“Hello, it’s me. I would love to invite you both to dinner at my place. Then you will also see where I live, and we can get to know each other a little better. After all, you also want to know who will soon be living in your house if you have… .., um, well, passed away. What did you say? You have difficulty walking and can no longer leave the house? Well, you know what, then I come and cook with you. Yes, no, I don’t mind at all. No of course not. If you open the back gate tomorrow afternoon, I will walk back into the kitchen. That is so practical, with all those bags haha. Yes, well, see you tomorrow! ”
That is how it must have been; the conversation between the prospective buyer of a “Viager” home and the unsuspecting elderly owners. The “Viager” scheme allows a buyer to buy a home for a lower price and pays a monthly contribution to the current resident until it dies. The construction sounds lurid but is a solution for both parties; the owner receives a bonus or advance on the sales proceeds every month while he/she does not have to worry about the sale. And the buyer knows without haste that he/she will soon be able to move into a perfect home for a lower price.
Thanks to all good care for our health and people aging, as a result, the planned relocation can take longer than anticipated. A 46-year-old man had lost his temper and decided to help the elderly couple in their future home on the Côte d’Azur by putting rat poison into their food. The nicely offered dinner ended with the rapid death of both owners, after which the buyer was quickly arrested as a suspect. Today the man was found guilty by the court in Grasse and sentenced to 20 years in prison. That is a slightly different house that he had thought.
By the way, I don’t write this blog from our home this time, but with my bare feet on the sidewalk from such a famous blue chair on the Croisette in Cannes where the summer has already begun and I look back on a perfect southern French winter where everyone thanks to a lower temperatures was able to ski in Isola 2000 during the Christmas and February holidays while the sun kept shining down at the sea. Is this weather really extraordinary or has it always been so and is this whole climate hysteria a smart trick to make us pay more taxes?
The fact is that the weathermen are unable to predict the weather of next week; let alone they know it in 25 years. Whatever weather type awaits us, the Côte d’Azur is currently enjoying the old-fashioned way of interpreting the seasons as we know it in the old days. Also, check it yourself; on this site, you type back up to 150 years and then you will see the weather of that day.
It is therefore not surprising that more and more people are coming this way; either for a short break or forever. Every week we meet people who are looking for a new balance between work, traffic jams, stress and Life with a capital L. And that life should be filled in as healthy as possible; with organic food from the local valley and lots of vitamin D3 that is packaged here as sunshine. After that, it is up to everyone how the money can be earned, but with an international audience and tourism as the most important sector, most people will find a job here, provided that the language is mastered and you are patient. Then the beautiful life in the South of Europe can begin. But where then? Roughly speaking, the part between Cannes and Saint Tropez is more a holiday region where you fall in the summer with your nose in the atmosphere but where it is a lot quieter between October and March. Between Menton and Cannes is actually the region where everything happens; with large shopping centers, events and year-round activities. On our site, we have mapped the characteristics of all the villages near the southern French coast.
Anyone who loves the sound of Ferrari’s, likes to look at luxury yachts and is not afraid of heights, feels like a fish in the water on dry land in Monaco. Here, Prince Albert announced a new housing program for its own population. Now that the commercial market has gone completely crazy with prices starting at 25,000 euros per square meter, no fewer than 4,500 homes will be built that remain the property of the state and can be rented by the residents of the government at a reasonable price. And it becomes even more fun for everyone who works in Monaco: by law, maternity leave has been officially extended by two weeks to 18 weeks. That means that young mothers can stroll for 4.5 months with their freshly baked sprout in a Dior stroller.
Whoever finds no job and therefore no house in Monaco, will have to embark on the path of supply and demand on the Cote d’Azur. To make the first choice for new construction in the South of France, a long breath is necessary: if you are one of the first to sign, this does not mean that the notary is already there. This target group is not the fastest and buyers sometimes have to wait more than a year for their purchase contract to be finalized. For the impatient, there is no other way than to unwind when reading the brochure again, viewing the map and accepting that life in the South of France is not as fast and smooth as in Northern Europe.
After all, you are just an ordinary mortal and the notary, the judge, the civil servant, and every other notable person has the power here and they want to keep it that way. It is therefore primarily a matter of staying calm and informing in a very friendly way about the situation. This week I saw a piece of pre-war text pass by which humility dripped off. Of course, they spoke to the elite at the time of Napoleon. Upon inquiry, this is still the standard end sentence that you must place with every official letter to someone who has (slightly) more power than you.
“Je vous prie de croire, Madame, Monsieur, and l’assurance de mes sentiments les plus respectueux.”
Literally translated, it is: “I ask you to believe me, ma’am, sir, with the assurance of my most respectful feelings.”
I would never get it from my keyboard, let alone mean it. It is a miracle that we have come this far with: “I would like to hear a positive message from you soon. Kind regards. “Fortunately, our Dutch directness is appreciated by our partners; the project developers and the large brokers. When we asked if there was a nice offer that could be mentioned in this blog, we received this offer for a new-build apartment in the heart of Nice. No notary fees until the end of March, and depending on the purchase value an interior check of at least 3500 euros to be spent at Bo Concept. The nice thing about these apartments is that they already have a fitted kitchen, a complete shower, and complete wardrobes.
The prices for a studio on the 2nd floor, living space 22 m2 – 141,000 euros. Or a more spacious one
2 bedroom apartment on the 5th floor of 64 m2 – 389,000 euros.
You know where to find us!
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