La Vie Bohème

This is a great article by Madelyn Byrne about buying a home in Paris - I don't know the writer but it's spot on. I'd be rather less polite than they were about what a great investment the 17th arrond. is as featured in the recent NYTimes article though.
Parts of the 17th that are "sought after", as real estate agents would say, but there are whole swathes of it that are not so cherished, even though they have their own charm. These areas are not for buy-to-let investors because parts of the 17th are out on a limb and a bit rough round the edges if you are hoping to rent the newly purchased apartment to a tourist or business person.

Mainly the article is great because it's so free of the claptrap I read on a regular basis ("The prices are going up by 20% - forever!). The market has cooled since the craziness of Summer 2005 before the Olympics - property is not shifting so fast right now but that's great because it gives more time to weigh up the pros and cons instead of being backed into a corner by owners or agents saying the apartment will be taken tomorrow. Sometimes really nice places do go after only a day or too and plenty change hands privately without ever making it into an real estate agency- these are usually the ones I'm after for my clients.

I especially like their counsel to buy in areas which will hold their value, rather than seeking out the petit peu sketchy neighbourhoods: sticking to the central (ok, expensive) districts can pay off long term. I have to say though that this bit was rather alarmist and did remind me of the Parisians that just never, ever venture to the 18/19/20th arrond's, mainly because they'd be terrified if they saw a black person who wasn't sweeping the street or serving in a shop:

"the neighbourhood was marginal, many tenants refused to pay the rent and could not be evicted due to protective rental laws. Finally, in the 1970’s Philippe’s father, Pierre, made an appointment with the building manager and drove from Normandy to visit the building. Pierre is an extremely old fashioned and conservative person; he still talks about his shock when he met the manager, who wore a floor length fur coat made of wolf and looked like a pimp. The whole situation was fishy with illegal tenants, under-the-table-payments and Pierre realized they were never going to turn it around. They sold the building for a pittance."

What a ghaaaastly experience!

It's true that in the 8th arrond. for example, there may be less room for appreciation and you might not get that extra bedroom but you can rent to a businessman for a whacking great rent. Plus, he or she will barely use the apartment and it'll be returned to you almost pristine because he or she spent most of their time shuttling home to see their family and working or eating in restaurants when they were in Paris.

In "up-coming areas" buildings tend to be less owner-occupied and therefore have had minimal investment over the years in their upkeep, (Parisian Landlords are not known for their generosity to tenants). You might find out you have a "musician" next door (playing the same three chords from when he gets up at 2pm each day until night time when his mates come over) which will annoy tenants if you are renting and drive you nuts when you come to Paris for some R&R. I'm all for La Vie Bohème but not everyone finds the crumbling courtyard and overgrown cobblestones so attractive.

Comments

[We Buy Apartment Buildings]

If you are selling an apartment building/complex of 200 units or more in the U.S., we may be interested in buying.

www.SeriousApartmentBuyers.com