Saturday, November 26, 2016

Best Christmas Present Yet - A House in France

On the surface this sounds nuts after we've been hearing all this right-wing Fascist stuff out of France lately but many Muslims live there so that noise can't be coming from all French people.  It's ugly and needs to be monitored but it's enough to note it and then continue.

There's a house in ASSAIS LES JUMEAUX, Deux Sevres, Poitou Charentes which is about the middle of France and relatively close to the coast while Paris is some distance to the northeast.



Get this, the pad can be yours for €33,000.  Call it another €20,000 to finish the rehab and you wind up with a house for less than you would pay for a kennel in many places in America.  The US dollar is gaining strength just now and trades well against the euro so the time is opportune in that context.  (LLEGGETT:  House in ASSAIS LES JUMEAUX, Deux Sevres, Poitou Charentes)

Note:  that price is apparently reduced from €65,000 so make of that what you will.

The place is about 2000 square feet so each floor has about the space of a good-sized apartment.  The kitchen is really outstanding with plenty of space for anything you like.  The backyard needs a lot of work since it's heavily overgrown.

There's relatively little in the village but you can get supplies 8km away which would be perfect for a scooter.  The road in front of the house looks like it's a highway but I looked at the map and it doesn't seem like it would see much traffic.


The reason I looked was an article which said parking spots in Paris could cost more than a house.  The article showed that was true so I thought, ok, let's take a look at the house.  This is the first one I saw and I know nothing about it except what I read.

On Christmas morning it goes ...

You:  I bought us something different this year, my eternal ray of loving sunshine.  I bought a house in France.

The Missus: (decides whether it's cool or she should stab you)  Do you mean to live there?

You: certainly, my little cupcake of endless love.  We must live there to experience the true joie de vivre.  Going on a sea cruise just means eating a lot of fatty food and buying a lot of useless t-shirts.  There's no way to get to know people that way except people you already know.

The Missus:  would I have to learn French?

You:  well, it's not necessary if you don't mind eating only hamburgers but there's one problem with that, sugar lips.

The Missus:  is it that they don't make hamburgers in this village?

You:  yes, that is exactly the problem.


Make it work however you like, Dagwood.  Talk to the lady.  Make yer pitch.


A week or so back Lotho was writing about a Merc he thought looks pretty cool and it does.  It's also extremely expensive and I thought, hmm, this is a bit cavalier with money even when you can afford it.  Maybe the house looks more 'sensible' because it's an investment but what I see more is a central base of operations in a quiet part of Europe which would give tremendous freedom for traveling and possibly offer a tremendous vibe for hanging out.

The Missus:  do you really mean to live there?

You:  not all of the time, my radiant li'l buttercup.  This will be our European hideaway.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

By the way is about the same as the last rental rehab that I did. Cost about $50k and another $15k at Home Depot and 2 months labor.
It is far better than any kennel, 1800 sq ft 3 bdrms 2 baths
I dont see this house as an investment unless you planned to live in it yourself

Unknown said...

I haven't looked at home prices in years but the last time I did you couldn't touch a house for less than $100K. That's why the line about not being able to get a kennel over here.

1800 sq ft is about as the Euro house and yours has one more bathroom. The kitchen was huge, tho. The biggest kill on that one for me would be no trees and nowhere to grow them. It seems the place must get ridiculously hot in the Summer with all that exposure.