My Trip To France - Comparing European Properties to the U.S.
Posted Nov 6, 2009 @ 1:07 pm, Viewed by 174 Visitors, Read 195 Times.Last month my husband and I joined my sister-in-law for her birthday trip where she rented a villa in Biot, France for 3 weeks (we went for the last week). Not really knowing my France geography very well, it took a day or two to realize that where we were in the south of France was actually the French Riviera. I just thought we'd be out in the country somewhere in the "south of France."
I love watching International House Hunters to see those European buyers (many from out of the country) and what they accept in some of these very old homes. Many Europeans that want an historic home expect to find crumbling stone structures and relics of the past such as original stone wash basins found in one old property (for washing clothes).
Some of the For Sale signs were on condo structures with peeling and chipping paint and featuring the popular wooden shutters - many missing pieces and quite rotten. But hey, that's part of the charm! Here in the U.S. buyers don't put up with that stuff unless they get a handyman special price.
I remember reading somewhere that in Europe a 100 year old home is still considered as being somewhat "new." I just lost a deal on a charming older Brookfield home for sale because my first-time buyer got scared after the inspection that revealed the problems an older home can bring with it. The problems were bad electric work (looked like a DIY job) along with a very leaky roof that caused mold in the attic plus asbestos siding and asbestos insulation.
A roof can leak in any home where proper maintenance isn't done. The asbestos use was the same as lead based paint - people just didn't know any better back then. The electric problems are being fixed by the seller based on a mandatory Brookfield city inspection and will be brought up to code. Yet my buyer, who loves the charm of older homes, is backing off and we've declared the contract null and void. I reminded him that he might run into similar problems with the older homes he loves looking at. He acknowledged that fact but I'm not sure if he will change his strategy.
This home was beautiful inside and looked to be very well maintained. Some home owners are only into the cosmetics and do not keep up with normal maintenance - don't fix it until it's broke and even then - what's so bad about a few little leaks? And that can be a problem with a home 100 years old or 10 years old.
I love older homes
We fell in love with the charm of our current home (built in the 1940's) even though we probably knew we needed a bit more space. I like to say it now fits us like OJ's glove. In today's current market it's just not worth putting on an addition (it already has several). We'd be better off purchasing a larger home at today's prices that will give us a better fit. And hey, looks like we'll get a $6,500 tax credit to boot if we work fast enough! That will make up for the actual loss we'll most likely see when you figure the price we can get for our home (purchased in 2003) plus all of the updates we put into it. But it should be worth it in the long run.
The U.S. likes new
A large majority of home buyers in the U.S. seem to prefer new and modern vs. old and charming. Whenever I drive through my own neighborhoods I try to remember what house was knocked down before the new McMansion was built in its place. And I always wonder what the original owners got for their "tear-down" and why the house was deemed a tear-down to begin with. I live in an area where the land is all built on so there are no longer any new subdivisions. Our last newest subdivision is more than 5 years old now.
Of course, I do work in towns where new construction continues and I even sold out a new subdivision in Homer Glen some years back. But I still prefer those charming old homes and wished I could have gotten inside all the properties I saw for sale in France. I'll just have to keep watching International House Hunters.
Whether you like new or old homes, give me a call at 708-536-8200 or use the Contact Me link to the right.
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Specializing in the Southwest Suburbs including Tinley Park real estate. Search for Orland Park homes for sale.
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Social Bookmarking3 Responses to “My Trip To France - Comparing European Properties to the U.S.”
Hi Judy,
Tell us more about those European homes sometime!
I love old homes too. Mine was built in 1946. It's single wall construction, which is fine for Oahu since temperatures are pretty mild in the winter.
Aloha, Mike
The villa I was in was wild! It was a pretty fast paced trip and I'm upset I didn't many pics of the villa itself. The bathrooms were the best with a mixture of multi-colored tile, marble and other stones. Almost had a circus look but I liked it! The toilets didn't have handles to flush - you pushed a button.
Some of the towns reminded me of San Francisco with the steep hills and being able to see homes set up on those hills. And it was beautiful looking down on entire towns.
But I could never drive there! Those hills were steep, especially the driveway to our villa. My husband loved the turn-abouts - he thought they were great.
And I learned you don't do much shopping on Sunday. The south of France version of a department store was closed and the shops in the small towns were mostly closed. Plus restaurants would be open for lunch and then close down until 7:00. So if you missed the lunch time you had to wait or find a deli or bakery type place.
Every town we visited was charming - Cannes, Nice, Antibes, Biot, Grasse & Saint-Paul de Vence. Monaco & Monte Carlo were more modern (expensive living there) but I loved the architecture of the buildings.
I didn't realize it would be tropical but we were told because the Mediterranean Sea is a warm body of water (it didn't feel that warm), it made the area tropical with palm trees and warm weather.
I don't think I'd want to live there and I'm not sure I'd ever go back (I want to visit Paris if I return to France). But it was beautiful and my love and interest of old architecture and buildings was certainly fulfilled.
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Judy Orr is in her 24th year as a REALTOR® in the southwest & near west Chicago suburbs. Judy mainly works in southwest Chicago, southwest & near west Cook County and northeast Will County. Read More
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Sounds like you had fun in Europe.
In Florida you don't have many old homes. The ones built in the 1920's and 1930's are charming. I am not a big fan of the 1970's homes. I agree that people in this country definitely prefer newer properties.