Lyon to sign a “Promesse de Vente” on behalf of our clients purchasing an apartment in Paris. The seller’s Notaire is located in Lyon and therefore, someone must well represent them. It happens to be me.

Lyon is a two-hour ride on the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) from Gare de Lyon (logical) making it very easy to arrive there, perform the duties of the signing, and return in the afternoon in plenty of time to do a bit more work before having a relaxing evening with friends. The seat is not first class, but it’s equipped with a plug for the computer and with an iPhone 4S which has a “Personal Hotspot” plus “Free Mobile” for a whopping 16€ a month, I’m connected. Aren’t the train and Internet systems in France amazing?

The apartment for which I am signing is a large one bedroom apartment on the corner of two important streets in Le Marais with views on the Centre Pompidou, the Hôtel de Ville and Notre Dame. It was once two apartments combined to one and therefore has two entrances. Special features include a terrace and a watch tower. The apartment lends itself to reconfiguring it back to two apartments that can be combined when desired — one one-bedroom with bath and one two-bedroom with possibly two baths. The purchasers see the advantage of this arrangement for rental purposes.

The only negative aspect to this apartment is the entrance which has an unusual feature. Two boutiques on the ground level on either side of the entrance illegally (without permission of the home owner’s association) opened the side walls by using a kind of garage door to raise and lower so that when opened, the two boutiques are unified and one must go through the unified boutique to enter the stairwell up to the apartment. It’s a first for us!

Fortunately, the seller has officially notified the “Syndic” (association manager) that this must be addressed and if all goes well, the walls will be reinstated and the entry will once again be normal, and hopefully also quite pleasant. Either way, the apartment is destined to rent well. At €1 million, it’s a bargain considering all of its advantages, but the new owners can expect to spend about 200,000€ to renovate it — perhaps even more — to a luxury standard. Our Interior Architect, Martine di Mattéo, has already been brought in to voice an opinion and provide an estimate for the work.

Lyon is not a city in which I’ve spent much time. I visited it when first coming to France in 1979 and have changed trains there once or twice, but cannot really say I know much about the city except for its reputation as a gastronomic capital, thanks to Paul Bocuse and other illustrious chefs. The time there today is so limited that I don’t expect to see much of it, nor take advantage of any real gourmet delights.

It would be natural to think that the new TGV from Paris to Nice would run via Lyon, but that’s not the case. The planned route is Marseille to Nice to be built by 2025 reducing the train travel time for 5 hours 40 minutes to 3 hours 50 minutes. That will certainly make Nice even more accessible from Paris and because it takes the coastal route, will improve train travel between Marseille and Italy, then eventually between Nice and Genoa when more improvements are made. The improvement to the train system is predicted to reduce traffic at the Nice airport and therefore will reduce the air routes.

All this provides even more reason to consider investing in the Côte d’Azur, putting Lyon less in the limelight. If the train were routing through Lyon, we might be looking at property there with a different point of view, however, Lyon and its environs are the largest area outside of Paris with over two million inhabitants. The city has historical and architectural landmarks and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Historically Lyon is known as an important area for the production and weaving of silk and it has a significant role in the history of cinema due to Auguste and Louis Lumière who invented the “cinematographe.” Its reputation as the capital of gastronomy is relatively recent.

“Economically, Lyon is a major center for banking as well as for chemical, pharmaceutical, and biotech industries. The city contains a significant software industry with a particular focus on video games, and in recent years has fostered a growing local start-up sector. Lyon also hosts the international headquarters of Interpol, Euronews and International Agency for Research on Cancer. Lyon is ranked second in France as an economic center and convention center on some measures. Lyon was ranked 9th globally and second in France for innovation in 2010. It ranked 38th globally in Mercer’s 2010 livability rankings.” (Wikipedia.org)

One thing for sure — France is a wonderland of beautiful places to consider living and investing. Lyon could easily be one of them with such easy access to all part of France via the TGV!

A bientôt,

Adrian Leeds
Editor, French Property Insider

Email: [email protected]

 P.S. Mark your calendar and don’t miss it. I’ll be speaking June 25th at the Property Investors Network meeting about:

* What is going to happen to the property market in the next 12 months…
* The huge mistake most amateur investors are making right now…
* When is the best time to invest in property…
* How to earn up to £4000 per hour from your property investing…
* What are the best strategies to use in the current market…
* How to minimize the risks of investing…
* How to completely pay off your own home mortgage in 8 to 10 years!

The first time you attend is FREE for readers of our newsletters! Book your seat now and make sure you bring plenty of business cards with you for some great networking with other like minded, successful property investors. For your free seat, all you have to do is register using the promotional code “Adrian.” Visit Events & Conferences for more information.