1. How to get here to view the properties ?
2. What is the legal procedure for buying a property ?
3. How to organise my building work ?
4. How much will it cost in estate agents' fees and legal costs?
5. Services. Can you help me settling down ?
1. How to get here to view the properties ?
Gascony is well placed for travel from the UK.
If you come by car, you must remember that it is quite a long way from the Channel. The roads are good, particularly out of the main holiday season, and you'd be unlucky to be held up, but you should probably reckon on an overnight stay, perhaps around Niort if you are coming down the West coast, or in the Limoges region if you are coming down the centre.
By air, there are regular flights to Bordeaux and Toulouse airports, which are both a little over an hour away from Agen. If anything, Toulouse is the quicker journey. You can hire a car at the airport if you choose or take the train to Agen
Agen is a mainline train station and it is possible to get here with one change from Waterloo. If you select your Eurostar, you will be able to change at Lille and get a direct train from there to Agen. It takes time, of course, but you can make the journey in half a day and the TGV trains are very comfortable.
2. The legal procedure for buying a property
b) In cases of property which is within an agricultural zone, the government land agency, the Safer, has to be consulted before a purchase can go through. It is rare nowadays that this will prove an obstacle, but occasionally the Safer may preempt good agricutural land to give preference to an established farmer.
c) If a property might be of interest to the local authorities, the Mairie of the town or village has the right to preempt a sale and to purchase the property for its own purposes at the price agreed by the seller. Again it has to be stressed that this happens rarely, but it is a legal possibility.
e) At this stage, it is normal for the purchaser to make a deposit of 10% which is held by the purchaser's solicitor or by the estate agent.
f) Both at this stage and for the final signing of the Act which confirms the sale, both parties may choose to have their own notaire or to use the same one.
g) When all the conditions have been met, an Act is signed which confirms the sale. This will take place at the notaire's office and consists of him or her reading out the full act and the two parties subsequently signing it. It is at this stage of course that the balance is paid.
h) A new European law came into force recently which gives the purchaser the right to change his or her mind within 7 days of the signing of the compromis de vente. This is called a "d�lai de r�flexion" and ensures time for the puchaser to reconsider the sale if he wishes.
There is a list of builders in the Yellow pages, of course, but word of mouth is useful if you are new to an area. You will be bound to meet other English people in your area who have faced the same problem. The Maire (Mayor) of each village will offer suggestions, though their duty will be to be neutral. It is a good idea to take a little while to settle in before you begin on any major building operations. Once you live in a house, it feels very different from how it appeared when you made your exploratory visit.
It is important to make sure that the worker you hire is properly qualified.
Lacassagne Immobilier will help you to ensure that you choose an officially registered craftsman.
The first bit is the easiest to answer, since all prices quoted on this site include the Estate agent's fees, which are normally paid in France by the purchaser.
There are two sections to the Notaire's fee, the cost of his work and the official state fees. It is hard to give an exact figure, therefore, but in general the total legal bill for the operation will cost you an additional 6 to 8% on top of the price quoted.
If you would like a more precise indication of the fees involved in any one of our properties, please email us for a quote.
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