French Mortgage rates

We’ve just had an update for the French mortgages rates with the bank we work with. The last update we received was 6 months ago in January, the rates have been coming down steadily over the last couple of years and these figures are no exception.

The new French mortgage rates we have are:

Standard variable 2.65% to 2.85%
Standard variable rates from 2.65% to 3.00% with a +1% cap
Fixed rates from 3.10% to 3.90%.

Compared to the old rates of:

Standard variable rates in capital repayment from 2,90% to 3,10%
Capped rates in capital repayment from 2,80% to 3,45%
Fixed rates from 3,80% to 4,45%

If you are interested in more information just contact us at Alpine Property and we’ll arrange for a quote.

This might be a good time to mention a couple of the new properties we have for sale. From the “high end”

Chalet Lanos near St GervaisChalet Lanos, 1.390.000€, 5 bedrooms and situated between St Gervais and Les Contaimes, click on the image above for more info.

To the more modestly priced:

diamantblanca1_2

Apartment Diamant Blanc near the skiing at St Jean d’Aulps, 2 bedrooms and 203.000€

This is the time of year where we experience peak property availability. This is combined with the cheapest time to fly into Geneva too. So if you wondered when the best time to look was- this could be it!

400 Properties for Sale

400 Properties for Sale

Alpine Property is approaching its 14th anniversary, every year at around this time I do a review of the number of properties for sale we have displayed on our website. I also update the history of the company and who does what.

It’s possible 400 doesn’t sound like a lot of properties for a web based agent. The fact is we operate like a traditional agent. We know each individual property and for each one we visit, take the photos and arrange a contract with the owner. We do not just “re-advertise” the properties for other agents. You might consider our “areas” as different branches of a regional chain. If you think of it like that then it would be like having 8 branches of the same company.

Alexa (Amazon) provide a tool that archives a website throughout it’s life. This means you can see Alpine Property evolve throughout time!

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.alpine-property.com

This is also an interesting place to browse if you want to see what a property might have been worth 10 years ago!

So here is the data for number of properties visible on the website.  I’ve also added initials by the year each team member joined.

Spring 2000 – www.alpine-property.com goes online with 15 properties SN/CB which overed St Jean d’Aulps, Morzine, Les Gets and the Chatel Valley – AKA The Portes du Soleil

Spring 2001 – 24 properties GJ/JN

Spring 2002 – 28 properties – website mk 2

Spring 2003 – 32 properties

Spring 2004 – 37 properties  JD helping GJ

Spring 2005 – 109 properties – website mk 3 DB/JC, adding Samoens, Chamonix, Megeve

Spring 2006 – 96 properties VM, helping DB (the counting changed this year to exclude “under offer properties”

Spring 2007 – 95 properties LM, helping CB,

Spring 2008 – 152 properties – website mk 3.5 RO, adding Les Carroz

Spring 2009 – 195 properties – SW helping JC

Spring 2010 – 234 properties VA adding the Espace Diamant and EO starts out with Claudia developing Chatel and AB with Claudia

Spring 2011 – 330 properties JG developing Le Petit Bornand

Spring 2012 – 385 properties

Spring 2013 – 404 properties – AA adding the Vallée Verte, DM helping EO, and CH starting out in Annecy

The initials stand for

  1. SN = Steve Norris
  2. CB = Claudia Buttet
  3. GJ = Gareth Jefferies
  4. JN = James Norris
  5. JD = Jo Davison
  6. DB = Denis Barbier
  7. JC = JC Skiera
  8. VL = Valérie Maes
  9. LM = Lee Massey
  10. RO = Richard Owens
  11. SW = Sarah Watts
  12. VA = Val Ainaud
  13. LO = Liz Owens
  14. EO = Ed Ockleton
  15. AB = Ailsa Bishop
  16. JG = Jackie Gay
  17. PK = Pernille Kjaer
  18. SE = Steve Elsdon
  19. AA = Anna Allen
  20. DM = Debs Mairie
  21. CH = Carol Harrison

Chalet dressing in Morzine

Lee Massey (our Morzine agent) needed to spruce up a property taken on for sale. He asked Liz Ockleton (Make Space Designs) from Chatel to have a look and see what she could do. Chalet Robri had been used by it’s owners for the last 10-20 years and had had no real attention paid to staging it for re-sale.

Chalet Robri

The original furniture layout, styling and photos of the property did no real justice to the chalet which has an unusual architectural style and huge potential for potential buyers. Liz’s brief was to dress the chalet for the purpose of adding value and to give it a freshened look.

The following pictures have been taken since the makeover:

The budget was 5000€ including design fees. For this budget Liz was able to address key areas such as lighting, decoration, bedding and the odd piece of furniture. By moving furniture around and re-dressing some of the key areas Liz has been able to add some warmth and character into the space to give it more of a ski chalet feel. The photos of the chalet now show the chalet off to its potential and this will hopefully attract more customers.

Chalet Robri is now advertised for sale in Morzine at 1 195 000 €uros with Alpine Property at http://www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_3_chaletrobri

The original pictures are available here:

Chalets for less than 300,000€ in the Portes du Soleil

These are some of our best selling properties. Chalets, houses or homes to buy near the main ski resorts of the Portes du Soleil valued at less than 300,000€.

First off we have Maison La Cachette, 255,000€, 6 bedrooms and in the Chatel valley. It’s a renovation project. Click on the image for more information.

Then how about the Apartment Bayard, 219,600€, 4 bedrooms and in the center of St Jean d’Aulps.

And in no particular order, Chez Patou, also in St Jean d’Aulps, 275,000€, 3 bedrooms and room to expand.

Between Les Gets and Praz des Lys in Chalet les Côtes Derrière, 299,000€ and 4 bedrooms. Only 8 minutes to the skiing and located in complete seclusion!

And finally Maison Le Biot, a 5 bedroom property in Le Biot, priced at 275,000€