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The price is right – or is it?
A friend of mine has been trying to sell his house in the Languedoc for well over a year, now. And without coming over all condescending, I’d like to offer him (and you, dear reader) a few words of advice. First word: price. My friend is selling because he and his wife have parted ways, and both want to make the most possible money on the sale. So their former love nest is a little over-priced (in my humble opinion) and thus, not selling. If the price ain’t right, you ain’t gonna make a sale, buster.
Spring is a great time to sell
Here’s another thought. It’s all in the timing. When my pals split up and put their French home on the market, they didn’t think about what season we were in (arguably they were too busy worrying about who was going to get the Norah Jones CDs). And the season was late autumn-cum-winter. They moved into separate accommodation, put their French country house on the market and then got increasingly frustrated as the weather got wetter and colder, and no-one wanted to view their French former home. It sat, empty, unloved and unheated, through the winter. Come the spring time, potential buyers came to view but were put off by the cold, musty, dusty old house that greeted them. Spring turned to summer, and nothing changed. My friends were busy getting on with their respective new lives and didn’t go back to their old place (too many painful memories).Then it was autumn again, the visits tailed off, and when the chilly winter winds started to blow, all the home hunters stayed – well, at home. As I write this, spring has sprung and estate agents tell me they’re getting calls from house hunters, so I’m telling my friends to schlep over to their former home, and open it up, air it out, dust it down and light a scented candle or two, because Now Is The Time For Action!
Languedoc property prices and trends
Without wishing to bore anyone’s pants off with dull old facts, figures and percentage points (and believe me, I could if I wanted to – I have the FNAIM French National Association of Estate Agents’ latest report in my sticky little hands), I have to point out that the Languedoc property market is not as hot as it was. This I know for a fact because I just spoke to the president of the Languedoc-Roussillon branch of the FNAIM, the charming Monsieur Bouchard of Littoral Immobilier in Canet en Roussillon. He tells me that although Languedoc property is still rising in value (to the tune of around 7-8% in 2005, year-on-year), the increase has slowed down (from around 15-20% in previous years). But don’t panic, says Monsieur Bouchard, because he reckons things will pick up again, given the fact that demand continues to outstrip supply by a long chalk. The lesson to be learned here is that the Languedoc property market is not as buoyant as it used to be. If you’re looking to sell a Languedoc home, you’d do well to do some market research and see how other, similar properties are priced, so you can be competitive.
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