UK Office: 0044 (0)1440 820 358

Clé France

The French Property Network

Nov 17

French Vocabulary: Housing

Do you have a dream of changing your life drastically, whatever that entails, and moving to France?

Maybe you’re there already. Or maybe you want to make this drastic change for only two months, or even two days. Hotels can get very expensive when you are staying for longer periods of time. To keep it simple: let’s say you want to buy a house in France.

You have come to the right place already!

At Cle France you have a vast choice in one place and:

NO HIDDEN FEES: The price you pay is the same as anyone walking through the door of our agency in France, same as the price paid by the French buyer.

All quoted prices are INCLUSIVE OF AGENCY FEES (FAI): with Notaire's fees to be added (these average 7% to 8%).

OUR AGENTS: are all registered and insured in France, they are holders of the 'carte professionnelle'as required by French law.

So when you buy through Clé France: you have the benefit of a bi-lingual support team & can be confident that you are paying no more than the standard commission rates you would pay anyway.

CONTACT US: to discuss your search for property in France, or indeed for any further information you may require on French property sales.

Property Finding Service: We will do a property search for you to match your criteria but also you can try our Advanced Search: including saving your favourites and getting updates of new properties for sale in France and price reductions direct into your inbox, and you can also add your comments toour blog pages - simply sign up for your own account here.

Here’s a list of vocabulary that will help you in France during a viewing trip, although our agents speak English:

Vocabulaire:

Immobilier - Estate Agency

les pièces — rooms (the French don’t use the number of bedrooms as a reference for the capacity of an apartment or house, but rather they count based on the number of livable rooms, excluding bathrooms and the kitchen)

le loyer — rent

location — rental

la surface — the square footage; area

la maison — house

l’appartement — apartment

le terrain — land

le prêt immobilier — real estate loan, or mortgage

l’impôt immobilier — real estate tax

l’agent immobilier — real estate agent

l’agence immobilier — real estate agency

louer — to rent

acheter — to buy

le bâtiment — the building

le bailleur — the landlord

le bail — the lease

charges (non) comprises — charges (not) included

commission (non) comprise — commission (not) included

le dépôt de garantie — security deposit

meublé — furnished

le propriétaire — the owner

Hope these few words help a little.

Cle France LOGO

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Add CommentViews: 6087
Nov 16

Our thoughts are with the people of France

Paris Thoughts

To all our friends, followers, clients, agents and partners in France and around the world who share with us a love of France and Paris, we want to say how shocked and how sorry we are for the people of Paris, especially for the friends and families of those who lost their lives or have been injured.

Our thoughts are with them all at this very difficult time.

 

Add CommentViews: 2931
Nov 12

Your agent was by far the best we saw

Sorry we haven't been back to you but it has been a very busy trip as you can imagine. A big thank you to your colleague for showing us around the house in Chantecorps [Deux Sevres department of the Poitou-Charentes region] which we were very impressed by, we wish to commend the professionalism And helpfulness of your agent. She was by far the best that we saw on our travels.

Kind Regards, Jo.

That's nice, thanks Jo!

And as several of our clients say "Follow your heart and make the move"!

Thank You Cle France

Add CommentViews: 2470
Nov 11

The Various Stage of French Schools

Je viens de revenir en France (I just came back to France), which means I’ve been dealing with le décalage horaire (the time difference). All the confusion of living in abroad in another language has come rushing back, and brought up one very funny interaction. 

French Schooling

Talking with un ami (a friend), I wanted to tell them about something that happened during my time as an undergraduate student.

I started the sentence with,

“Quand j’étais au collège….” 

When I was in middle school….

And proceeded to talk about university level classes. The confusion on la visage de mon ami (my friend’s face) made me realize I’d made an all too common mistake. Le collège (middle school) and college are very different things in French and in English.

It lead to an even more confusing conversation about le système d’education français (the French education system). After a long conversation and many explanations I still wasn’t quite sure whether fifth grade was the same as en cinquième.

Une fois à la maison (once I was home), I looked up just how each classe (grade) is said in French and found an article here on Transparent Language explaining the differences. I then understood why I had trouble understanding mon ami.

The naming convention is very different and the differences can look scary when they’re written out.

French school years

“EducationFr” by Thomas Steiner. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Commons.

The important things to remember are that the general ideas of elementary, middle, and high school exist, they’re just said very differently. 

L’école primaire (elementary school) lasts for 5 years, with kindergarten being a part of nursery school in France, le collège (middle school) lasts for 4 years and starts en sixième (sixth grade), and le lycée (high school) is 3 years long.

Remembering these basic steps will make understanding your French friend’s enfance (childhood) much easier!

Cle France LOGO

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France.

This blog was originally posted on The French Language Blog pages.

Add CommentViews: 5425
Nov 11

House for Sale in Brittany

A FANTASTIC OPPORTUNITY TO ACQUIRE this is a delightful detached house, a French Countryside Longere style property in a quiet rural hamlet situated between La Trinite-Porhoet and Meneac but actually in the commune of Mohon.

Here is a nice bit of background to this beautiful property in the words of the owner...

" Having arrived in Morbihan, Brittany for a friends anniversary party, we decided to check out the local property market. It was love at first sight when we first came upon our house, it was nestling within its own private enclosed garden, in a tranquil hamlet surrounded by beautiful countryside; what more could anyone want !

It was also a perfectly safe environment for our animals "Birman Cats" that we used to breed and exhibit in the UK, a hobby we wanted to continue, not to mention 2 Standard poodles. 

We have the close proximity of all local amienities, with easy access to airports, Ferries, motorways, to explore "La Belle France"  

Through our friends and neighbours we were introduced to the French way of life, it is rather laid back, always making new friends especially when joining French Classes, a good way to intergrate, we also made many French friends at Cat exhibitions, although we no longer exhibit now, but keep in touch.

There is always help on hand with the Local Marie with all local activities.

Our home was completely renovated, taking 18 months with the help of a French architect and artisans, it now has a charm all of its own, and will not disappoint anyone who walks through its doors, or enters the beautiful, tranquil garden, with its various fruit trees and veg garden, it is a delight and privilege to be living here, you need never be alone."

Now the house is for sale and we would be delighted to show you it anytime. 

CLS00391 for sale for 189,300 euros FAI.

Property for sale in brittany

GROUND FLOOR: Your first impressions of this house are fabulous, on entering the tiled entrance and hallway you quickly get a sense of character and quality, which continues as it leads to an open plan dining kitchen area with beamed ceiling and a Godin wood-burner which can be backed up with oil fuelled central heating in the winter if needed. The kitchen is fully fitted with integrated units ie. dishwasher, cooking hob, oven and cupboards. 

kitchen of house for sale in france

From Kitchen there is a a dry larder for storage of foodstuffs and a doorway to a cellar, wine cellar, and out to a conservatory which you can see from kitchen window. 

Along the lower hallway there are 2 double bedrooms, both with parquet flooring. There is also a shower room, wash hand basin and a separate WC. 

FIRST FLOOR: bespoke oak staircase which leads to a magnificent master-suite of lounge, bedroom and en-suite bathroom. This area has been beautifully renovated by local artisans but retaining original beams and features, double glazed windows and wooden flooring throughout. The en-suite bathroom is tiled and has bath with a shower head tap, wash hand basin, WC and velux window. The master bedroom also has a dressing room which is extremely practical.

At the rear of the house is a summer kitchen with utility area for washing machine etc. 

OUTSIDE: Garage, hangar with workshop, and large vegetable plot and land of 2879m². The plot also has an irrigation system and is nicely enclosed making it a safe garden for children and dogs. 

garden of house for sale in france

There are also kennel/cattery in the garden if needed and can also be used for keeping chickens. The kennel/cattery has heating and lighting installed - I may move in there myself! 

There are also apples, cherries, plum, figs and kiwi fruits in the garden. 

IN SHORT: A delightful property which has an up-to-date septic tank and in a quiet rural hamlet with open farmland at the rear. 

Just 20 mins away is the main town of Ploermel with its excellent array of supermarkets and shops. The medieval town of of Josselin has the Nantes Brest canal running through it and is ideal for fishing, cycling, boating, canoeing, and walking. The airports of Dinard and Rennes are about an hours drive away. St Malo is about an hour and half drive away.

Blog submitted by: Alex at The French Property Network - Cle France. 

Add CommentViews: 3558

Follow Us for the Latest Info

Cle France You Tube Cle France Instagram Cle France Blue Sky Social Cle France Facebook

Quick Search

Minimum Beds/Baths

Price Range

Land in sq metres (1 acre = 4000M2)

Regency FX Prize Draw

Join the Mailing List

Select subscriber list :

Property of the Week

Property of the Week
 
Detached Country House with Open Views and Barn

Lovely Countryside Location

AMR00110 - Dordogne

REDUCED to €149,000 FAI