Clé France

Hi Sharon, 

Thanks so much - and thank you for all your help in setting up our viewings. We're over the moon with the house and were very sorry to leave Brittany on Saturday!

Both of your agents on the ground were very helpful and friendly, the first showed us three houses that were definite 'possibles' but the house we eventually decided on was more suitable for us. Please pass on our thanks to them. 

Kind regards. 

Sue.

Sue has bought a house in France with Cle France this week during her viewing trip with us in the Cotes d'Armor department of the sunshine region of Brittany. We have arranged everything so far and will of course keep Sue fully informed of the buying process right through to completion day and beyond.

Hello Sharon,

We think we may have a property through the Notaire we had been in contact with as our offer has been accepted...  We also have a possible buyer for our flat so fingers crossed we may be moving before too long.

Thank you for your assistance in helping us to view properties in our price range - It was a bit mind boggling without some pointing in the right direction so it was very helpful to have you as a guide.

We will pass on your details if we come across anybody looking to buy in France as we were very happy with the service you offer, sorry not to have finally purchased through your company.

Kind regards

Vanessa and Boris.

At Cle France we do try and 'win them all' but you just can't and sometimes our clients buy elsewhere, this is fine and they can still use our partners for the best service and deals on Currency Exchange, Home & Health Insurance, Removals etc etc. as Vanessa and Boris did. They bought in the rural setting of the Manche department of Lower Normandy.

I love this property and the setting is just perfect, almost looks a bit Canadian in its environment and is certainly in an unspolit sector of the Correze department of the Limousin region.

If you have not done so already check out or regional information page on the Limousin region, and you will love the cool new weather app on the page which you can expand to full screen.

To really pick up a high quality property in this fantastic region I would choose the property below and make an offer - Beautiful quality property with attractive wooden construction, 4 bedrooms, 3 mezzanines, 150m2 of living space on a woodland plot of approx. 3000m². 

Solid wooden house newly built with top quality timber and with more than 150m² and interesting room volumes. Situated in a quiet location not overlooked but not far from a nice neighbourhood, the property is built on a beautiful parkland plot of more than 3000m².

Beautiful windows open to the outside and give a nice interior lighting, comfortable accommodation and well equipped modern kitchen, a large living room with a conservatory to enjoy the garden. The house is built on two levels with 4 bedrooms and 3 mezzanines to make sleeping a lot more people easier because everyone will want to visit! plus two bathrooms. A garage shed for cars and two garden sheds. A tastefully designed home. 

This house is environmentally friendly and very economical.

CXZ00655 is for sale for 199,280 euros FAI but I would think a reasonable offer would be considered so it is certainly worth giving us a call to book a viewing directly.

About the Limousin:

The department of Corrèze is located in south central France, Corrèze belongs to the Limousin region. Correze is the name river running through the department. The population is around 240,000 inhabitants and is split into three arrondissements (Tulle, Brive and Ussel), 38 cantons and 285 towns and villages. Lanscapes in this department are mountains, plateaus and valleys. The highest mountain is the Mont Bessou at 978m.

Correze has many pretty villages or towns. It has six villages belonging to the ’Prettiest villages of France’ category, so watch out for Collonges-la-Rouge, Curemonte, Saint-Robert, Ségur-le-Chateau, Treignac and Turenne.

Limousin is often described as one of the cheapest French regions in terms of property. It will depend of course on the location and your personal expectations but in general you get a lot for your money. Read More...

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

There is nothing nicer than arriving at you own holiday home rather than a rented Gite and this is the perfect time of year for viewing and buying your own holiday home in France, imagine planning your first of many happy holiday visits for this summer.

I would choose this one in the Cotes d'Armor department of Brittany as it is in a great location, quiet and peaceful but not isolated, lovely rural environment and a tourist type town nearby plus everything Brittany has to offer. AND a very reasonable price too...

This is PLM02998 for sale in Brittany with Cle France for only 69,600 euros FAI.

Just a perfect setting in the heart of Brittany, in a rural hamlet, we have this lovely stone built Cottage on around 500 sqm of garden.

Stone cottage in rural location with nice views yet on the outskirts of the thriving market village of Mael Carhaix. Much improved by the current owners, including a new septic tank fitted last year, a new shower room, new box room ideal as a home office/study. The property also has a telephone/internet connection and satellite TV.

Ground floor: Entrance hall, fitted kitchen, lounge with fireplace, box/office/study room, shower room, utility/toilet.

First floor: Landing and two double bedrooms.

Outside: 2 Garden sheds / box room attached to the property.

NOTE: New septic tank fitted in 2013 and electrics were re-wired in 2006.

Mael Carhaix is a thriving market village that boasts an array of shops, banks, bars, hairdressers, bakeries and a restaurant. It also has a lovely lake with a beach and Japanese water garden, horse riding and cycle paths; so lots to see and do in the area.

The department of Cotes d’Armor is the northern most department in the Region of Brittany, with the English Channel to the north, Ille-et-Vilaine to the east, Morbihan to the south and Finistère to the west it is a sunshine gem.

The picturesque Émeraude Coast looks north to the English Channel and is packed with charming seaside resorts and old fishing villages. Most of the towns of the interior were founded in the Middle Ages. The department’s southern half is crossed by the Noires Mountains that run west to east with rivers emptying to the south into the Bay of Biscay and to the north into the Channel.

Along the coast, fishing was once important but is now secondary to the cultivation of fruit, oats, potatoes and wheat and of course tourism.

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

A further consideration when buying a house in France is planning permission. What you do inside your own house is your own business and does not need planning permission. If the living area is being increased, for instance, as in a loft conversion, the authorities want to know so they may increase the rates but they do not always do this.

Here you fill in a relatively simple form and submit it to the Mairie, but they do not stop you doing it. Altering the exterior in any way requires full planning permission. If this is a fairly simple change then the applicant can complete the whole process himself, and since the forms and other requirements are fairly simple, it is easy to do and no cost is involved.

Once submitted it may be returned  with some changes requested or suggested, but if you have been sensible and in advance asked the local mayor for advice, then it will go through smoothly. Even if it does come back, when the amendments are made it will be quickly passed.

When it returns finally with the stamp of approval, usually within a few weeks, there is no cost involved. In contrast, obtaining planning permission in Britain is seen often as a nightmare by the average person who usually has to call in experts who are expensive.

It seems as though the planning departments are there in order to harass and harry applicants in every way and, finally, when permission is granted also to lumber the applicant with a big bill that adds to the cost of the project.

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.