Clé France

SPECIALLY SELECTED by Cle France! - in Normandy 190,800 euros FAI.

Sometimes we get houses that are just perfect and this is one of those times, a substantial rural property in fantastic condition and in a great are on a nice private plot with countryside views. It certainly ticks a lot of boxes........

A Beautiful stone French COUNTRY HOUSE with 2101 sqm approx. HALF AN ACRE of land, south facing and far reaching PANORAMIC COUNTRYSIDE VIEWS in a simply perfect location.

Situated in the rural rolling countryside so typical of the popular area of La Manche, between Villedieu-les-Poêles and Brécey, within easy reach of the beach, local market towns, & ports for travel to the UK and Ireland, and located in an area with wonderful tourist sites, including 2 UNESCO sites, Le Mont Saint Michel and the lesser known Saint-Vaast-la-Hougue and the Tours Vauban, making this the perfect area whether you want to live here all year with its milder climate or create a holiday home.

Superb little outbuilding - could be used for guests! plus a garage, integrated into the house. South facing façade onto terrace, pretty well stocked gardens, vegetable plot, and surrounding countryside. Outbuildings. Total land 2101 sqm.

A great location, so lets look at what is nearby......

Schools: 1km Cherencé-le-Héron, 7km Villedieu-les-Poêles, 10km Brécey.

Shops: 1km Cherencé-le-Héron, 7km Villedieu-les-Poêles, 10km Brécey.

Trains: 7km Villedieu-les-Poêles, 28km Vire.

Ports: Cherbourg 136km, St Malo 91km, Caen 102km.

Aéroports: Dinard 92km, Rennes 112km, Caen Carpiquet 81km, Deauville 144km.

Sea/beach: 35km Granville.

Tourist sites: Le Mont St Michel, D-Day beaches, Marais Cotentin, Zoo Champrépus, Jersey, Chausey, Cité de la Mer, The Bayeux Tapestry.

The department of Manche is in Lower Normandy and is bordered with Calvados, Orne, Mayenne and Ille-et-Vilaine. The English Channel in the west, north and north-west coastlines makes getting here to its many ports very easy from the UK. There is also an airport in Caen and many others are easily accessible in the surrounding regions such as Rennes airport.

History is all over the department through its museums and heritage, discovering the local traditions and culture as well as Chateaux, religious monuments, water mills, maritime sites and gardens is easy to do. The biggest “must-do” is a visit to Mont Saint Michel.

Tourism plays a major role in the economy of the department which is fine because there is so much to see and do.

Learn more about this beautiful property in the main listing here...

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

SELLING YOUR PROPERTY IN FRANCE - HOW THINGS HAVE CHANGED !

Lets bust some myths !

Vendors think that selling "privately" will secure them a buyer quicker, not true...

These days the "buyer" likes the security and protection of using an agent as well as the comfort of using a well known 'name'. Also 'private advertising' is expensive and which website should you choose? the cheapest is never a good option but the most expensive limits you to only one website! (NOTE: we advertise on multiple portals as well as our own website).

Vendors think their property will look more competitive without agency fees, not true...

We find that there is a "certain" section of the buying public that look privately, these are the people who want to drive the price down even further! People looking with Immobilier trust the advice of a good agent and then the negotiation on price is more even / level and the vendor often gets the best deal possible.

Vendors note: YOU are also cutting out approx. 95% of the UK and international overseas buying public who do not buy privately!

Magazine adverts are good, surely ?

Yes and No, as part of a 'brand advertising' package they work and as part of a on-line campaign BUT not really worthwhile for individual houses, think about it for a second, of all the thousands of properties for sale in France how successful is 1 private advert going to be? people these days want choice and a lot of it and this is why our 'targeted marketing' works well. 

Property Exhibitions have a targeted audience, true BUT...

We find that most people attending property exhibitions are at the start of their property hunting journey, this is good for them and good for the agent BUT not necessarily good for a seller, if you want to sell your property sooner rather than in 2 years time you need to think differently...

The Solution...

At Cle France we have several marketing options for sellers who want to maximise the exposure of their property, we advertise certain properties on multiple property portals for much less than the price it would cost you to advertise on just one! Simply mandating your property for sale with us is 100% free but we do offer enhanced marketing packages to those who want to get there property seen by a carefully targeted audience.

You may be selling your property in France to downsize, upgrade or move to the UK? whatever the reason "Cle France" is the place to be seen. We are the fastest growing property website featuring property for sale across France and have a successful formula for selling properties that others could not.

With a mixture of up to the minute technology, use of social media and good old fashioned customer service, we have helped as many people SELL their property as we have helped people buy their dream home.

After all, matching buyers to sellers is our goal ! visit our "selling ?" page to find out more and give us a call.

Take a look at some of the comments from sellers as well as buyers here....

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

Hi Sharon,

Well we got there one way or another!

I know it’s your work, but many thanks for your help and involvement, as we go forward I am sure we will be needing further help from you please.

A very exciting time and I am looking forward to spending some time down there in Brittany.

Again many thanks

Kind regards

Anne & Eddie.

Happy Cle France Clients, Anne and Eddie are buying a lovely Holiday Home Property in Brittany set in the popular department of Cotes d'Armor and we will continue to guide them through the process and beyond as they take advantage of all the benefits of buying with Cle France - The French property Network.

Buying a house is always a traumatic experience and in Britain it seems to get worse as the years go by. You can put an offer in, have everything accepted and agreed only for the buyer to pull out on the day of completion without any redress or compensation. By this time the vendor may have spent a lot of money and probably got the furniture removers standing by, or even fully loaded. This is really a very unsatisfactory situation if not pure madness.

In France once a price has been agreed a legal contract is signed and a 10% deposit paid. Should the buyer withdraw, then the deposit is lost. Nor can the vendor pull out because the law would compel him to sell on the basis of the binding contract. Hence there is no gazumping, or withdrawing before completion.

The ‘solicitor’ in charge, in France called the notaire, has a fixed fee no matter how much work goes into the conveyance. Their fees are fixed by government and at the end of the sale a full breakdown of where these fees have gone is given on a receipt. Not only that, but there is often a small refund as the fixed fee is the maximum that can be charged.

Normally the same notaire acts for both parties [as they are semi-government officials] and have to give impartial advice. However, should one party wish to appoint his own notaire he can and the overall fees remain the same – the notaires have to split the fee.

The surveys completed for a house are intended to ascertain whether there is any asbestos, lead or termite pollution, and there is also a calorific survey to see how well the house is insulated. These then remain in force in the case of lead, for life, in the case of asbestos for two years and the remaining two for twelve months each, so that paying a survey fee is not required every time an offer is made.

Consequently, buying a house in France, particularly for a foreigner, is rendered a lot easier and far less stressful by the rules that govern the process, and these are, for the most part, strictly adhered to.

Fraser Blake, 70, author of 'Dear Chips' and 'A Rant Too Far?' grew up in Africa, was at school in Scotland, and worked for the British South Africa Police in Southern Rhodesia. He has taught English in Saudi Arabia and sold and renovated hundreds of properties in Northern France.

In 1998 Fraser was selling houses in the Mayenne department of the Pays de la Loire region and so was the obvious choice, when Cle France was started, to be their first agent on the ground in France. In retirement he writes, blogs, cooks, drinks wine, and hosts to dinner unlimited numbers of ex-pats.

Always on hand with a viewpoint, Fraser is going to share his views on France, the French and the British, and other people who buy in France. Sometimes informative, sometimes funny, painfully true, outrageously opinionated but always entertaining so we hope it adds a slightly different dimension to the usual normality of searching through the fantastic properties for sale on the Cle France website.

If you want more? then follow the links above where you can buy Fraser's published books.

I spotted this article on a site called 'French Language blog' and thought it was interesting so I am sharing it here, I remember our neighbours children pointing to the ducks on our pond years ago and shouting 'quand quand' as opposed to what it says here 'coin coin', either way surely 'quack quack' is more accurate? I can't believe I am saying this?..............

The word onomatopée (onomatopoeia) has been floating around the Internet as of late and I thought it would be fun to devote a post to French onomatopoeias vs. their English counterparts.

What is an onomatopoeia? An onomatopoeia is a word meant to mimic a certain sound made by un humain (a human), un animal (an animal) or un objet (an object). The spelling of an onomatopoeia should sound as close as possible to the actual sound it is trying to imitate.

The word itself comes from two Ancient Greek words: onoma meaning name, and poieo meaning to produce.

So let’s run through a few onomatopoeias in both French and English to give us an idea of how people hear things differently. You’ll find a number of these in both French and English bandes dessinées (comic books), dessins animés (cartoons) and livres pour enfants (children’s books). Keep in mind that there can be several onomatopoeias for the same sound but these are just some of the more popular ones.

The first onomatopoeia will be in French and the second in English.

Human Sounds:

1. Sleep: ron-ron vs. zzzzzzz

2. Sneeze: atchoum vs. achoo

3. Expression of pain: aïe! vs. ouch!

4. Crying baby: ouin-ouin vs. wah-wah

5. Drinking: glou-glou vs. slurp/glug

6. Beating heart: poum-poum vs. thump-thump

7. Hushing: chut vs. shh

Animal Sounds:

1. Rooster: cocorico vs. cock-a-doodle-doo

2. Pig: groin-groin vs. oink-oink

3. Bird: cui-cui vs. tweet-tweet

4. Duck: coin-coin vs. quack-quack

5. Frog: croac-croac vs. ribit/croak

6. Snake: siff vs. hiss/sss

7. Owl: ouh-ouh vs. hoo-hoo

Sounds made by objects:

1. Clock: tic-tac vs. tick-tock

2. Ambulance siren: pin-pon vs. wee-woo

3. Gun firing: pan-pan! vs. bang-bang!

4. Car door slamming: vlan! vs. wham!

5. Water dripping: plic-plic vs. drip-drip

6. Doorbell ringing: dingue-dongue vs. ding-dong

7. Telephone ringing: dring-dring vs. ring-ring

Here endeth the strangest blog I have ever posted!

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