Don’t Live in Nowheresville and Other Good Advice

NOWHERESVILLE

Don’t you just love to be able to say “I told you so?” Or at least know that the person you told can admit it by saying it themselves, “You told me so, and I should have listened?”

I pound on my drums about not getting all starry-eyed over some quaint little village nowheresville in France because almost everyone does it. I call it the “Peter Mayle Syndrome.”

Peter Mayle was an author who moved from the U.K. to the Luberon in the late 1980s, however, his intention to pen a novel was eclipsed by his account of life in his new French surroundings. This manifested in the publication of his 1989 book titled A Year in Provence, which achieved global acclaim as an international bestseller. If you haven’t read it, do it now.

I speak to people on a daily basis who have this burning desire to be Peter Mayle, yet they know not of what they speak! In spite of the book’s woeful tale of what he experienced renovating an old home in Provence, that tore his life apart yet enriched it, it has stuck in the minds of Francophiles far and wide, providing a true/false and rose-colored-glasses view of life in “La France Profonde.”

Just last week, I received an email from a client who we helped purchase a village house in the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region. This was after our consultation during which I did my usual song and dance routine to caution the couple about moving to nowheresville. But, it was their dream and so we set out to find them a property, and succeeded.

In her email, she explained:

“It’s a beautiful village and it has all the basic amenities, like a pharmacy, boulangerie (bakery), a store that sells organic products, a boucherie (butcher), a tabac (smoke shop), a bar and a restaurant. So there is all one needs for day-to-day living and the weather overall is very good—not as cold or rainy like Paris and the North of France but this year, it was as good as last year and I hear it was the same in many areas.”

Sounded good; then she wrote:

“The downside: Public transport is non-existent and taxis are scarce as hen’s teeth and are not based in the village, so because of that we were forced to purchase a car and go about our daily lives to a nearby village in the Dordogne called Eymet for banking and other various shops. Our doctor and dentist are about 20 minutes away.

But as you are aware that doctors are hard to find and the ones who are operating don’t take in new patients, so we were lucky a year ago. We do have a doctor next door to us, but he had stopped accepting patients before we landed in France so even though your agent said there was a doctor five steps from us, we were never able to contact him as he does not answer his phone.

My husband and I need heart specialists and a nephrologist. To get an appointment we have to wait three to four months to see them once the appointment is confirmed. Just travel to and from takes us about four hours for which we drive or hire a taxi and the cost is around €400 door-to-door. Getting X-Rays and other such tests also take two to three months from when the appointment is made.”

She then wanted to know where in the South of France can they purchase a place where doctors, dentists and specialists are easy to get to without long waiting times. They would like to not have a car, but a good public transport system and an expat community.

“Coming to France was easy as we received the best service from you and your team but when we arrived here we were roped into accepting the services of a hand holder from the agent who sold us the house and that was a costly experience. We paid him €8,000 for the year to help us with getting our French driver’s license, Carte Vitale and the long stay visa which expired in March 2024. He sat on it and we had to keep pestering him and we eventually had to employ the services of another person whose fees were one-tenth of what we were charged by the hand holder. We received the license, Carte Vitale and Carte de Séjour recently, but at least we are not stressed now. All we got from him was a doctor and dentist, our Internet connection and taking us to our heart specialist appointment once to Bordeaux.

So it was a huge learning experience. A few people here think that expats have an endless supply of money and prey on silly people like us (gullible and elderly 😂).

I do acknowledge that you did warn us, but we did not think that it was going to be that difficult (silly us!!).”

PRAISE FOR OUR NOTAIRE’S ADVICE IN NICE

On our YouTube channel, a fan posted a comment about our Notaire in Nice, Carole Vangioni. She spoke at Après-Midi, which we recorded and posted. Here’s the message:

“My husband and I bought an apartment in Nice in 2014. Carole was our Notaire, and advised us to choose a marriage regime, which I think is the marriage contract she mentioned. We did not understand, and did not take her advice. Also, we thought we would not be keeping the apartment more than a few years so we did not expect a problem. Then, my husband died in 2020, and we had a family trust. Our wills both said any assets not in the trust would be placed in the trust upon our death. So, the apartment was in our individual names and his ‘half’ was to be put into the trust at his death! The French attorney I used said that would be as if a corporation was inheriting, and would need to pay a large inheritance tax. However, our Nevada trust also said that any asset could be disavowed (?) and not be placed in the trust. So, the Nevada attorney drew up papers stating that I disavowed the share of the apartment from going to the trust. Anyway, the entire thing with the French lawyer, the Notaire, translations of US documents, and the Nevada lawyer ended up costing about $15,000 and took a year to complete. There was no inheritance tax, but how much simpler it would have been if we had followed Carole’s advice to begin with!”

What’s the moral of the story? Take professional advice!

RENTER BEWARE

The rental agency fees can be a shock, so be prepared. When you’re hiring us to find you a rental apartment, particularly in Paris or Nice, the best properties you will find, and the ones with the best management, are those offered by agencies…but they do come with fees. These fees are over and above the fees you pay us to find the property and secure the lease.

Our documents make a point to warn you (Exhibit A) so that you will not be surprised: “Properties represented by licensed agencies are the best managed and easiest to acquire. Allow for additional rental agency fees of approximately one month’s rent.” The listing should quote the fees, but if it doesn’t, be sure to ask.

Taken from the official government site:

The real estate agency freely sets its rates for the rental of a dwelling.
The agency shall display, and legibly, the maximum price of each service, in the following places:

• At the entrance to the agency’s premises
• From the outside, on the agency window
• On each advertising window located outside the agency
• On online ad sites
• In fairs or trade shows
• These maximum prices must be indicated TTC: All taxes included

The Agency shall also indicate, for each benefit, who must pay it. When the maximum price depends on the amount of rent, the display must mention the information allowing to calculate this maximum price (price ranges…).

The amount invoiced by the real estate agency for the application fee, of house visit and drafting of the lease is shared between tenant and landlord.

The amount paid by the tenant may not exceed:

• Half of the fees charged by the real estate agency
• And a maximum amount, calculated from a price TTC: All taxes included per m2 of living space. This price per m2 varies depending on the area where the housing is located (very tense, tense or non-tense area)

You can help yourself with this simulator.

The calculation to be made depends on the area where the dwelling is located: very dense, dense or non-dense area.

When the entry site is recorded by the tenant and the real estate agent, the tenant must pay part of the fees invoiced by the real estate agent. But the share paid by the tenant may not exceed:

• Half of the fees charged by the real estate agency
• And a maximum amount, from €3 TTC: All taxes included per m² of living space.

Example 1:

For a house of 25m², if the inventory is invoiced €170 TTC:
Half of the fees charged are equal to €170/2 = €85
The maximum amount attributable to the tenant is: 25 x €3 = €75
So the tenant has to pay €75 (because €75 is less than €85) and the owner must pay the remaining amount, either €95 (obtained by €170 – €75)

Example 2:

For a house of 25m², if the inventory is invoiced €100 TTC:
Half of the fees charged are equal to €100/2 = €50
The maximum amount attributable to the tenant is: 25 x €3 = €75
So the tenant has to pay €50 (because €50 is less than €75) and the owner must pay the remaining amount, either €50 (obtained by €100 – €50)

You can help yourself with this simulator to estimate tenant’s share.

Please note: If an amicable and contradictory state of affairs (i.e. in the presence of the tenant and the real estate agent) is not possible, it is necessary to call on a commissioner of justice (former bailiff and judicial auctioneer). The costs requested by the commissioner of justice will be shared half between tenant and owner.

With the exception of application fees, visits, lease drafting fees and an inventory of the place of entry, all other fees charged by the real estate agency for the rental of a dwelling are to be paid in full by the owner.

To entrust the rental management of the housing to a real estate agency, the owner signs with it a management mandate.

The price charged by the agency for this activity (e.g. finding a tenant, sending rent receipts…) is payable by the landlord.

Reminder: The real estate agency freely sets its rental management rates.

When the real estate agency drafts a new lease when the lease is renewed, the price charged by the agency is to be shared between the owner and the tenant.

A new lease should be drafted in case of an increase in the undervalued rent or change the terms of the original lease.

The amount paid by the tenant may not exceed: Half of the fees charged by the real estate agency.

And a maximum amount, calculated from a price TTC: All taxes included per m2 of living space. This price per m2 varies depending on the area where the housing is located (very tense, tense or non-tense area).

You can help yourself with this simulator.

The calculation to be made depends on the area where the dwelling is located: very dense, dense or non-dense area

The tenant must not pay a fee to make an amicable and contradictory inventory (i.e. in the presence of the tenant and the real estate agent).

Any clause in the lease that requires the tenant to pay for the amicable exit statement is abusive. It must be considered unwritten.

Please note: If an amicable and contradictory state of affairs is not possible, it is necessary to call on a Commissioner of Justice. In this case, it is a state of play (or rental statement) of which the costs are to be shared between the tenant and the owner.

Note:

Since the ALUR law came into effect, rental fees for tenants in Paris have been capped. Tenants now pay a maximum of €12 per square meter for agency services and €3 per square meter for the entry inventory, totaling €15 per square meter, regardless of the apartment’s size or rent. This is great news for future tenants who want to use an agency without breaking the bank. The smaller the apartment, the lower the fees. For example, the total fees for a 25m2 studio would be €375. This cap allows students and young professionals to access quality unfurnished or furnished apartments through agencies at a more affordable cost, making it less necessary to seek out direct owner-to-tenant rentals. However, using a rental agency still involves paying fees for the services they provide, such as property selection and lease drafting.

A la prochaine…