2009 - the year house prices defied gravity

There are some interesting statistics in this Times article published today about the UK property market.

It was the disaster that never happened. The picture at the end of 2008 appeared bleak: property prices had plunged by more than 14 per cent, hastened by the collapse of Lehman Brothers in September, and almost every market commentator forecast Armageddon for 2009.

The article reports that house prices fell (but not dramatically) and have risen again in most areas. Yet still one agent in six had to close their doors due to lack of business.

It's worth reading the whole article especially the last paragraph which caused me to spit out my croissant at the breakfast table:

This month the Nationwide consumer confidence index found that 84 per cent of the public believed that the economic situation would be the same or better in six months’ time. In contrast, many agents suspect that 2009 has been too good to be true.


84% of the general public think that the economic situation would be the same or better in six months time.

As a Spurs supporter since the age of six, I have had to inject my life with a particular brand of blind optimism which defies reality.....it now looks as though this has rubbed off onto the citizens of the UK.

Let's hope they're right.

www.cognacproperty.com

Christmas in Cognac - just plug & play

There is a report in our local paper, the Charente Libre, this week about christmas festivities in the town of Cognac.

As well as the usual wooden cabins, mulled wines and frosty window displays it says that on Saturday we can take the girls through to the town centre so they can "chat live to Father Christmas via satellite".

Technology eh.

Next thing we know the lazy old blighter will be sat at the North Pole, playing on his Wii, while entirely outsourcing christmas to Amazon.

www.cognacproperty.com

French house prices in 2010

It's that time of year again when all the agents, banks, building societies and public bodies make predictions for UK house prices in 2010. Even the BBC are getting in on the act.

Here in France the price of ones house doesn't hold the same kind of compulsive fascination as it does across the channel.  Houses are somewhere that you live and watch your family grow up in.  The French move house far less regularly than us Brits (I have a vague notion that on average we move 16 times in our lifetime but please don't accept that as gospel) and aren't used to seeing it's value bob up and down like a yo-yo.

If there's one thing I've learned during my twenty odd years in the property industry it's that it is an absolute lottery predicting house prices.  All of the august bodies mentioned above have teams of highly paid researchers that crunch the numbers, analyse the statistics and then make a wild guess while adding in all kinds of caveats.

At the start of 2009 almost everyone predicted a year of double digit percentage falls in price. Yet, if the HM Revenue & Customs are to be believed house completions rose from 41,000 in January to 90,000 in October.

The Nationwide say that if prices remain unchanged this month that they will have increased 6% throughout the year. Many other lenders tell a similar story with the Halifax saying that prices are now up for the 5th month in a row.

It's a different story over here in France and the FNAIM are saying that average prices are likely to have dropped by around 5% this year. You can read their latest statement here.

At a local level I'd say that this seems pretty bullish indeed.

Sure, window prices don't seem to have changed much when you trawl around the estate agents, but if you pluck up courage to go through the door and chat to them about actual sale prices you get a different picture and a lot of anecdotal evidence of double digit falls.

It's incredibly difficult to get a clear picture here where real data is so hard to come by.  What is clear is that overseas buyers are scarce and it was they who tended to pay the premium prices.

Locals are still buying houses and while transaction numbers are down the underlying market remains pretty healthy and will be so in 2010 again I'm sure.

What nobody knows is whether the overseas buyers will be back in force next year. If not then prices will remain pretty stable but if they do come back then be prepared for some increases again.

For these buyers to re-enter the market they will need confidence that the world economy is not going to nose dive again and that we're coming out of recession not heading back into it again. Confidence means everything when it comes to buying houses and although it seems to be returning it won't take much to knock it back.

Ultimately the most prudent prediction for house prices in 2009 came from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.  They simply said that it was too difficult to call the market and they refused to get involved.

Guess what.....they're saying the same thing about 2010.

www.cognacproperty.com

Uh oh....why the next banking crisis could be even worse

Just read this in today's Money Week.

As you may have gathered from previous posts I spent most of my "A" level classes trying (and sadly failing) to woo the scrumptious Denise Knox rather than listening to the wise words of my English & Economics teachers.

This is probably the reason why I simply can't get my head around the strategy of the UK simply spending it's way out of trouble. Indeed, my very first post on this blog was about that subject.

Money Week have this to say.....

The more you look at the numbers, the scarier it gets. Fifteen European banks now have assets - and liabilities, too, although bankers don't like phrasing it that way - larger than their home economies. That compares with ten such lenders three years ago. In Britain, for example, Barclays' balance sheet alone is bigger than the country's entire annual output.


and leaves us with this sobering opinion....

But one price move does make sense. It's an old MoneyWeek chorus, but the more you look at the threat of another bank blowout, the more the latest gold price rise – 28% since the start of September – makes sense. Even at over $1,200, it's still not too late to buy. No doubt there will be plenty of corrections along the way (Gold's still looking good), but the current gold bull market is a long way from ending.


Sorry to highlight such negative thoughts but it's enough to get me planning a big extension to my potager*  in 2010.

www.cognacproperty.com

* vegetable garden

Google confirm move into UK property market

Regular readers will realise that I truly think we're on the cusp of a "big bang" in the way we buy & sell property.

This morning's report in the Daily Telegraph says that Google have been in talks with UK agents about a free listings service they are thinking of launching. That shouldn't be too surprising if you've read this or this.

Shares in Rightmove have dropped 10% even though Google refuse to confirm or deny anything. This was the reaction from the Rightmove camp:

Ed Williams, managing director of Rightmove, said: "We provide visibility of brand and logo. Agents are spending money on raising brand awareness, not getting more properties online."


Now, forgive me but I'd have thought that agents don't just spend millions of pounds with him to raise "brand awareness" but do so to generate leads & income.

The crucial thing for all parties (Google, agents & property portals) is to look at things through the eyes of the buyer.

Follow the money and it's the buyer who has it.

They control the board and the companies who realise this will become the "King" & "Queen" while those who don't understand will be consigned to being humble pawns.

www.cognacproperty.com

Fancy a week-end away - try Bordeaux Christmas market

Bordeaux is a wonderful city at any time of year but it comes into its own at Christmas.

The architecture is stunning, the pedestrianised shopping centre is buzzing and the modern tram system makes getting around a pleasure.

The Christmas market is perfectly positioned in the centre of town and has 104 wooden chalets offering every kind of gift conceivable.

There are plenty of fantastic restaurants (the local plonk isn't too bad) and you should be able to get a great deal on a hotel room.  Here are a couple of hotels I'd recommend:

1. Splashing out: Try the "Regent Grand" . It's a majestic hotel opposite the opera house and looks simply sensational when it's lit up by the Christmas lights.

2. On a budget: : Just around the corner is the three star "Hotel Seze Medoc".  It's a small, family run, hotel with friendly staff.  It certainly isn't grand but it's in the perfect position and double rooms are only  €60 a night.

The Christmas market is open seven days a week, 10.00am - 8.00pm (10.00pm on Fridays & Saturdays), full information is available from http://www.bordeaux-tourisme.com/

www.cognacproperty.com

BBCi player in France

It's one of lifes constant irritants that I can't access BBCi player over here, nor get Radio 5 live online.

Now I read that UK Telecom are offering to solve this with their broadband package, you can read a review from the team at FrenchEntrée here.

I have to say that it's pretty tempting and would love to hear from any expats that have switched to this service. 

Having altered my France Telecom/Orange package twice in the last 12 months I'd hate to start the process again unless I really have to.

Dealing with their call centre has to rank as the real lowlight of 2009 (and that's in a year when the "Butcher of Segonzac" gave me root canal treatment without an anaesthetic).

If you've switched to the UK Telecom offer please do let me know what you think by mailing me directly on cognac.property@gmail.com.

www.cognacproperty.com

Buying agents - the miracle workers

So say "The Times" this morning in this illuminating article.

It's great PR for those of us who act purely for the buyer and does go a little way to justifying some of my earlier blogs about the changing role of estate agents.

I particularly liked this quote:

“We take the pain out of buying and make it fun,” says Mark Lawson, head of farms and country estates at The Buying Solution, a Newbury-based agency. “People come to us principally because they have been looking for a while and are fed up, or because they know they don’t have the time or knowledge to do it well.”


If someone buying a house in the UK is scared that they don't have the time or knowledge to do it well then imagine those overseas buyers looking to buy a property in France - with its different language, process, laws and tax structure.
 
Trust is a big issue in the buyer/agent relationship and we need to earn the same confidence that buyers have in their other professional advisors like their accountant or lawyer.
 
www.cognacproperty.com

Property marketing - the future is now

Just released - Cities in 3D.

This is a video preview, imagine the impact this is going to have on the way consumers search for property in the coming years.

Fancy buying a house in Cognac but don't know what it's like out here?  Take a tour of the town....check on the map to see what properties are available...find a couple that look interesting....download the floorplans & internal photos then look them up using the 3D feature.

Like what you see then call me and I'll go buy it for you at the lowest price possible.

The quantum shift in power is taking place from the seller to the buyer and the services offered by estate agencies are going to mirror this shift.

www.cognacproperty.com

French "HIP's"....an explanation

Came across this excellent article in The Connexion.

It explains all about the seven surveys that must now be undertaken: for asbestos, lead, energy efficiency, termites, gas, “natural or technological risks” and electrics.

I know that HIP's get a bad press in the UK but I think the French system works really well with everyone knowing where they stand from the start.  Sellers see it as "normal" and buyers get a lot of important information before they sign.

Adding septic tanks to the magnificent seven above can only be a good thing too.

Take note too of the last line of this report:

In no case is the owner of the property required by law to remedy any defects found as a result of the surveys.


www.cognacproperty.com

Buy the house or the dog gets it

Had to chuckle yesterday.

I was showing a house, barns and 10 hectares of mixed woodland & farmland to a client who had flown over specially.  It's a smashing place and the owner is a lovely Ukrainian lady who had offered the agent and I hot coffee and lashings of home-made apple pie when we first visited it on a wet & windswept day.

She had also introduced us to her beautiful Alsation called Diane. 

Seemingly Diane had lived in the house all her life and was her husbands dog until he died - she used to follow him all through the woods and fields and never left his side.

The lady now wants to move into a much smaller town-house as she hasn't the energy or inclination to look after the property. It's a special place but it really does need and deserve the sounds and sights of a family running round it.

At the end of the viewing the agent asked my client what he thought and we were just chatting generally about the pro's and con's of the property. 

In a classic case of sitcom magic the agent got a little over excited and blurted out "Of course the lady can't take Diane with her and she'll be sold with the property....that means that if you don't buy the house the dog will have to be put down".

I'm (almost) sure he said it as a joke.

www.cognacproperty.com

Dear Mr Google - pls can I have a job

Just seen this on Global Edge about Google's property portal advances.

On July 6th this year Google announced its first foray into the property portal market with the launch of Google real estate in Australia.

Properties are presented on a Google map but users had to click to the agent’s or property portal’s website to view the full details. That changed this weekend with the integration of property detail pages into the Google system.

Google Australia, which seems to be the testing bed for Google’s global real estate ambitions, has now introduced Place Pages which are essentially property detail pages containing descriptions, photographs, local information, maps, videos and Google Streetview.

There are going to be some big casualties in the fall out here and I can really see Google sweeping up all before them.

So Larry (Page) how about a job as Head of International Property Marketing for Google, I'd love to help define and implement such a momentous industry changing strategy....

....based out of Cognac, France of course.

www.cognacproperty.com

91% of Brits would use a "buyers agent"

Encouraging research coming out of the Association of Property Finders and Buyers Agents (APFBA).

Over 2000 people were questioned between November 2008 and March 2009.

Worryingly, two thirds of buyers questioned believe that estate agents work for both buyer and seller. On being reminded that estate agents are generally paid to represent the best interests of the seller, 89% of buyers accepted that a conflict of interest exists where an agent deals with both buyer and seller in the same transaction.

Indeed, some 86% of those questioned said that they would get a fairer deal if they had a professional to represent them, and 91% would use a buyers’ agent if this would save them time, stress and money.

I have blogged before on the changing face of estate agency and firmly believe that buyers agents (or property finders as many people call them) will become more and more prevalent as the market changes.

I have been asked by French Property News to write on this subject and will post a link when it is published.

Meanwhile I leave you with this from the excellent UK based Homebuyers Agency:

The survey also showed that 75% of buyers prefer use the internet as their primary search method. With portals such as Rightmove, Globrix and Property Live providing access to every property listing in the UK it seems that the UK is moving towards a similar model as the US and Australia.

There, estate agents work as ‘listing agents’ for the vendor, uploading their listings to the Multi-Listing Service (MLS), or in other words the internet portals, and buyers’ agents are employed by the buyer to help find, advise, evaluate and negotiate on the property purchase.


www.cognacproperty.com

10 tips for buying in France next year

Inspired by this article in The Times I have set out my top 10 tips for those looking to buy in France during 2010.

1. Choose your location:  France is a huge country offering seaside resorts, skiing, cheap equestrian property with acres of land, plush penthouses in Paris and much more.  Find your ideal area before beginning your house search.
2. Decide on your "brief": If you're vague with agents then don't be surprised if what they show you doesn't take your breath away.  The more thought you put into your brief the better the results.
3. Make sure you see a good cross section of the market: You'll find that some agents are friendlier and more knowledgeable than others but you're buying a house not on a blind date. Agents can only show you what they have on their books and always have a vested interest. Don't forhet that every second house purchase in France is actually a private sale and done without an agent.  If possible use a buying agent (see 10).
4. Get your finances in place: It's pointless finding a little gem if you're not in a position to buy it. This is a simple thing to do and will save masses of heartache.
5. Try looking in Jan/Feb: The annual Brit invasion usually starts around Easter and you see prices rise beforehand.  Try getting here beforehand and snapping up the best properties.
6. Don't deal with an unlicenced agent: There are still plenty of sharks around. Ask to see their carte professionelle or you could get your fingers burnt.
7. Use a good notaire: Quality differs among notaires and you 100% have the right to choose (don't be told otherwise), ask around and find one you are comfortable with.
8. Try and collect as much comparable evidence as you can: Houses are notoriously difficult to value in France and it's often the owner who sets the price. Visit as many "similar" properties as you can and use this comparable evidence to help negotiate a good price.
9. Don't be greedy: It's tempting to get more land than you need (you'll live to regret it) or to buy a house with masses of barns (roofs cost a lot to repair).  If in doubt take your time to really think it all through.
10. Use a buying agent: Let's face it you may well not be fully conversant with the language, laws, process and local area.  Buying a house is a huge commitment and a good buying agent will save you time & money as well as give you peace of mind. Not sure where to look? Try here.

Bon courage....

www.cognacproperty.com

The use of social media in the commercial property industry

Forgive me this indulgence.  My life post 2003 is purely geared towards the residential property market.

However, for 20 years before this it was a mixture of both commercial & residential property and I still like to keep in touch with what's going on.

The RICS have just issued this white paper on the use of social media and it makes fascinating reading.  I met one of the authors (Bob Thompson) a couple of times while I was at Chesterton and he's always worth listening to.  He also references a professional services marketeer called Kim Tasso who is also seen as one of the most passionate and brightest lights in the industry.

You can download the report here and it's a good read whether you're interested in offices, shops & sheds or not.

That's it....normal service will be resumed shortly and I'll be writing about the much smaller (but ultimately sunnier) world in and around Cognac again soon.

www.cognacproperty.com

French property blog gets worldwide exposure

Just taken a quick peek at the google analytics pages for this blog. 

I update it most days and it's easy to think that all I'm doing is talking to myself.

However, a couple of things lately have made me realise that this isn't the case.  A short while ago I did a piece on the current state of the market and (gospel truth) within a couple of minutes the phone rang and it was Trevor Leggett of Leggett Immobilier to say how much he liked it & could we work together.

Then, last week I was with some new clients and out of the blue they said how much they enjoyed reading the blog each morning before they got down to real work.

Hence my desire to know how widespread the readership is.  A little drop of Cognac hasn't quite got the circulation of The Sun but it certainly does have a hardcore of fans....primarily in the UK, France and USA. 

Then there are readers in a further 57 countries around the world including regulars in South Africa, Russia, India and Scandinavia.

If you take a step back it's quite extraordinary to see how far things have come with the internet.

Journalists face some enormous challenges from the millions of unskilled amateurs like myself. People who haven't been taught how to check facts, compose sentences, paint pictures and weave stories...it must be hugely frustrating for anyone who did actually make it through journalist college.

I'm not complaining mind and if you happen to be reading this over a cup of coffee in Vietnam, Iran, Mexico or Argentina please do feel free to let me know what you think.

www.cognacproperty.com

Property market has bottomed - it's official

As Disraeli (and then later Mark Twain) said: "There are lies, damned lies and statistics" and boy does the UK property industry thrive on market data.

Every day we seem to be bombarded by forecasts from the government, estate agents, developers, building societies and Uncle Tom Cobbley.

At last though I've found a statistic that I trust because it comes straight from the horses mouth - those searching for property.

Bickey Russell is an analyst at Google and she's recently been talking about the way that the general public searches for property online.

Ms Rusell says that the public believes the days of the bargain are numbered, with queries relating to bargain properties, such as ‘repossessed homes’, ‘property auctions,’ and ‘cheap properties’, down by 55 percent since February.

She has all kinds of other statistics but it's this little gem that strikes a chord with me.  The number of property transactions is all about confidence. 

If Joe Public thinks that the market has bottomed (and clearly Joe does) then they're going to start buying again.

I know this sounds ultra simplistic (because it is) but I place more store in this single stat than all the bumph that gets released by the RICS, NEA or the agents/banks who all have not very well hidden agendas.

Ms Russell also says that the first half of 2009 saw unique visitors to property sites up 15 percent. In the same period searches for the term ‘house prices’ rose 28 percent (having seen falls in 2008) and general queries related to property were up 11 percent.

So there we have it - the recovery has started....how long it will take before transaction numbers rise consistently month on month nobody knows, but it's 9th November 2009 and I'm calling the bottom of the market.

www.cognacproperty.com

The yawning chasm between house buyers & sellers

I've had the same discussion with three different people over the last couple of days.

There seems to be a huge gap between what UK & international property buyers are prepared to offer for French property and what the locals are prepared to accept.

This means that although there are increased activity levels (enquiries, viewings and offers) the number of transactions involving international purchasers are still very low.

All three discussions have commented on the fact that the "mindset" in France is very different to the UK or USA.

I remember that when I lived in Surrey we wouldn't dream of visiting a house that had been on the market for more than a few months.  If the owners had been trying to sell it for over a year then quite clearly it was blighted with all kinds of hidden terrors awaiting the fool who bought it.

If a house has been marketed for a while then Brits tend to make a low offer and more often than not it's accepted, no one wants to hang around.

Out here there are thousands of houses that have been on the market for a year or more.  Locals don't see them as tainted or over-priced....they just haven't had the right buyer come along yet.  Prices here just don't fluctuate like they do in the UK and we haven't seen anywhere near the drop in value as my family and friends on the other side of the channel.

All of this is a huge generalisation of course and ultimately individual circumstances will dicate the price that someone will offer or accept.  However until this gap between "bottom of the market bargain hunters" and "intransigent owners" closes then times are going to remain tough for all of us who make our living in the property arena.

www.cognacproperty.com

Free Google sat-nav - world domination continues

So yesterday the shares in major satellite navigation suppliers took a huge hit.  If you want to find out why just click here.

US firm Garmin fell 18% after details of Google maps navigation were revealed. Dutch firm TomTom fell 9.5% when markets closed on Thursday.


The Google application promises free real-time, turn-by-turn directions for people to follow on their phones.

The Motorola "droid" will be the first mobile phone equipped with the system.

Google maps navigation combines services including a search engine to find addresses, Google street view for photos of locations, and live traffic data.

The implications for estate agents and people searching for property remain to be seen as this is just one tiny segment of the thousand piece jigsaw that Google are currently weaving.

www.cognacproperty.com

More than 25,000 UK shops closed this year

Planning Resource magazine has just run a story saying that over 25,000 shops have closed in the UK so far this year (presumably a few estate agents among them).

I'm just pulling together some research for a story that I'm writing for French Property News about the impact that Google and sites like Tepilo will have on the future of the property market (they picked up on this blog entry I wrote last month).

One thing for sure is that the days of just having a prime high street position are well behind us.

Think I'm scare mongering?  Get yourself a coffee, clear your mind, click here and then let your imagination run riot.

www.cognacproperty.com

French property market sees lending soar

The prudent French banking system seems to be paying off with finance still available (even at 100%) and a rise in house prices of 2.8% over the last six months (although a drop of 7.8% if you take the last 12 months.....lies, damned lies & statistics eh).

The source of these nuggets is the FNAIM and you can read a fuller report here.

Of course, as any estate agent will tell you, it's the number of transactions that is the key indicator rather than the vagaries of price.  This is why many agents are still struggling and thousands of staff have been laid off throughout France.  I don't know of any agencies in this region that are hiring again yet.

It seems to me that there is still a steady trickle of international buyers looking to purchase property in France but that many more are still waiting in the wings.  It's not a case of "if" this trickle will turn into a stream but "when".

Timing is always crucial in the property market - if any of us knew the answer to this for sure we'd be millionaires but I do have a hunch that Spring next year will see some of those currently vacant high street shops having shiny new agence immobilier signs being hung up over the door.

www.cognacproperty.com

Top 10 property investment destinations

Just read an interesting little piece of research from a company called Global Edge marketing.  They rank the investment potential of property held in 77 cities throughout the world (using gross rental yields as the determinant).

Surprisingly Paris only comes 59th (outlook very poor) with New York 62nd and dear old London down in 66th.

Chisinau (me neither) heads the list and is marked "spectacular". Amongst the top 10 you'll also find Jakarta and Bogota.

Now, I've never been to Chisinau (it's in Moldova) or indeed any of the other "hot spots" listed but I'd have thought that it's a brave man who decides that buying property there is a better long term investment than in, say, Fulham.

I'm not sure that I'd feel too confident that my money was entirely safe either which surely has to be a factor if you're claiming to offer investment potential - the upside is that I guess you'd have great fun visiting your portfolio!

www.cognacproperty.com

Bordeaux set for first great vintage of new century

The grape harvest has come to a close and the experts are unanimous; all the factors are there to make this the first great vintage of the 21st century.

‘Nature has been very generous,’ says Denis Dubourdieu, director of the Institut des sciences de la vigne et du vin (ISVV) at Bordeaux. ‘It is difficult to find comparisons – you have to go back to weather of the 1940s to find, perhaps, comparable conditions.’

My viticulteur friends also seem to have wider smiles than usual this year so it does indeed seem to have been an excellent year for the local firewater.

Let's hope it's a double whammy with the football team seeing off Bayern Munich in the Champions League this wednesday then going on to lift the trophy in Madrid next year.

www.cognacproperty.com

Digital age comes to Jarnac schools

France has just introduced a national scheme to bring the digital revolution into rural schools and I'm all for it.

Our two (8 & 10) came back the other night saying that maitresse was excited because she's had it confirmed that they're taking delivery of fourteen new laptops - all wifi enabled and fully loaded.

That's one laptop between two pupils (CM1 and CM2 share a classroom) which I think is a pretty decent ratio for a state run rural school in one of the poorer regions of France. Hopefully now the girls will have sufficient time online in the classroom to stop them kicking me off the laptop when they get home.

I love the schooling out here as they seem to have a sensible mixture of "arty" cultural activities and rural field trips as well as an understanding that the basics of maths, french & computing need to be mastered early.

The lunches aren't bad either!

www.cognacproperty.com

UK - investor confidence returns for overseas property

There's a touch of Mandy Rice-Davies' "well he would say that wouldn't he" about this but it's worth repeating.

Nick Clark, managing director of the Property Investor Show has commissioned some research which shows that investors think that confidence has risen by 43% over the past three months.  He says:

"There has been a strong shift in the market, with savvy UK investors beginning to explore overseas opportunities as they search for sound investments with better returns than the other poor performing investment vehicles such as bank savings and the stock market".

Strangely he failed to mention either John Profumo or Christine Keeler.

www.cognacproperty.com

Tories to ditch "Home Information Packs"

Just been announced at the Tory Conference by the shadow housing spokesman.

Hard luck on those poor buggers who spent thousands on training programmes in anticipation of a long term career change (assuming that Cameron does get in next Summer).

I think the French system works really well with the vendors paying for obligatory tests for asbestos, lead, termites, energy efficiency etc.

Everyone knows where they stand and it's just a given part of the process. What next for the UK though?

www.cognacproperty.com

The changing face of estate agency

The revolution is gathering pace.

Today's Independent has an excellent article headed "Online property search: the diy sellers", you can read it in full here.

In it the journalist says:

Customers are becoming increasingly autonomous, finding properties on the internet for themselves and seeking professional advice as and when they need it. With the vast majority of properties now advertised online, and tools that allow buyers to look at flats and houses from street level such as Google Street View, buyers don't need an estate agent in the same way they used to.

This strikes a chord with the way my business has changed since I set it up in 2003.

In the beginning my clients would have no knowledge of what properties were available and simply trusted me to show them a suitable cross selection. Some clients still act in this way.

However, there are a growing number who have spent ages scouring the internet and have a good feel for what is on the market - they may well even have found houses that look promising on paper. They are looking for someone who can "project manage" their purchase:

• add to their existing list of properties (by using local contacts, private sales, back street agents)


• do an initial sifting to weed out unsuitable prospects


• guide them through the buying process, offering independent advice and acting purely for them not the agent or vendor


• help in negotiating the lowest possible price


• act as a signpost towards other professional advisors (notaires, surveyors, lawyers, currency brokers, architects, builders, artisans, mortgage advisors)

The French market is going through the same fundamental change as the UK. Nightly television is full of adverts for private sale websites and for property portals. The number of traditional agents is diminishing (I was shocked to see that in the UK one in four agents have closed over the last two years).

I'm not saying that traditional agents are dead men walking, nor am I saying that they don't have a place in the market. Clearly they do and changes like this don't happen overnight. If I were selling my house I would still use local agents and would expect them to advise me on how to "dress" my house to the best effect and how to get the highest possible price for it.

What I am saying though is that customer needs and actions are changing fast. Buyers will need traditional agents less and less.

Sellers on the other hand will be looking to their agents to help them differentiate and stand out from the crowd.....if the agent fails to deliver this then more and more sellers will go it alone and Sarah Beeney may well be proved right when she says:

"The internet has removed the need for estate agents and that in the future it is likely that estate agents will be the preserve of complicated or "out of the ordinary" sales".

www.cognacproperty.com

Charente property - what makes it special?

I was chatting to an old colleague from Chestertons this week-end and he asked me that very question.

"I know you love it out there Graham, but what makes the houses so special"?

The answer was threefold:

• the cost of land & housing. Even with the pound & euro at virtually identical levels you can still find a beautiful family home for around €250,000.


• the landscape. Regular readers will have gathered that I love the region deeply - and not just when the vines and sunflowers have their annual battle for your attention.


• the care that the "artisans" take when renovating the older properties. The stone masons were adding a terrace to my in-laws house and when they finished they had created a couple of wonderful carvings into the stone at each end because they felt it was "appropriate", no charge of course.

I know that everyone has different views on what they want & don't want in an area (it's what makes the world such an interesting place) but I really do feel that we struck lucky back in 2003 when we decided, on a whim, to book into a hotel in Jarnac overnight.

www.cognacproperty.com

French property portal launches iphone app

The leading property portal over here is http://www.seloger.com/ who claim a 70% share of the online market (think rightmove in the UK).

They have just launched their own application for the iphone.

This is a big thing for the way that property searches will be undertaken in the future.

Imagine being in a town or village in France and having the ability to instantly see details of all properties available. Price, floorplans, pictures, cadastral plans and any other info you need.

You'll be able to drive around, discount areas you don't like and just concentrate on those you do. Stop for lunch in some off the beaten track restaurant, fall in love with the surroundings and simply consult your iphone to see which of the houses around are for sale.

Don't hold your breath though. Whilst this is a most significant step it still is just one step.

For the process to work 100% efficiently you'll need a portal that lists all houses for sale and you'll need every agent/owner to input the pics, plans et al in the first place.

Don't forget that this is a country where half of all houses bought & sold are still done so privately.

This isn't going to happen in the short term (1-2 years) or even medium term (5-7 years) ....but it will eventually happen.

Traditional estate agents, property finders and everyone associated with this industry are going to have to adapt to a new way of working.

It will take a generation to work through (I doubt that 20% of my clients over the past six years have an iphone or even the slightest desire to know what an app is) but unless you're coming up to retirement age you should ignore this new way of living at your peril.

www.cognacproperty.com

Buying agents - why you should use one...

OK - I'm biased as that's what I do for a living but if you're seriously considering buying a property in France then it makes absolute sense to use one.

You can get a good idea of what a buying agent does by reading this piece on wikipedia. The pertinent paragraph is:

The main advantages of using a buying agent are the savings in time and money and access to properties not available on the open market.

Whilst nearly all charge a registration fee (anything between £500 and £2500) and a percentage of the purchase price of the property (usually between 1.5% and 2% of the sale price), the agent’s negotiating skills and access to properties before they reach the open market often mean that clients purchase properties for substantially less than they would if they went to estate agents or vendors directly.

Buying agents will preview properties for each client, shortlist the most suitable, and usually accompany clients on viewings of the shortlisted properties.

Now, if it makes sense to use one in the UK or USA it must make even more sense if you're buying in a country with a different process, legal system and language.

Just make sure that the person you use is fully legit. Ask to see their "carte professionelle" and copies of their professional indemnity insurance.

A good starting point would be to look here to see if there's one near where you want to buy or by contacting the French national federation of house hunters here.

It's worthwhile doing the research - a good buying agent will save you time & money as well as giving you peace of mind.

www.cognacproperty.com

France "most popular destination" for expats

The Halifax have just issued some research claiming that 16% of British expats currently live in France which tops the charts ahead of Spain (10%).

This comes hot on the heels of research by BNP Paribas that says Britons will make up 20% of all overseas buyers in France during 2009.

It's no surprise that France remains popular with Brits - either as a place for a second home or indeed to move here permanently. There's a good reason why it's the most visited country in the world with 82 million foreign tourists making an annual pilgrimage.

In troubled economic times you need this kind of heritage and stability if you're thinking of investing in real estate - prices may well tempt you to open a gite business in Bulgaria but are you sure it's going to be popular with the punters!

Ultimately though we Brits love it over here because of one thing, perfectly described by Jean Anouilh:

"Everything ends this way in France - everything. Weddings, christenings, duels, burials, swindlings, diplomatic affairs -everything is a pretext for a good dinner".

www.cognacproperty.com

UK housing recovery "unsustainable"

My old friends at JLL research are predicting that the current recovery in the UK housing market is not going to last, with prices predicted to fall 7% in 2010. Here's what they say:

"Our view is that the present recovery is quite fragile and that at sometime over the next six months housing market sentiment and prices will fall back. This could occur quite naturally or have a trigger event."

The bit about a trigger event is interesting as I too feel that there's still a huge amount of nervousness about both the economy and the housing market.

I don't think it would have to be anything too dramatic (such as a terrorist attack) either...any excuse would do. The next election must be held before 3rd June next year and markets often go totally quiet in the run up.

It's unusual for an estate agent (OK...international property consultancy) to publicly be so bearish but it does make a refreshing change from some of the idiotic comments we've had to listen to over the past few weeks (Things are great, never been so busy, record enquiries etc).

www.cognacproperty.com

Property marketing - the shadow of Google

Two separate events have got me thinking over my coffee & croissants this morning.

The first was a tweet from Sarah Beeny about the new property portal she has created. You can see it at http://www.tepilo.com/

It has been brilliantly designed and is friendly and easy to use. You can promote your property online for free and get online guidance throughout the process. There's even an "Ask Sarah" button although somehow I can't see her sat in an office waiting for mundane emails from all and sundry.

Rightmove, Primelocation and Propertyfinder have sown up the market in terms of listing sites for agents to post details but I think that Sarah Beeny's site has a genuine chance of influencing the market in terms of private sales. People have been trying to do this since the internet launched (and before) but nobody has really succeeded.

The second event was when I stumbled across Ben Wood on twitter. He's Head of Property at Google and you can read one of his white papers by following this link.

I guess that even Google themselves don't know in which way their "property" team is going but we shouldn't underestimate the power of what is now probably the biggest brand on earth.

When I started my French property search business in 2003 I used to send clients photos of properties I had seen for them. Now, thanks to Google I can also upload video and zoom in on the house and locality from outer space down to the tiles on the roof. Researching the area (shops, schools, parks, events) is also a doddle.

A year ago Google announced that they were going to exploit some of their existing data and technology and the Times ran a short piece with the headline "Google ventures into the property market".

Now, they have just announced a major sponsorship of this years prestigious "What House" awards.

The house buying process is being flipped on it's head as you read this post. At the moment Google are researching, innovating and hovering....pretty soon they may well swoop.

www.cognacproperty.com

Property finder network takes off

Mixed messages still coming out of the UK.

FTSE 100 over the 5,000 mark (hurrah) and house prices are either on the rise (Halifax) or it's a false dawn (Ernst & Young).

One thing is for sure though. The activity levels of our French property finder network are beginning to take off.

I'm not claiming that we're all inundated but as the guy from Savills so eloquently put it "A year on (from the collapse of Lehman Brothers) power has been restored and there's a flicker of hope".

I've just taken a phone call from Caroline who is based in Mayenne. She has had clients over from Thailand and, after a week-end of hard negotiations, they have just had an offer accepted on a beautiful property. I'm thrilled for Caroline as she had put her heart & soul into finding something truly special for them.

Janine in Bayeux is flying - she's bought two houses for clients in the last few weeks and is slap bang in the middle of another search now.

Rebecca in Nice reports the same with a couple of offers accepted and more clients out shortly.

We've also just taken on mandates for further searches in the Dordogne, Aquitaine, Perpignan and Chamonix too.

The good news is that a lot of these enquiries are non-UK related (we've recently been instructed by clients from Hawaii, South Africa, Sweden, Canada and Asia)....hopefully this means that when the UK market does come back we should have real cause for optimism.

If you'd like to discuss joining the network (we're currently 12 across France but plan to be 50 by the end of 2010) you can email guy@frenchentree.com and he'll send you a prospectus.

Alternatively just pick up the phone and I'd be happy to chat about it.

www.cognacproperty.com

Plan International - because children are at the heart of everything we do

It's been a while since I linked to Plan International and having just finished reading the girls a bedside story I figured it would do no harm to say that I think this is a truly worthwhile charity.

We sponsor a child in Kenya. His name is Mutie and his life is just so different to ours.

The things we take for granted like water, food, electricity, schooling and healthcare don't come so easily in his remote Kenyan village.

Plan help equip the villages with the tools and knowledge to implement long term change - on top of this we've been able to send gifts to Mutie such as a football with accompanying letter and pictures from the girls.

In return he has sent us pictures of himself and family and even letters that are translated by Plan staff in Kenya.

Donations don't have to be huge and if you get half the satisfaction from it that we do then it will truly be money well spent.

To sponsor a child click here.

www.cognacproperty.com

waiting for my .......@gs.com enquiries

Interesting article from the Sunday Times about the return of the bonus culture in the city.

Any of you bankers at Goldman Sachs (or indeed any other financial institutions) looking for an innovative way of spending your money should look no further.

Not only is Cognac renowned throughout the world as the home of Remy Martin, Courvoisier, Hennessy and Martell but it's a beautiful town in it's own right. Just look at what it has to offer:

• second sunniest part of France


• airport with direct flights to the UK


• TGV access to central London


• Glorious chateau's with views over the vineyards or townhouses in the historic old quarter


• choice of michelin restaurants or sampling the rustic 10€ local "plat de jour"


• the caché associated with one of the worlds top 10 brands

So, @GS people, it's time for an investment that you can make with your heart as well as your head.

Just imagine the envious looks on your colleagues faces as you sneak away from the dealing desks to compare your week-end pad in Cognac with their dull old bolt holes in Cornwall or Shropshire.

www.cognacproperty.com

French property - parallels with the UK market

Interesting article in the Daily Telegraph about the UK property market one year after Lehman Brothers collapse.

This bit really struck home:

The day recession dawned will linger in the minds of estate agents for years. “The effect of Lehman’s demise was immediate and immense,” says Ed Lewis, head of new homes in London for Savills. “It was as if the telephone sockets had been ripped from the walls and the lights turned out. Many of the younger agents had never seen anything like it. A year on and power has been restored, to a flicker of hope, anyway, and the telephones have just started to ring again.

It was the same here in Cognac. I'd been merrily sailing along for five years and new clients just seemed to appear out of thin air. France is an incredibly popular destination and overseas buyers will always need someone to find and then advise upon their investment.

Then, within the space of 24 hours, everything changed and the world just hunkered down.

Like the chap at Savills though my phone has been ringing for a few months now and the lights are flickering back on.

As it says at the end of the Telegraph article I'll be looking forward to the 15th September so I can say that "the year" is behind us. It's not quite a reason to crack open the Dom Perignon but the senior partner and I might risk a little of the local "methode traditionnelle".

www.cognacproperty.com

OK - so I'm not Bill Gates or Larry Page

One innocent blog entry about how much I like i google and I've unleashed a torrent of abuse.

I guess I should have realised at school when I was hanging out with the nerds & the geeks rather than the cool guys or the sports "jocks" that something like this would happen.

My latest words of wisdom have come back to haunt me in spades now as I'm getting texts, voicemails, tweets, emails et al taunting me for being behind the times.

Please bear in mind that the senders of these missives are the ones that were always found at the front of the classroom, in the kitchen at parties and invariably were the last ones picked at any kind of sport.

And as for girls.....forget it.

So chaps - I may well be behind the new technology wave rather than riding it but let's face it...the coolest kid at school was never going to get a job in IT was he....

www.cognacproperty.com

How cool is i google?

OK - I realise that I'm probably a bit slow off the blocks here but I've just discovered igoogle and have created my own personal home page.

As well as the usual search facility my default page now also has:

• the 5 day weather forecast for the charente valley


• real time (almost) changes to my stock portfolio


• the 10 newest messages I've received on gmail


• a french/english translation tool for when I come across a word I don't know


• google map, centred on my house, so I can plan route times when visiting houses

It's absolutely brilliant and I'm sure I could discover a zillion other add-ons if I didn't have to actually get on and do some work!

www.cognacproperty.com

Would you pay for online news?

News today that Rupert Murdoch is going to start charging for his online newspapers such as The Times, The Sun & the Wall Street Journal.

He's potty. He should ignore his middle aged management consultants and poll some youngsters.

I can see people paying for specialist news on a restricted market. In the UK the online service provided by the Estates Gazette group is first class and value for money.

However, I can't see people paying online for general news, celebrity gossip or even page 3 girls as it's all so freely available.

The newspaper industry is in serious decline but this isn't the answer Rupert. My father actually worked with Murdoch in Fleet Street for 10 years or so in the 1970's but I'm afraid those times (like the old printing presses) are long gone.

If he really wants to turn around the £2bn annual loss then he really needs to hand the reins of News Corporation to some youngsters who can marry new media with the bottom line.

www.cognacproperty.com

Land registry figures don't lie

Thanks to my old friend Peter Bill for this:

Sales volumes, not prices, are what matter to estate agents. Land Registry figures out this week show they remain awful. The number of new homes sold in London in April 2009 was 3888. This is almost precisely half the number sold in April last year.

Miserable sales figures have been overshadowed by the cheerful news that prices are stabilising. But that is cold comfort to those who make their living on sales commission.
The posh end of the market is where most of the overshadowing takes place. Forget the endless spin about how top end prices are moving up and that rich foreigners are buying again in Knightsbridge, Mayfair or, well, pick you spot.

The fact is that just 121 homes were sold for more than £1 million this April. In April 2008 the number was 246. The number sold over £2 million: two dozen — down from 62 last year.

It's clear that there is currently a certain amount of talking the market up in the media, mostly from agents.

Sadly "House prices crash" and "House prices soar" sell papers while "House prices don't move much" won't quite hit the front page.


Ultimately though, as Peter says, it's the transaction numbers that are the important ones if you earn your living from buying or selling houses.



www.cognacproperty.com

Immobiliers - time to change your DNA

Thanks to Jim Muttram for pointing me in the direction of this article in business week.

The bit I really like is this:

The old rules taught you to ask, "What is my product or service, and how can I sell it to you?" With that question, adversarialism was baked into the DNA of the buyer-seller transaction.

The new rules ask, "Who are you? What do you need? How can I help?" This creates a dynamic of advocacy and mutual accountability. The more trust you build, the more value you release, and the more wealth you create.

This is exactly how I feel about my business. Traditional estate agents say & think "I have these houses on my books, which one would you like to buy".

My business model is all about communication. Finding out what my clients dreams are and helping turn them into reality. Interpreting the brief, doing the legwork and working together to find the ideal property for them.

It sounds grand for a small business finding property in the charente but it's true and the fact that many of my clients have also turned into friends seems to bear testimony to it!

www.cognacproperty.com

The house-plant that "tweets"

I'm not really a huge fan of Twitter but I know those who are. Having only 140 characters to communicate seems to limit 99% of posts to mundane issues that are of interest only to the poster and (if he's lucky) his immediate family or friends.

The other 1% seem to be celebrity stalkers where posters send off hopeful emails to twittering celebrities "Hi Britney, heard your album & loved it" (http://twitter.com/britneyspears) or "Best of luck with your match today Andy" (http://twitter.com/andy_murray)".

However, I'm also aware of a few things:

1. The same criticisms could be levelled at this blog. You're giving up your precious time to read about the fairly mundane things that make up my life. No posting from the basement while the bombs drop here.

2. I'm old and technologically incompetent.

3. My mobile phone is almost as old as I am and the only thing it does is make phone calls. I certainly don't use it for photos, videos, web surfing, GPS tracking or any of the other apps that have sprung up lately.

4. We're still only scratching the surface.

This last point is raised because I read of a couple of interesting Twitter accounts today. The first is a house plant that tweets about it's health (need water, low on nitrogen etc) and the second is a house that tweets (putting on heating, alarm system disabled, fridge door left open).

My mind isn't open enough nor big enough to see exactly where these could lead but I do know that life for my two young daughters is going to be very different.

It's fine them growing up fluent in two or three languages but they'll also need to be far more computer savvy than their old man if they're going to look after me in my dotage.

www.cognacproperty.com

Has Google got a new rival?

I've just been looking at two new search engines.

The first, launched by Microsoft, is http://www.bing.com/

Now, I like two things about this one - firstly it's easy to remember and named after one of my favourite TV characters and secondly it's clean and simple. The fact that http://www.cognacproperty.com/ comes up quickly on a host of different searches helps matters too.

The second is http://www.searchme.com/

This is more for multimedia sites but it's design is similar to i-tunes and is fun to use.

I'm not sure they will put too big a dent into Google's revenues but you never know....Google itself was once a new kid on the block and now it's possibly the best known brand in the world.

www.cognacproperty.com