French apartment

A snowHead

Hello

A snowHead

@Slightlybaldingginge, hello. Welcome to snowHeads

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

Welcome.

Lots of French apartments out there.

Serre Chevalier has some good deals.

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Hmm not sure what’s happened, I wrote a whole post but now all I can see is hello?!

Looking to buy an apartment in french alps as although we have only skied Switzerland and Austria so far, we cannot afford Swiss prices and father in law is french so hoping it might make the process easier?!

My daughters and I enjoy reds and will happily ski the blacks, the wife is very nervous as she broke her back a few years back but she likes to go hiking and cooks a bloomin good dinner!

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

@Slightlybaldingginge, maybe start a new post in the 'Chalets and Apartments' forum? You'll get loads of advice.

You'll need to Register first of course.

If buying, always buy above 2000m.

Protect against global warming for the next decade.

Try Tignes, La Plagne, or Val Thorens.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

The problem with buying that high is it takes a long time to get to anywhere else, plenty of resorts have gondola up to ski areas from lower down

After all it is free

Choose a high resort as suggested and enjoy the area rather than worry about ease of getting to other resorts Tignes or 3V plenty big enough to keep you busy
Over 2k metres will future proof your investment

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

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OP - The Forum platform software throws a wobbly if there are (a) any errors in your tags (e.g. {/URL] instead of '[/url]' because you pressed SHIFT by mistake) or (b) if there's a foreign character (like an 'é') in a URL address. The result is that the post goes blank. Take a look at your text and see if this is the case.

snow reports

Quite a few new build appartments in Montalbert La Plagne at the mo. https://www.eneo-immobilier.com/en/
We bought there as only a 10 min drive up from the valley, and now a hi speed Gondola up to 1970m best of both worlds.

mid range like this one https://www.eneo-immobilier.com/en/properties-sale/apartment-3-rooms-la-plagne-montalbert-462274.htm?visite_virtuelle=1

You know it makes sense.

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

@boredsurfin, 1/4 mill and nowhere to put a sofa!

A snowHead

A snowHead

Well, the person's real but it's just a made up name, see?

@robs1, At Fornelet then one lift up to Aime 2000
https://app.webcam-hd.com/webcam-station-la-plagne/webcam-montalbert-fornelet

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@johnE, Didn't say it was cheap... but they are selling, mainly to the French
Theres an old derelict barn for conversion in the centre of the village no parking or access road. €2 million.

Anyway, snowHeads is much more fun if you do.

You'll need to Register first of course.

I can’t see your wife being happy about buying at 2000+ meters, very little hiking in winter at that hight.
Remember it a 2 season purchase, so look at summer activity.

Then you can post your own questions or snow reports...

After all it is free

*Ski* the Net with snowHeads

OP: When you say that you can't afford Swiss prices, do you mean that the £/m² for a Swiss apartment is significantly higher than for the same apartment in France, all other things being equal? Or are you saying that the basic cost/person of skiing in Switzerland is higher? Or both?

I ask because it's always hard to normalise ski property prices, even in the same country, because a lot of the £/m² is dependent of factors such as the length of the ski season; what type of resort it is; age of the property; distance from lifts; quality of public transport links etc. A 'Premier' resort in any country is going to cost a lot more m² than a secondary or satellite resort.

And re. 'going lower': what most people mean is have you considered buying somewhere in the valley, nearer to other amenities, and then driving to ski resorts in that area? Come the summer, for example, you might prefer to be in a lower location, because other activities are on offer. So for example, if you're a keen cyclist, then you might decide that this is as important as access to skiing, and thus opt to be in a valley location that has a lot of summer cycling routes nearby. This might not apply to you, but it's a reasonable question.

snowHeads are a friendly bunch.

You don't even have to live in the valley and drive. Serre Chevalier has villages as 1200, 1350, 1400 and 1500m, all have lift access to the domain. All are great places to stay in summer too.

snow reports

As many people have said, it all depends what you intend to do with your apartment. We spent up to four months a year in ours, at most times of year. Late spring (with the flowers) and autumn (with glorious autumn colours) were amongst the nicest times to be there, but we just looked out at mountain scenery and a few local chalets which were occupied all year round. Ski resorts are mostly closed at those times and we'd NOT have wanted, "between seasons" to be located either in a high mountain resort, surrounded by shuttered apartments and closed shops OR down in a valley full of traffic fumes, needing a car ride to get out into the country. The valleys can also be very miserable during high-pressure times in winter, cold (temperature inversions) and polluted at times when the mountainside can be up above the cloud and smog. But we did have a piste alongside the apartments, so access to the slopes, even just for a couple of hours out when the weather was less than conducive, was easy. We could ski just out of the door, or go for a mountain or forest walk just out of the door (the apartment was at 1550m). There are advantages (and snags) to all locations - they need careful thought and it's important to visit, if you can, outside the main tourist seasons.

People who have visited a high ski resort out of season probably have little idea of just how dismal they can be.

You know it makes sense.

I'd agree with @pam w about visiting any prospective locations in the 'low' seasons (spring and autumn). Perhaps talk to the local Tourist Office about the summer season (defined pretty much by the lift opening/closing dates) and any activities and amenities. Some resorts are putting a lot of effort into expanding summer activities, others not so much, if at all.

There are a lot of threads on buying with the usual generic recommendations and a lot of good advice. We all tend to talk about the areas in which we've bought our places, naturally. This is helpful but I'd be careful - we all buy for a different mix of reasons. What I would advise is not to go into any immobiliers randomly or too soon in the process. Do your research and think about why and where, and perhaps do one or two tours of candidate areas (in low season). Only once you've narrowed the targets down a bit should you go into an estate agent. You'll then have a much better set of requirements to give them. And certainly, do not go through a UK agency: if a French person wanted to buy in the UK would you recommend they go through a French immobilier?

Otherwise you'll just go on seeing the one name:

We bought in Tignes Val Claret last year (we were actually in the market for 18 months before buying because we knew exactly what we wanted, so we waited for exactly the right property to come up, it was the only one we viewed in person), we wanted to future proof our investment as much as possible. Whilst other people may have different thoughts and feelings on that matter it is the right choice for us and that's all I care about.

We've visited high resorts out of season and whilst they can be a bit rough and ready around the edges I'm not really bothered, if i'm there out of season all I care about is that there aren't so many people about. We can go hiking and there aren't loads of people everywhere - perfect. We have a busy BnB and it suits me to have time away from people, things and distractions- so I love it.

Ultimately you need to know what you want, why you want it, where you want it and how much you're prepared to get it - figure all that out and you'll be alright.

A snowHead

And - an added complication - if renting your place out is on the agenda, think about what renters will want, and how your place will fare - especially out of the key holiday periods. Most of the time, in most of the Alps, there is an excess supply of accommodation. The costs - both financial and hassle - of renting are considerable, and the people who are best at it put in a lot of effort.

A snowHead

@pam w,

Help!!

French apartment

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