It’s Getting Expensive, Here

Posted in France, rant, VendeeTagged ,

Look what landed in my mailbox, yesterday. A guy in a fancy car personally dropped off this thick volume of real estate listings. A look at the enclosed card told me he drove from Nantes, a good hour away, to make the drop.

Your first thought is likely, what was the stylist thinking with that possibly naugahyde, definitely way-too-diamond-tuck sofa? Neither nauga nor Chesterfield should ever be put through that, then slammed against those tasteful gray-green walls and actual trees, just to emphasize the point that sickly chartreuse does not make it.

But the real question is, why did a high-end realtor drive so far? the answer, of course, is that if he sells one house down here, the drive will be worth it.

I bought here because the location and weather were decent and the price was rock-bottom. At the time, even after I had signed all the papers, the realtor mentioned that prices here were low, even compared to adjacent areas, and were sure to go up. Yeah right, I thought, I signed the papers. You can stop now.

But yeah, he was right. Prices were stable, then rose slowly. Then Paris became unaffordable with Bordeaux and Lyon not far behind. Ordinary mortals moved to close-in suburbs. That pushed up prices farther out. Then covid hit and finally, finally, the French caved in and allowed telecommuting. Prices are now going up all over the place. All these little villages with communal land are chopping it up and selling it in tiny parcels as fast as they can — and these days it’s pretty fast.

Mr. Realtor is hoping for my house because I fixed it up. Even at today’s prices I’d probably just break even. So no, it’s not for sale. And honestly, I think being able to sell without taking a loss is good for me, but on the whole, not so good.

I bought into an agricultural area. In the several years that I have been here I have seen the housing subdivisions grow along with the junky roadside businesses. The gravel easement outside my wall just became a sidewalk, a fancy one, with exposed aggregate, and it is well-traveled. I now live in a suburb.

The villages will soon run out of communal land to subdivide. That will put pressure on politicians to change zoning laws, to allow farmers to subdivide and sell their farms. All that talk about buying locally-grown produce, fields being good for the environment? That talk will go away. Folks will rail against Bolsonaro burning down the Amazon rain forest and never link his actions to their own habit of building over rich agricultural land. And the economic hazards of depending on outsiders to grow our food, the way we now depend on Russia for gas and China for nearly everything else? They will not come up for discussion.

The terrain is flat here, thus easy to develop. Easy money. Climate change projections show the sea level rising to almost across the street from me, but that’s a couple decades down the road. No developer plans to stay here that long.

Wind turbines are our only hope. At least I think so, as they need open land to work. Buildings screw up the wind patterns. Say what you like about the turbines being too heavily subsidized; I’ll probably agree with you. But the wind developers will fight against the land developers and they have the money to do so effectively.

This is a bit of an anxiety rant, I know, but I think there is good reason to be anxious.

That’s enough. No photo of Jacques this time, but he left me this, which I will now share with you.

And here are my Valentine’s Day roses, a few of them, which I am spreading all over the house, definitely not sharing. Thank you to the lovely man who sent them.

23 thoughts on “It’s Getting Expensive, Here”

  1. Not really a welcome trend, is it? We have been watching prices escalate in our sleepy little corner of Brittany, where 20 years ago they were selling newly zoned building land (previously a pony’s pasture) for 33 € a square metre!!! Prior to that, my neighbours were able to buy up a field dedicated to cauliflowers (non-building zone) for just 80 cents a square metre. Those were the days!

    Like

    1. Well, send folks here. I think the lotissements are still going for 30 euros a meter. Thus the low quality of much of what is being built.

      The thing is, kids without affluent parents — nearly all the kids around here — are still being priced out. The farmers are plenty angry. They earn almost nothing, while property and inheritance taxes are climbing. But while the French talk a good game about quality of life, heritage and all, immediate financial gain still wins out. I’m about to start another rant, so I’ll stop there. But I do wish more folks understood that wealth includes things in addition to money.

      Liked by 1 person

  2. Oh MY! That sofa deserves a prize. Mercure was one of the companies we used when searching. As things go they’re quite stylish, so this monstrosity is out of character.
    From what I’ve seen of your house, I think you’d have a very hard time matching it. There are lots of things that look great on paper in the French market, but the reality is usually very different.

    Like

    1. Thank you. The guy didn’t get inside the gate, though clearly he wanted to, so he doesn’t know. But yes, by now the house is what you would hope to find, if you were looking for a place like this. And when the front garden is done — maybe I should do a “progress” post — the grounds will be pretty nice, too. But like you guys, I’ve done the hard work. Now I’m going to enjoy it.

      Liked by 1 person

  3. I have seen prices skyrocket around here, too. Still a tenth of Parisian levels. We aren’t on a TGV line to Paris, so it will never be very expensive.
    I totally agree with you about development. The centre villes are dying, while big box malls go up on the outskirts of towns. Not a good bet, because Amazon is eating their lunches. Locals aren’t interested in renovating–they want new houses, with yards. Like in America. So I don’t think sprawl is good economically, and it certainly isn’t good environmentally.

    Like

    1. You have actual malls? We have supermarkets with shops that don’t really compete with Amazon. So, Orange, a pharmacy, a dry cleaner, things like that. Still, they are shops that used to be in the center of town. And while those shops are open all day, the downtown shops still take a two or even four-hour lunch. Parking is easy at the market, difficult in town, especially if you want to cruise past to see if the shop is open and oopsie, the parking is behind you. We have school buses, but no regular ones, even though the obvious route is pretty easy to define.

      I often wonder about that house-with-yard thing. My lotissement neighbors put gravel in front of their houses, to facilitate parking. No lawn. Out back is a terrace and maybe grass or something for the kids to play on. I never hear kids playing — too far from the wifi? — but that may be the idea. Trees? Rarely. And honestly, those houses are sad, nothing like American houses. I wonder how many of those people would be interested in row houses or low-rise apartments, if they were provided with roof gardens or big terraces? Couples and people with toddlers or just one kid might be happier with that, especially if there were a creche or a maternelle within walking distance. Plus you could more easily support public transport, cafes, that kind of thing.

      Like

  4. Back when tree trunks had far fewer rings, the AJF and I would dabble in real estate as we moved about on career changes and transfers. Very tiny stuff but it was always good to us and fun, too. We learned that real estate (at least back then) was like microwaved burritos with scalding hot spots and freezing cold areas all in the same tortilla, uh, market. As you pointed out, one makes one’s money at the time of purchase by choosing wisely. You probably keep at least mildly abreast of the California residential real estate scene which has moved from simply bizarre to risible. A lack of inventory, super low mortgage rates, the pandemic impacts and such have turned house buying into a ferocious contact sport. I suspect there will be a lot of buyers remorse when things settle again, and they always do, albeit at perhaps a new normal. I saw that our very humble domicile appreciated 24% in the last 8 months alone. Thinking we could grab the money and run, I asked the AJF if she perhaps had one more move in her. Her response, in Japanese, was roughly, “Over my dead body.” I took that for a “no.” Oh yeah, that sofa has got to go.

    Like

    1. So you’re in your forever home. I hope you like it. Seems pretty nice.

      California is crazy. I got a good price for my house when I sold it. Three years later it was resold for $300,000 more than they paid. It’s not like that here, yet. Prices have risen by a steady 10% for three or four years, though. When you figure that’s not 40% in four years, it’s more, percentages compounding as they do, that’s still quite a lot. We started at such a low base and the cities are still so much more expensive that I can’t imagine a lot of buyer’s remorse — not based on initial purchase price, anyway. More likely those newbuilds, the ones that look like the client was first little piggy, will start to show some age and then fall apart. Those buyers will be sorry. Or not. Maybe we’ll see a round of McMansioning. Wouldn’t that be fun?

      In terms of me moving, Nonononono. This house is stronger than the third little piggy’s and twice as nice. I’m staying put!

      Liked by 1 person

      1. “Forever home” sounds scary. I look around and think “so this is where we’ll croak?” and then I think “you gotta be kidding me.” Not Rancho Cucaracha. But we don’t have an alternate plan just yet so maybe we will exit here feet first. I guess in the larger scheme of things it really doesn’t much matter; for us, home has always been wherever we are together. On the other hand maybe we’ll decide to do one move, blow the kids and g-kids’ inheritances and go out in glory or at least go out in something more satisfying than the current abode.

        Like

        1. Yeah, Rancho Cucamonga. You guys are living proof that nice people live there, but still. Blow some of that inheritance on a vacation over here. For all my whining, it’s pretty nice.

          Liked by 1 person

          2. Travel is grim and so are things in Ukraine. And for weather, at the moment you’re better off there. But regulations are relaxing. Putin may, too. All in good time.

            Liked by 1 person

  5. Yeah, Rancho Cucamonga: I haven’t wanted to say anything. After all, you guys are living proof that nice people live there. If we weren’t about to have a nasty war nearby, I’d suggest Europe. It’s pleasant here, for the most part, and for all my whining it’s still cheap compared to California. And the rats stay in the cities.

    Liked by 1 person

  6. We always think we are gong to stay in whatever house it is for ever…until we see something else. Still, given Leo’s health I think we might actually be staying put in this one.
    I remember Mercure’s agency telling us there was no point in advertising our last place with them, because none of their sophisticated clients would be coming out to the wilds. Even then the lotissements were burgeoning outside the village centres…horrible rabbit hutches and no place in which to bring up a child.
    You like your house, you are making it beautiful….just cut out the view of suburbia and there you are….

    Like

    1. Trees, many trees. I’ll say it’s good for the environment but really, I just don’t want to look at the neighbors.

      I bet your place is not in the wilds any more. Covid and ridiculous city prices have changed everything.

      Liked by 1 person

      1. And while the trees grow, set up a trellis on top of the wall and plant fast growing climbers.
        Talking to a friend trying to sell in our old area…you are right, but lousy internet is an obstacle.

        Like

        1. Anyone wanting to buy there might want to take advantage of the relatively low prices. I was skeptical of the promise to install fiber optic cable to every home, especially annoying because they have blocked our main road for months now to install cable that would bypass us. But today I passed a sign that said it was, in fact, in our commune. Surely your old neighborhood is not far behind.

          Liked by 1 person

          1. Light years, from what she said. Last time she spoke to the maire he sniffed that it was only foreigners and Parisians who wanted it….damn fool. I suppose it will get there eventually but it is a real drawback at the moment.

            Like

          2. I love it. Do you remember when French people made fun of folks who went to the gym, then suddenly everyone was working out? Or they argued for the superiority of the minitel, then suddenly they all had gmail addresses? One year only Americans wanted wifi in hotels, the next it was everywhere and free, “of course.” Wait and see how he changes when the promised fiber optic cable comes to his commune. I bet he’ll take credit!

            Liked by 1 person

          3. But of course!
            Mention of the minitel takes me back…we were all issued with one….and then there were rumpuses as people spent their time on the minitel rose with the resulting huge telephone bills.

            Liked by 1 person

Comments are closed.