Buying a house in France is simple

First, find your house -

- then buy it from the owner

The legal transaction is safe and simple, it must be done by a French Notaire who charges a set fee and will also collect a tax which is a percentage of the price of the house, this is not negotiable and is a legal requirement. The same Notaire can act for the owner and the buyer, if you wish to use your own Notiare there is no extra cost, the fixed fee will be shared between the two Notaire - a useful website is FrenchNotaire.com

Finding a house in France is not so simple

There is no Multi Listing System (MLS) in France although there are some inter-agency arrangements, so to se what prperties are on offer it is necessary to spend a lot of time looking through lists of properties on offer. You will find that the descriptions of properties for sale in France are, at the best sparse and at the worst totally useless. In many cases the name of the village will not even be shown and the address is never given until you sign an greement guaranteeing the agent their commission in the event of a sale.

The reason for this bon de visite is that there are many agencies all trying to sell the same properties, often at different prices, and buyers in France often try to deal direct with the owner and cut-out the agent.

Owners usually prefer to sell direct as the agency commission, which is included in the price, will typically add from 6 to 10 percent (or more) to the asking price.

More than half the properties in France are not sold through estate agents.

Languedoc is the most southern region in France - most days (over 300 a year) are sunny and warm and there are over 200 kilometers of sandy beaches along the Mediterranean coastline.

Property in Languedoc ranges from newly built villas with pools built to a very high standard, classsic old village houses set into the stone ramparts of fortified medieval towns, apartments in beach resorts such as Cap D'Agde to isolated fortified farms in the rural interior.

Some village houses in Languedoc date from the 10th century, and have been lived in continiously. Dating these beautiful stone homes is difficult before then as few records remain, but most of the villages in Languedoc were established in the times of Greece and Rome. Ancient Roman roads still join many villages

Good heating is essential in winter, from November to March, and most vacation homes are not adequately heated

There are almost no properties built or existing outside of villages or towns, (a legacy of marauding Saracens) properties on the outskirts are all new-build lottissment properties.

I have been working in renovation, property sales and vacation rentals in this region for over 15 years and know the area well. My advice is to first determine the village or town you really like and then to investigate that locale in depth - every place has its own personality