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Searching for a property

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 10:33
by NigelS
Hi, We are looking for an isolated property in the PO. What are the best websites to search on and what search terms are equivalent to the "no near neighbours" that we've used in the UK? Thanks in advance.

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 12:04
by martyn94
The only one I've used is logic-immo.com (I believe it's the biggest, but only has properties from professional agents): it allows you to narrow your search by various criteria, but all I think to do with the characteristics of the house rather than its isolation or otherwise. But I didn't go into it: I wanted a house which wasn't isolated, and knew which commune I wanted.

You might find properties of the sort you want on leboncoin.com, but I can't think of any direct way to search for isolated ones: I suspect that it's not generally considered a virtue in France that you'd want to make a point of in your ad. If you have any idea at all where you want to end up, you could search on particular communes: small places in the back of nowhere will have more isolated properties than Perpignan, say.

Here's a fairly recent survey of the various more obvious sites

http://www.webcairn.com/7-meilleurs-sit ... mmobilier/

I have had a property in Normandy for many years which is isolated enough for anyone - 10kms from the nearest baguette, and 1km from my nearest neighbour. I found it quite easily (long before internet searches) simply by picking an estate agent which did that sort of thing. But again, my search area was a lot smaller than the whole P-O.

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 14:02
by Gus Morris
The key word in a property search is "isolé" In view of the nature of the question is it reasonable to assume you have a limited knowledge of French?

Some isolated properties really do merit the description! It may be worth bearing in mind that the PO is rather hilly. Latest statistics show that 53% of all households can't receive the broadcast TV signal. Thus it comes as no surprise to learn that ,to a lesser extent, there are similar problems with phones be they landlines or mobile. I had a friend, now sadly departed, whose house was aptly named "La Solitude". His access was by right of way over land that he did not own. When the roadway became impracticable following heavy rains he had problems.

Bon Courage

Gus

Thanks

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 14:12
by NigelS
Thanks Martyn and Gus. We will go with your advice and keep our fingers crossed.

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 14:23
by Helen
You could try


http://www.green-acres.com


It has a wide range of property as it includes details from many different agents - it's also in English if that's helpful for you.

Each property description also incorporates google maps

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 14:24
by martyn94
Gus Morris wrote:The key word in a property search is "isolé" In view of the nature of the question is it reasonable to assume you have a limited knowledge of French?

Some isolated properties really do merit the description! It may be worth bearing in mind that the PO is rather hilly. Latest statistics show that 53% of all households can't receive the broadcast TV signal. Thus it comes as no surprise to learn that ,to a lesser extent, there are similar problems with phones be they landlines or mobile. I had a friend, now sadly departed, whose house was aptly named "La Solitude". His access was by right of way over land that he did not own. When the roadway became impracticable following heavy rains he had problems.

BonCourage

Gus
At my place in Normandy, the standard reaction was "C"est très calme ici". Which loosely translated meant "you must need your head examining". And had I been living there full time, they would have been right.

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 14:30
by martyn94
Gus Morris wrote:The key word in a property search is "isolé"
Gus
Yes of course. I just thought it might seem condescending to say so. But I can't recall any property particulars that have ever claimed the fact.

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 18:43
by Helen
Just a thought, 'maison de campagne' might be a useful search term

Posted: Mon 25 Sep 2017 19:00
by martyn94
Helen wrote:Just a thought, 'maison de campagne' might be a useful search term
D'oh!, as Homer would say.

Posted: Tue 26 Sep 2017 10:39
by Caroline
Hi Nigel, I've lived and worked in the property market here for 10 years (property finder, then agent, now independent) so would be pleased to help you if you want to PM me with more details ie isolated house or isolated village, size, budget, wish list etc

Posted: Tue 26 Sep 2017 12:30
by Kate
A couple of local agents who advertise with P-O Life.
http://anglophone-direct.com/listing-ca ... te-agents/

Posted: Wed 27 Sep 2017 09:25
by Richard Handley
We found our house through beautifulsouth66.com

Eve, unlike most agents we spoke with, actually listened to what we wanted. She then spent a lot of time finding potential properties and tuning her search as she got to know us better. We found her to be very genuine and fully dedicated to finding the right house for us.

Some houses we looked at, including the house we purchased, were not on her web site so dont imagine that is the limit of availability.

We paid no fees, they are all paid by the seller.

Thanks

Posted: Wed 27 Sep 2017 10:06
by NigelS
Thanks Richard - that's a good recommendation.

Posted: Thu 28 Sep 2017 12:06
by tia
I would vouch for Beautiful South also. Eve is very good and follows everything through until the purchase is completed