Retrospective
And so it began...
We've enjoyed holidays in France (amongst other places) for years. For both my wife (Sally) and I, France was our first overseas destination: Dieppe for me as a 12-year old school boy and Calais for my wife when we were courting. We honeymooned in Paris - and it remains one of our favourite cities.
Last year (2017) Sally happened to comment on how cheap house prices were in some areas of France. A little research on the internet showed she was right. We'd often discussed building an extension on our English home but had never pursued it - but a house in France could be had for a fraction of what we expected a modest English extension to cost. A little more digging showed that Limousin was one of the lower cost regions and we concluded that a budget of €60,000, for a house that needed a little work (but not a full-on renovation project), was not unrealistic. We were due to be going to Tour, just north of this region, for a short break in August so we thought we'd explore the local housing whilst we were there.
Tours and the Loire Valley
Our daughter, Natasha, spent a year in Tour studying as part of her degree in French (and multi-media computing) and so we had visited on a number of occasions (including moving her in and bringing her home).
Natasha and Tom had given us our first grandchild, Serena, at the start of February. We though a long-weekend in Tour would be a nice break that we could all enjoy and so we booked up. Flying into Tour with Ryanair from Stanstead, we stayed in Jean-Philipe's wonderful Airbnb apartment (highly recommended).
As suggested above, the visit to Tour was planned before we started thinking about buying a property - but seeing as we were going, and though Tour was not in our target area (as house prices are generally higher in Indre-et-Loire than Limousin), it made sense to try visiting some immobiliers (estate agents) to see what was on offer.
We identified the location of a number of the town centre immobiliers in advance using the internet and we found more as we wandered around the town. We would pop in and, using our poor French along with a smattering of English, try to explain that we were looking for properties in the general area (not specifically in Tour - we knew they would be too expensive) that would meet our budget of €60,000. Some smiled at our ridiculous budget - but to be fair to us, I think they had misunderstood and thought we wanted a house in Tour itself. Others didn't laugh but had nothing. And a few dd indeed have properties on their books at that price.
One immobilier in particular, SquareHabitat, had a number that we might have been interested in. Sitting with their agent we whittled those available down to just a single property. Others were too big, too small, had too large a garden, needed too much work or had no facilities nearby (AKA a boulangerie and a bar). The one we selected was in a village called Rigny-Ussé and we headed there next day. It took a little finding but we'd allowed plenty of time for just that eventuality and so we were waiting when the immobilier arrived. We looked around. It was nice, the sort of thing we had expected - but it was the first property we had seen and probably the only one we would be seeing this visit, so there was no way an offer was in the offing.
Rigny-Ussé
What would we have got for our €60,000? It was two rooms downstairs (a kitchen and a living area) with two bedrooms and a bathroom above. It was compact and bijou and had a fosse septic. It was a decent walk from the few shops in the village but, as a bonus, at the far end of the village was the very beautiful Chateau d'Ussé.
Chateau d'Ussé
The Limousin and Limoges
We may not have found our perfect home, but our appetite was certainly whetted and as soon as we got home we started planning our next trip out. This time we would head for Limoges in the heart of the Limousin region and use it as a base for visiting properties to both the north an the the south, all found on the internet in advance of the visit. Flights and accommodation were booked for early October.
The properties were found on a number of websites. Had I created this blog earlier I would have been able to give you a list of the ones we found useful. Two that I do recall are:
Greenacres came recommended as it contains a number of private sales. This can be a big advantage when buying a property in France as the immobilier will charge up to 10% fees on the final sale price of a property - and it is the buyer that pays!
I believe Sally also used the following to find a number:
Whilst the trip to Tours had been a holiday with a bit of property searching as an aside, the trip to Limoges was going to very much focus on the property. As a result the accommodation during our stay was less important so we went for something considerably cheaper than in Tours. This was an apartment in a block of flats just outside of the centre of Limoges and in the direction of the airport. We again found it on Airbnb. It was fine and our host was friendly and helpful.
We booked our car with Buggs (www.buggscarhire.com). This is a small friendly family run business and we have used them again since - I have no hesitation in recommending them.
We had a fairly relaxed agenda, with a morning viewing and an afternoon viewing each day (two afternoon viewings on the day before we flew home as they were in the same small town).
Here's what we saw...
Day Two (first viewing day, north of Limoges)
Saint Sulpice-Laurière
We traveled north to Saint Sulpice-Laurière. At €55,000 it was in budget and it was BIG! The village was great, with all the amenities we wanted and was on the main rail line. The house needed redecorating, rewiring and some general love. The sort of work we were happy to do - but given the size of the property even this type of work would have been too much. A shame because I really liked the place.
Next we headed west to Bussière-Boffy and had lunch before meeting the very nice lady handling the private sale for a friend. Lunch was interesting in that I didn't realise the menu was a fixed one and so there was much confusion between me not speaking much French and the restaurant owner speaking no English as I tried to select what I wanted from a fixed menu that was not even written out. We figured it out in the end and had a very enjoyable meal.
Bussière-Boffy
If the meal was enjoyable, the property was disappointing. To be fair, it was the 'joker' in the pack as we were not too sure, from the pictures and description, just what state it was in. When we saw it, however, it was clear in needed a lot of work - far more than we were prepared to take on even if, from memory, this was only in the mid-€30ks.
Day Three (second viewing day, south-east of Limoges)
Today we headed south-east to Treignac in the Parc Naturel Régional de Millevaches en Limousin. We parked up in the village square where the immobillier's office was situated. The immobillier was simply lovely and spoke excellent English - both aspects a welcome improvement on the previous day's experience where the Saint Sulpice-Laurière spoke about as much English as I speak French (possibly less) and seemed a little grumpy. We were driven a short distance to the house we had selected.
The Treignac architecture is different to the other areas we visited (or would visit the next day). To my mind it starts to take on a 'Swiss' appearance. And the houses interior adopted a similar theme - it was chalet like and, being fairly open plan, was more spacious and far more modern that other properties we have viewed. It had no garden, which wasn't a big issue for us as we only wanted a small one - as we'd not be around much of the year. It had been fully renovated and was was very nice.
The trouble was, it was too nice. You'd move straight in and have nothing to do. Whilst I didn't want a major renovation project, I did want something that needed enough decorating that we could make it our own.
The village itself was lovely, with plenty of shops and restaurants, and as you stepped out of the front door of the house you had a wonderful panoramic view - it even had a sign to make it official.
We explained our reservation regarding the property being 'too nice' and the immobillier suggested we look at another property she had on her books. We happily agreed. The property was well within our low budget, but this time there would be too much work needed.
Next up, we traveled further east to Pradines. This is much deeper in the park and the roads become far narrower and generally lower quality. They may be fine most of the year but we could imagine them being a nightmare in winter.
The village was nice but very small, a hamlet really, very isolated. There was a bar/restaurant and the fare was OK but very rustic. We had arrived very early again and so had time for lunch and a walk through and around the village before meeting up with the immobilier (who was English and, again, very nice) at the house.
This house was Sally's favourite of all those we'd seen (and I think she may even have preferred it to the one we eventually chose) - despite the fosse septic (which wasn't up to the current standards). For me the house was OK there were a number of small things that niggled. Despite these it could certainly be moved into straight away and needed a little decoration so, in that respect, it was ideal.
However, we both agreed the village was simply too remote, too difficult to get to and too small.
So after two days of looking we had seen a fairly wide range of properties - both in style and condition. We'd still not seen the one - but what we had seen gave us confidence that it was only a matter of time - but time was running out, tomorrow would be the last day of viewing.
Day Four (third & final viewing day, Uzerche, south of Limoges)
Today we took the same basic route as the previous day, down the A20 but rather than heading off along increasingly rural roads in the Parc Naturel, we only traveled a short distance off the main road, along reassuringly 'normal' roads, to the large village/small town of Uzerche.
We had two viewings here and had arranged to meet the first immobilier, Jet, a Dutch lady with excellent English, at the church. We could see the church perched at the very top of the hill that dominates the town and set off up the hill. I immediately fell in love with the medieval architecture and atmosphere of the place; it clearly had a lot of character and history - and if there's one thing I love it is character and history (ok, two things).
The main square is next to the church and so, as we again had a little time to kill we had a look around. As the time of the appointment arrived we loitered by the church. And as the time for the appointment passed I began to wonder if we were in the right place. I asked a chap near the church if this was the Eglise Sainte-Eulalie and he confirmed it was. We waited a little longer, still no Jet. I gave her a call. She was at the church. She was at the right church - we were not; clearly my French had failed me. "Wait there." she said "I'll collect you".
We jumped in her car, apologising for the selecting the wrong church. Jet was fine and we grew to like her very much over the next few weeks.
The house was outside the main village but still very attractive and with bags of that all important character. It had a garage/shed opposite with a small plot of land big enough to park a car or have a small garden.
Inside it was fully furnished. There was some wonderful pieces of furniture (an ornate dresser and a grandmother clock for instance) and there was also a lot of junk. It would need a good clear out (as well as completely redecorating/rewiring) but there may be a few Euros in some of the furniture and the price was well within our budget. It was a good size too. Admittedly some of the rooms were a little dark but the decor and the furniture didn't help and so I was confident we could make it into something lovely - albeit with some considerable work.
I really liked this house. Sally was a little less convinced.
Next up was another immobilier who, I'm ashamed to say I can't recall, and another house. This one was quite unusual. It was well below street level and was very pretty. Of all the properties we viewed (or were to view) this one was the only one that was lived in, by an elderly (and very nice) Australian lady. It was also very small - something the immobilier had made clear in advance. It was very nicely renovated and decorated - as you know from Treignac, that wasn't necessarily a selling point for me. However...
Under the main property was an area as big as the ground floor that was akin to a cellar. It wasn't underground but, as the house was on the side of the main hill, it was what the house was built on. And it had potential to be decorated and incorporated as part of the main living accommodation. What I really liked was that the outer wall of this part of the property was part of the old medieval town wall - it even had arrow slots!
Nice though it was, we decided that the main property was too small and that there would probably be too much work required to realise the 'cellar's' potential.
Day Five (homeward bound)
So, that was our short visit over. What to do now. On the flight back (Ryanair, so my wife was sat half an aircraft away) I was sitting next to a lady who owned a house in the area. We got talking. Her advice - make a silly offer, 25-30% under the asking price. I made note.
Back home we chatted about what we'd seen. We agreed (reluctantly for Sally regarding the house at Pradines) that there was only one house that we might be interested in - and that was this one:
We had some reservations but we agreed a second viewing was called for. The flight was booked for early December.
We search Uzerche
This time we would stay in Uzerche, to get a better feel for the place - and, as well as this second viewing, we'd try to find some other local properties to view; we found two more.
We flew in to Limoges once more and again hired a car from the friendly folk at Buggs. We arrived fairly late at night and so had booked our first night at the hotel on the airport. For anyone thinking of using it, its OK but no more than that.
Next morning we picked up the car and headed south. There are only three hotels in the town and we decided to treat ourselves with a three night stay at 4* Hotel Joyet de Maubec. Not knowing exactly where it was, we parked in the large parking area at the north of the town, on the north-side of the river loop that surrounds 3-sides of the town. Literally as we pulled up to park, the phone rang. One of the two properties we would be viewing that day had been sold - and it was the one Sally favoured based on the immobilier's details. Not an auspicious start.
We left the car and walked into town to find the hotel. It was up near the church we'd mistakenly gone to on our first visit - so very central and high on the hill. We'd walked past it on our last visit - and noted how 'posh' it looked.
We now had nothing to do until mid-afternoon and check-in was quite late (3pm if I remember correctly) so we simply wandered around and enjoyed some of the sites.
Eventually it was time for our appointment and we headed to the immobilier's office and met Cassandre. Her French was limited but she was friendly and we muddled through together. We jumped in her car for the short drive to the property which turned out to be fairly near the one Jet had shown us - though a little nearer the town centre and a little easier to get to.
Though not as big as the property at Saint Sulpice-Laurière, this was probably larger than any of the other properties we'd looked at - the attic was fully converted so it was three floors and a cellar. It had no garden (which was fine) and the view from the back was breath-taking.
As Sally and I left and headed up to the next viewing (the property Jet had shown us on our first visit to the town), Sally had a big smile on her face. "I love it" she said. I was surprised as I was a little underwhelmed.
It was unusual for Sally and I to have such a different reaction and I considered why it might be. I suspected that it may be that I had my heart set on the property we were now heading to see again and so had gone in 'not wanting to like it'. Perhaps wIshould take another look, now that I knew Sally's reaction, and try and take a different attitude. I said this to Sally and she said she thought she might have done the same with the property I liked and said she would also try to take a more positive perspective there.
We met up with Jet and went into the house again. This time I took lots of photos, as I was pretty certain we would be making an offer. On the last visit there had been one aspect that bothered me; in the cellar, the beams that ran under the kitchen floor were coated in a thick, dense but soft, dust. This time I went down and gave the dusty beams a good prod. I didn't know what it was but I was uncomfortable. I made my way back up to the ground floor and mentioned my reservations to Jet. "If you wish, I will try to get a builder to come and take a look at it." she said. I would be surprised if she could get a builder immediately and so late in the day (it must have been around 4:30 pm) but, if she was willing to try, why not? It would let us leave knowing whether there was a problem or not.
To my surprise her builder Luke, an English expat, agreed to pop over and was soon with us. He and I went into the cellar and took a look. The news wasn't good. It was rot and the beams would eventually need replacing. "How much would it cost?" I asked. If I remember correctly the estimate was around €8,000. Not an outrageous amount considering it would include a new floor, but the asking price of the house was low, I was already intending to make a cheeky offer - this would mean an even lower offer I'd be embarrassed to make and which I couldn't imagine would be acceptable to the vendor.
Disappointed we now headed to Cassandre's office hoping to find her there and ask if there was any chance to go back and look at the day's first house again. She agreed and we met her at the property. My perspective was changed entirely this time. I now knew how Sally felt and my own favoured property was now probably a non-runner. The scales dropped from my eyes and I now saw much more of the positives of this house and its potential. As we left this time, we were both excited and it was time to think about making an offer.
Next morning we headed back to the airport. The flight was delayed due to snow in England. Then it was cancelled. Cutting a long story short, we ended up getting taxis, trains and coaches to travel north to Tours, spent the night there and then flew to Stanstead the next day and then hired a car to get us to East Midlands where our own car was parked. It was a fraught, tiring, frustrating and expensive couple of days. Ryanair have been a right pain. They refunded the cancelled flight but refused to contribute to any of the other expenses (including the more expensive Ryanair flight home). And now they are refusing to provide the details of the delay that our insurers require - after 3-month,we've been left with no option but to complain to the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Aviation service. Watch this space.
The Offer - and Negotiations
Sally was happy to leave the negotiating to me. The house was on the market at €60,000. Remembering what the lady had said on the flight back from our first visit to Limoges, and with nothing to lose, I went in with an initial offer of €40,000.
The response was that the vendor would accept €57,500, having already dropped €10,000 they didn't want to go lower. I pointed out that this was only €2,500 below the asking price, not €10,000. Cassandre's response as that it had originally been on the market at €66,000. I didn't argue the obvious - or the maths.
I upped my offer to €45,000. They didn't move. I went up to €50,000 with the statement that this was a final offer. They asked for a day or two to consider; Cassandre said it looked promising. They came back with a counter offer of €52,000. What to do? On the one hand €2,000 was a small amount. On the other hand I didn't feel that a nett €8,000 move was as much as I wanted. I responded - my offer had been final (I could always up the offer if they called my bluff). a couple of days later they agreed - the house was ours for €50,000. Compared to property prices in the UK it was a steal!
Now we'd done it.
That's the end of the retrospective. You can follow the rest of our (mis?)adventure in more like real time in our blog posts.
Day Three (second viewing day, south-east of Limoges)
Today we headed south-east to Treignac in the Parc Naturel Régional de Millevaches en Limousin. We parked up in the village square where the immobillier's office was situated. The immobillier was simply lovely and spoke excellent English - both aspects a welcome improvement on the previous day's experience where the Saint Sulpice-Laurière spoke about as much English as I speak French (possibly less) and seemed a little grumpy. We were driven a short distance to the house we had selected.
Treignac
The trouble was, it was too nice. You'd move straight in and have nothing to do. Whilst I didn't want a major renovation project, I did want something that needed enough decorating that we could make it our own.
Treignac panorama
The village itself was lovely, with plenty of shops and restaurants, and as you stepped out of the front door of the house you had a wonderful panoramic view - it even had a sign to make it official.
We explained our reservation regarding the property being 'too nice' and the immobillier suggested we look at another property she had on her books. We happily agreed. The property was well within our low budget, but this time there would be too much work needed.
Next up, we traveled further east to Pradines. This is much deeper in the park and the roads become far narrower and generally lower quality. They may be fine most of the year but we could imagine them being a nightmare in winter.
The village was nice but very small, a hamlet really, very isolated. There was a bar/restaurant and the fare was OK but very rustic. We had arrived very early again and so had time for lunch and a walk through and around the village before meeting up with the immobilier (who was English and, again, very nice) at the house.
Pradines
This house was Sally's favourite of all those we'd seen (and I think she may even have preferred it to the one we eventually chose) - despite the fosse septic (which wasn't up to the current standards). For me the house was OK there were a number of small things that niggled. Despite these it could certainly be moved into straight away and needed a little decoration so, in that respect, it was ideal.
However, we both agreed the village was simply too remote, too difficult to get to and too small.
So after two days of looking we had seen a fairly wide range of properties - both in style and condition. We'd still not seen the one - but what we had seen gave us confidence that it was only a matter of time - but time was running out, tomorrow would be the last day of viewing.
Day Four (third & final viewing day, Uzerche, south of Limoges)
Today we took the same basic route as the previous day, down the A20 but rather than heading off along increasingly rural roads in the Parc Naturel, we only traveled a short distance off the main road, along reassuringly 'normal' roads, to the large village/small town of Uzerche.
We had two viewings here and had arranged to meet the first immobilier, Jet, a Dutch lady with excellent English, at the church. We could see the church perched at the very top of the hill that dominates the town and set off up the hill. I immediately fell in love with the medieval architecture and atmosphere of the place; it clearly had a lot of character and history - and if there's one thing I love it is character and history (ok, two things).
The main square is next to the church and so, as we again had a little time to kill we had a look around. As the time of the appointment arrived we loitered by the church. And as the time for the appointment passed I began to wonder if we were in the right place. I asked a chap near the church if this was the Eglise Sainte-Eulalie and he confirmed it was. We waited a little longer, still no Jet. I gave her a call. She was at the church. She was at the right church - we were not; clearly my French had failed me. "Wait there." she said "I'll collect you".
We jumped in her car, apologising for the selecting the wrong church. Jet was fine and we grew to like her very much over the next few weeks.
Uzerche
(property I)
The house was outside the main village but still very attractive and with bags of that all important character. It had a garage/shed opposite with a small plot of land big enough to park a car or have a small garden.
Inside it was fully furnished. There was some wonderful pieces of furniture (an ornate dresser and a grandmother clock for instance) and there was also a lot of junk. It would need a good clear out (as well as completely redecorating/rewiring) but there may be a few Euros in some of the furniture and the price was well within our budget. It was a good size too. Admittedly some of the rooms were a little dark but the decor and the furniture didn't help and so I was confident we could make it into something lovely - albeit with some considerable work.
I really liked this house. Sally was a little less convinced.
Uzerche
(property II)
Next up was another immobilier who, I'm ashamed to say I can't recall, and another house. This one was quite unusual. It was well below street level and was very pretty. Of all the properties we viewed (or were to view) this one was the only one that was lived in, by an elderly (and very nice) Australian lady. It was also very small - something the immobilier had made clear in advance. It was very nicely renovated and decorated - as you know from Treignac, that wasn't necessarily a selling point for me. However...
Under the main property was an area as big as the ground floor that was akin to a cellar. It wasn't underground but, as the house was on the side of the main hill, it was what the house was built on. And it had potential to be decorated and incorporated as part of the main living accommodation. What I really liked was that the outer wall of this part of the property was part of the old medieval town wall - it even had arrow slots!
Nice though it was, we decided that the main property was too small and that there would probably be too much work required to realise the 'cellar's' potential.
Day Five (homeward bound)
So, that was our short visit over. What to do now. On the flight back (Ryanair, so my wife was sat half an aircraft away) I was sitting next to a lady who owned a house in the area. We got talking. Her advice - make a silly offer, 25-30% under the asking price. I made note.
Back home we chatted about what we'd seen. We agreed (reluctantly for Sally regarding the house at Pradines) that there was only one house that we might be interested in - and that was this one:
In the running
We search Uzerche
This time we would stay in Uzerche, to get a better feel for the place - and, as well as this second viewing, we'd try to find some other local properties to view; we found two more.
We flew in to Limoges once more and again hired a car from the friendly folk at Buggs. We arrived fairly late at night and so had booked our first night at the hotel on the airport. For anyone thinking of using it, its OK but no more than that.
Next morning we picked up the car and headed south. There are only three hotels in the town and we decided to treat ourselves with a three night stay at 4* Hotel Joyet de Maubec. Not knowing exactly where it was, we parked in the large parking area at the north of the town, on the north-side of the river loop that surrounds 3-sides of the town. Literally as we pulled up to park, the phone rang. One of the two properties we would be viewing that day had been sold - and it was the one Sally favoured based on the immobilier's details. Not an auspicious start.
We left the car and walked into town to find the hotel. It was up near the church we'd mistakenly gone to on our first visit - so very central and high on the hill. We'd walked past it on our last visit - and noted how 'posh' it looked.
Hotel Joyet de Maubec
(tall building on the left)
Town Square and Hotel de Ville
View NE from near the hotel
Mural near the paper mill
Front of the Hotel and
the Tower of the Black Prince
View from the viaduct
(and the Turtle - every town should have one)
River Vezere
Eventually it was time for our appointment and we headed to the immobilier's office and met Cassandre. Her French was limited but she was friendly and we muddled through together. We jumped in her car for the short drive to the property which turned out to be fairly near the one Jet had shown us - though a little nearer the town centre and a little easier to get to.
Uzerche
(property III)
View from the rear of property III
As Sally and I left and headed up to the next viewing (the property Jet had shown us on our first visit to the town), Sally had a big smile on her face. "I love it" she said. I was surprised as I was a little underwhelmed.
It was unusual for Sally and I to have such a different reaction and I considered why it might be. I suspected that it may be that I had my heart set on the property we were now heading to see again and so had gone in 'not wanting to like it'. Perhaps wIshould take another look, now that I knew Sally's reaction, and try and take a different attitude. I said this to Sally and she said she thought she might have done the same with the property I liked and said she would also try to take a more positive perspective there.
We met up with Jet and went into the house again. This time I took lots of photos, as I was pretty certain we would be making an offer. On the last visit there had been one aspect that bothered me; in the cellar, the beams that ran under the kitchen floor were coated in a thick, dense but soft, dust. This time I went down and gave the dusty beams a good prod. I didn't know what it was but I was uncomfortable. I made my way back up to the ground floor and mentioned my reservations to Jet. "If you wish, I will try to get a builder to come and take a look at it." she said. I would be surprised if she could get a builder immediately and so late in the day (it must have been around 4:30 pm) but, if she was willing to try, why not? It would let us leave knowing whether there was a problem or not.
To my surprise her builder Luke, an English expat, agreed to pop over and was soon with us. He and I went into the cellar and took a look. The news wasn't good. It was rot and the beams would eventually need replacing. "How much would it cost?" I asked. If I remember correctly the estimate was around €8,000. Not an outrageous amount considering it would include a new floor, but the asking price of the house was low, I was already intending to make a cheeky offer - this would mean an even lower offer I'd be embarrassed to make and which I couldn't imagine would be acceptable to the vendor.
Disappointed we now headed to Cassandre's office hoping to find her there and ask if there was any chance to go back and look at the day's first house again. She agreed and we met her at the property. My perspective was changed entirely this time. I now knew how Sally felt and my own favoured property was now probably a non-runner. The scales dropped from my eyes and I now saw much more of the positives of this house and its potential. As we left this time, we were both excited and it was time to think about making an offer.
Next morning we headed back to the airport. The flight was delayed due to snow in England. Then it was cancelled. Cutting a long story short, we ended up getting taxis, trains and coaches to travel north to Tours, spent the night there and then flew to Stanstead the next day and then hired a car to get us to East Midlands where our own car was parked. It was a fraught, tiring, frustrating and expensive couple of days. Ryanair have been a right pain. They refunded the cancelled flight but refused to contribute to any of the other expenses (including the more expensive Ryanair flight home). And now they are refusing to provide the details of the delay that our insurers require - after 3-month,we've been left with no option but to complain to the Alternative Dispute Resolution for Aviation service. Watch this space.
The Offer - and Negotiations
Sally was happy to leave the negotiating to me. The house was on the market at €60,000. Remembering what the lady had said on the flight back from our first visit to Limoges, and with nothing to lose, I went in with an initial offer of €40,000.
The response was that the vendor would accept €57,500, having already dropped €10,000 they didn't want to go lower. I pointed out that this was only €2,500 below the asking price, not €10,000. Cassandre's response as that it had originally been on the market at €66,000. I didn't argue the obvious - or the maths.
I upped my offer to €45,000. They didn't move. I went up to €50,000 with the statement that this was a final offer. They asked for a day or two to consider; Cassandre said it looked promising. They came back with a counter offer of €52,000. What to do? On the one hand €2,000 was a small amount. On the other hand I didn't feel that a nett €8,000 move was as much as I wanted. I responded - my offer had been final (I could always up the offer if they called my bluff). a couple of days later they agreed - the house was ours for €50,000. Compared to property prices in the UK it was a steal!
Now we'd done it.
That's the end of the retrospective. You can follow the rest of our (mis?)adventure in more like real time in our blog posts.
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