French Estate Agent launches niche concept to combat property downturn

Oct. 5, 2011 - PRLog -- Gites à la française, a French estate agent, has created a niche in the vast French property market. It concentrates on selling property which has an income-producing capacity: gites or flats  which can be instantly let as holiday homes. The concept is not new, but by specializing in this field the agency highlights the difficulty todays' buyers have with funding.

Simon Oliver, the agency's MD explains: "In the past, UK buyers in France could afford to buy up old property in need of renovation, spend 6 months to a year doing up the place and creating a couple of gites or a B&B, before finally profiting from their investment two or three years down the line. This is no longer attractive: todays’ buyers want an instant income stream as soon as the the deal is closed."

What the agency does is to seek out interesting properties in those parts of France that overseas buyers tend to like - Dordogne, Gascony, Languedoc - and that have gites or a B&B structure already in place. In fact, these are not just real estate but rather businesses, going concerns that have a successful track record over a number of years.

"A typical property", Mr Oliver adds, "is a small estate with land, a main house and one or two income-producing gites. The gites will produce a  steady income - between €20k and €50k per annum - which means that most properties have a ROI of around 7-10%."
Not a bad investment these days when  our world money markets are plummeting.

But that's not all: as most of the vendors are in their sixties and heading into retirement, there is often scope for radical improvement in the existing set-up. More imaginative marketing can extend the letting season by up to 10 weeks,  hard work and energy could transform attic space or disused outhouses into furnished accommodation.

< b >To summarize:
*  Specialization - Gites à la française  specializes in gite properties - they know what they are talking about
*  Location - their properties are in the most prized parts of France
*  On the ground - the agency is based in SW France. They know the area and they speak French and English
*  Timely - with stock markets crashing and property unstable, income-producing investments are the answer< /b >

The English-language website of Gites à la française is http://www.gitesforsalefrance.com. They can be reached by email at info@gitesforsalefrance.com or on +33 675 665 518

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English-speaking Real Estate agent based in SW France specialized in the sale of gite complexes, B&Bs and tourist accommodation.