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Own a Château for the Price of a Paris Apartment?
Volume XII, Issue 12
One of our readers forwarded on an article titled “CASTLES THAT COST LESS THAN AN APARTMENT IN NYC.”
I cracked up! For years I’ve joked that for the price of an apartment in Paris, one could own a château in the countryside! But the question is: Would you want to?
Let’s start with considering the price of an apartment in Paris compared to the price of an apartment in New York.
Trulia.com says that the average price per square foot for New York City from December 13, 2013 to March 14, 2014 was $1,372 (an increase of 15.8% compared to the same period
last year) and that popular neighborhoods in New York include Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Harlem, Chelsea, West Village, and Greenwich Village.
The Chambre de Notaires de Paris says that at the end of December 2013, the average price per square meter in Paris was 8,140, with the most expensive districts being the 6th, 7th, 5th, 4th, 3rd with per square meter prices between 10,000 and 12,390.
Today’s rate of exchange is approximately $1.38 to the euro. The square meter equals 10.764 square feet. Therefore: 1 average square meter in New York City costs $14768.21 or 10,702, compared to Paris at 8,140. 1 average square foot in Paris costs $756.22 or 547.99, compared to $1,372 in New York City.
One might assume from this that New York is more expensive than Paris, if one were to consider today’s rate of exchange, which of course, fluctuates — so check back in a month or two!
The price of the property, however, does not consider the ‘cost of entry’ or closing costs which are higher in France than the U.S. In a New York Times article in 2012, New York had the highest closing costs of any state at an average of $5,435. Even so, with the average listing price for New York City for sale on Trulia.com of $2,885,397, this calculates to approximately .002 per cent. In France, the buyer pays approximately 7% to 7.5% of the purchase price in closing costs.
There is also the cost of ownership to consider, which is considerably higher in the U.S. than in France thanks to higher property taxes and maintenance fees. New York has the highest tax rate in the country, with $3,411.13 on the average based on 4,640 square feet, therefore $0.74 per square foot. Paris property taxes average .0001 per cent to the value of the property. I understand this is like comparing ‘apples to oranges,’ because the tax basis for each is entirely different, but while New York City has the highest tax rate, Paris, because it’s so densely populated, has one of the lowest tax bases in France…just the opposite of New York.
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Still, we have not yet considered how owning a property in Paris (or New York) compares to owning a château in France (or anywhere for that matter)! You can purchase a château for quite a bit less than an apartment in Paris, but would you want to and can you afford to renovate and maintain it?
Sure, it sounds awfully romantic to own a château — it’s what fairy tales and dreams are made of. Don’t you just see yourself as Marie Antoinette galloping through the fields and gardens of Versailles acting very much the princess or “châtelaine?” Of course, Marie had a plethora of servants to attend to her precious Petit Trianon and stunning gardens, and would would need them, too, but can your budget afford it?
Most who fall into the dream of château ownership also want to restore the structure and interiors to their original splendors, or at least something similar to what it would have been like centuries earlier. This alone costs tons of time, energy and money, much less the ongoing maintenance expense. Some unfortunate dreamers who have gotten themselves too deep into a project like this have ended up bankrupt!
Compare:
Carcassonne French Château For Sale
960,000
PRICED REDUCED – Château of the 19th century 600m2/6460ft2, 10 bedrooms, pool, 9000m2/2.25 acres planted landscaped, peaceful, lovely view, Carcassonne area.
Apartment on rue de Roi de Sicile in the 4th Arrondissement
920,000
73 m², 3 rooms, duplex on the 5th and 6th floors with balcony, fully equipped kitchen, one toilet, one shower, cellar.
___________
French Château with Amazing Potential in the Dordogne
1,060,000
An immensely impressive château in 7 hectares of undulating parkland.
Apartment in the 16th Arrondissement
1,050,000
Near Porte Maillot, 3 rooms very sunny with large living room and parking.
___________
15 minutes from Nantes French Château For Sale
1,930,000
A lovely 19th-century French château for sale, sitting on 9 hectares of land bordered by a river suitable for fishing. The château has 850m2 of habitable space on 4 floors, plus 2 cottages of 160m2 each and there is a swimming pool.
Appartement with 6 Rooms in the 8th Arrondissement
1,920,000
Rue d’Amsterdam in a building dat
ing to 1860, 196m2, with six rooms and with blacony.
___________
South West France French Château For Sale
2,120,000
An immensely impressive château of classic style and proportion set in 34 hectares of gardens, meadows and woodland. With five bedrooms in the chateau and a further three in the recently renovated guardian
‘s cottage there is ample accommodation for private or business purposes.
Exceptional Penthouse in the 16th Arrondissement
2,100,100
On the last floor with an elevator and private terrace, double living room, fireplaces, parking, cellar, view of the Eiffel Tower.
___________
Now, choose!
A bientôt,
Adrian Leeds
Director of The Adrian Leeds Group, LLC
Respond to Adrian: [email protected]
P.S. Calling all photographers! Parler Paris Apartments is looking for your best ‘post card’ style photos of the City of Light for use on our Web site — with credit to you, of course, noted on the photo itself! Please send us your best (hi resolution) photos taken in the Marais and St. Germain-des-Prés neighborhoods specific to the following sights:
St. Paul area Square du Temple and the Carreau du Temple Rue des Francs Bourgeois Place des Vosges Place de la Bastille and the Bastille Market The Hotel de Ville Picasso Museum Cafés in St. Germain (Flore, Deux Magots, etc.) LEglise de St. Germain des Prés Jardin de Luxembourg LEglise de St. Sulpice Musée dOrsay.
Your work may also be featured in upcoming issues of Parler Paris, too! We reserve the right to choose those that are used and use them only on AdrianLeeds.com and related Web sites. Send the photos to: [email protected]
P.P.S. Thinking about and planning for retirement? Interested in retiring overseas? If so, then you need “The International Living Guide to Retiring Overseas on a Budget.” It’s a detailed guide to one of the least-known but most effective retirement strategies in today’s chaotic economic environment: retiring abroad. Authors by Suzan Haskins and Dan Prescher have at their disposal more than thirty years of International Living experience and expertise in the topic. Get your copy today!
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