I’d like to buy a chalet in the alps (who wouldn’t?)

I am nowhere near being able to afford such a thing, but I like to dream/plan stuff like this, and it would be nice to build myself a target to work towards – perhaps aiming to buy somewhere in 5 years.

Wishlist:
I’d want to use it in summer and winter (so good biking and snowboarding)
Preferably not rent it out (although if that is a good route to being able to afford to buy a place then I’d do it)
I’d want a chalet with character, not an apartment (hey, let me dream!)
Nice place, not just a tourist trap – would like to talk to French people (don’t mock, I like the French).
I guess my ideal usage would be to get to the financial position that I could live in the alps for a month in summer and a month in winter – affording

Anyone done anything like this? Major pitfalls I should consider? What sort of amounts of money am I going to need?

Dave

Between 300 000e and 3 000 000e depending on where.

Pitfalls: Taxe foncière, taxe d’habitation, taxe professionnelle (if you rent out, maintenance costs, water bill (souvent un forfait), anti-freeze heating costs.

Think bottomless pit. Even the classic 30m2 appartement will cost you 3000e/year rsing to 5000e whenever eanything needs doing which is most years IME. Consider how much your house would cost to run if it were on top of Ben Nevis and made of wood.

Was looking in Montgenèvre last week – 800k Euros for a nice ski challet, a tad on the expensive side….

Consider how much your house would cost to run if it were on top of Ben Nevis and made of wood.

😆 nice way of putting it.

What about a place outside of the actual resorts, maybe in the lower valleys – is everything cheaper once you get out of the honeypots?

Dave

It would be a very expensive way of spending 2 months a year in the Alps…?!

France or Spain?

It would be a very expensive way of spending 2 months a year in the Alps…?!

true, but it would also be ‘home from home’ rather than squatting in a succession of rental places. A month in each season would be a start point too, I’d ideally like to increase that over time. I just love being out there and my dreams are revolving around being in the mountains rather than being behind my desk 🙂

France or Spain?

France… I’m not all that familiar with the Spanish Alps 😉

Dave

OK only know about buying property in Spain

You could always email an estate agent and ask the process
and deposit etc.

One of my mates has a nice wee appartment in Montroind, spends far too much time there in the summer and winter…. and sometimes in between.

I hate him 🙁

A lot of stuff never makes it as far as an estate agent. Whether you buy through an agent or entreparticuliers you ned a notaire. A sort of solicitor, obligatory and IMO, worth every euro cent you pay. When you decide to buy you sign a “sous-seing privé” and put down between five and ten percent. If you pull out you lose it unless your notaire finds something that justifies you pulling out.

The notaire then does his searhes, draws up the sale contract with the seller’s notaire, then you all meet up and sign. You might be asked for a part in cash “dessous la table”, a black payment. I’ve always refused and it hasn’t stopped the sale going through – beware the French tax pman if you seem to pay under market price, he can claim the difference in tax on the assumption you’ve paid black.

Edit: “frais de notaire” include stamp duty so add about 8% to the advertised price. The notaire himself only takes a tiny part, the government gets the rest.

I thought the notaire was government appointed and there was only one for the deal?

You can have one notaire if you agree to use the seller’s notaire. I’ve always used the same notaire for all my paurchases and sales, and wills etc.. For one transaction the seller coincidentally had the same notaire as me, for the others we each had a separte notaire. You can chose the notaire you want, chose wisely.

ive spent last 13 years going backwards and forwards to the alps. nearly bought an apartment, wish i had.

we always rent in uk and alps. 6 months each. its an enormous pain in the ass but my money isnt tied up in property

what puts me off buying is the paperwork etc in france is worse than uk and even worse in switzerland

you need to be very confident in the language or have trustworthy contacts

best to build good contacts where you want to buy and live there before hand

chalets are stupid money even in the valleys. you get the odd one that needs work but again you need local contacts to find these

i lived in les gets for a few summers but wouldnt want to go there now, its totally different from 10 years ago and its not the same as being there for a week

A friend has bought a house in the 3 Valleys. It was very run down and only has 1 room on each of its 3 floors, with 2 small bathrooms. He’s in his mid 60’s , that’ how long the ‘dream’ has taken him.

“have trustworthy contacts” “best to build good contacts”

Whilst I agree it’s important to get to know the area you want to buy, have a feel for the market and actively hunt for property the notaire should be all the “trustworthy contacts” you need. Mine found about about the town having the right to run a road through one poperty, a pile of debt owed by the copropriété of another, a building project in front of another… .

I’ve bought through an ad in the local paper, a sign on a balcony, an agency and a syndique (the agents that run buildings for the owners). I sold thanks to a neighbour who knew I wanted to sell and gave someone my phone number.

Yes I know 3 Club mates who’ve been going to the Alps Skiing for many years, all finally bought Appt’s there a few years back (when everyone was still trying to out do each other on the property stakes) They all used them for the first year, both Skiing and Walking, last year one of them had to sell cos’ he couldn’t afford the upkeep, one let the thing out for free in the summer just to get someone in there to clean the place (me and MrsBouy, I took my bike) and the other lad still, so far, uses it quite a lot with his Mrs and their two kiddos.

Swings/roundabouts/money pit and “ohhh nice, wish we could afford one” all in the same sentence.