Paris Means Pleasure And Profit

Ask me what’s new and every minute the answer changes.

Just this week, we got word that France Soir is about to launch an English-language edition aimed at expatriates and businessmen. Insiders confirmed reports of this new France Soir International, which would be published in English six times a week starting next month and distributed initially in Paris, Lyon, Bordeaux and the Mediterranean Riviera.

An English language local news publication is long overdue…in fact I was party to several attempts myself to make it happen over the past few years. I’m keeping my fingers crossed that poor revenues won’t be its demise as was the case with Time Out who recently folded its Paris office.

This weekend on the “Parvis” (square) in front of the Hôtel de Ville, will be held the “Forum des Associations Parisiennes 2004.” This 3rd edition allows you to discover all the non-profit associations Paris has to offer, their booths open Saturday and Sunday, October 22 and 23 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. More than 400 associations will be represented there. To consult the list of associations present, download the pdf listing: http://www.paris.fr/fr/citoyennete/actualites/forum_associations/assos.pdf And to consult the program, you can download the pdf:
http://www.paris.fr/fr/citoyennete/actualites/forum_associations/spectacles.pdf

The Chambre de Notaires recently reported, once again, a healthy rise in Paris property prices, and as an owner, I’m not unhappy. Since 1998, property in my arrondissement rose 84.7%! The only arrondissements to see better appreciation were the 1st and the 10th. The average for the city continues to hover around 13% per year and there seems to be no end in sight.

In an interview with Mayor Aidenbaum of the 3rd this past week, he blamed foreign buyers on the rise of housing costs, but mostly he is opposed to the big companies who are buying large blocks of flats and reselling them within five years at large increases. (In 2003 approximately 150 residences were purchased by the American Retirement Fund Westbrook with the ambition to resell the properties within five years and net a profit of 30%. His protectionist group vehemently protested and proposed a law to protect the tenants of such properties.)

Meanwhile, we’re working with many of you “foreign” buyers to purchase apartments that you’ll be able to enjoy for short stays and rent for a return on your investment the rest of the time. The buzz words are “two and two” — two bedrooms, two baths — of which there is a shortage on the rental market, a shortage of on the sales market, but a huge demand by the rental clients. In most cases, we’re turning to apartments with one bath that have space to add another, since so few exist with two.

Two agencies we work with who offer two-bedroom apartments advertise their weekly rentals for between $4,428 and $5,390! If you buy right, renovate smartly, furnish it luxuriously, and hire the best of management, you can command these kinds of rents. For this reason, today’s property picks are apartments with either two baths or space to add one in areas of good rental potential in the finest of locations.

Get out your calculator (or your Excel spreadsheet) to calculate your ROI and don’t forget to consider that while your rental property is working for you, it’s appreciating about 13% a year, too!

Aren’t we luck? Paris means “pleasure” and Paris means “profit,” too.

A la prochaine…

Adrian Leeds
Editor, Parler Paris
E-mail: [email protected]

P.S. If you’re interested in learning how to make a smart property investment in France, then mark December 29th on your calendar to be in Paris. I’ll tell you why in just a few short days…but if you can’t stand the suspense, email Schuyler Hoffman at [email protected] to be the first to know!

FOR SALE:

Each week Paris Property Picks features a range of properties which we believe are on the market at the time of writing. These properties are featured in order to give readers a sample of what is currently available and a working example of prices being asked in various districts of Paris. As we are not a real estate agency, these properties do not constitute a sales listing. For those readers seriously interested in finding property in Paris or France, you can retain our services to do the whole thing for you. For more information, visit /frenchproperty/insider/propertyconsultation.html

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Paris 3rd Arrondissement 3 Rooms, 81M², Temple
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In a beautiful pierre-de-taille building with elevator, 3/4 rooms: entry, double salon, independent kitchen, two bedrooms, bath, shower possible, toilet, cellar, parquet, molding, fireplace.

Asking Price: 465,000 Euros + 2% Finder’s Fee

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Paris 5th Arrondissement, 3 Rooms, 80M², Saint Severin
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In an old building on the first floor, 3 rooms with wood beams and high ceilings, salon, two bedrooms, kitchen, bath, toilet.

Asking Price: 490,000 Euros + 2% Finder’s Fee

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Paris 3rd Arrondissement, 4 Rooms, 93M², Cirque d’Hiver
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In an old building on the 1st floor, salon, three bedrooms, large kitchen, bath, parquet, molding, high ceilings, cellar, gas heating.

Asking Price: 493,000 Euros + 2% Finder’s Fee