International Real Estate for Sale

French chateau for sale - Buying a castle in France

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Chateau en Centre

Chateaus of France

The french architecture of all of the castles or chateaux ever built is nothing short of spectacular. Clearly the original fortified castles, the 'château-forts,' in France were built in commanding positions on hill tops above river valleys to defend a region. The communities residing at those chateaux-forts were relatively small and referred to by the name 'Feudal' being an early form of political system around strong leadership that owned the land and where vassals and peasants would work for the community in exchange for certain privileges. This type of society was apparent during the period 900AD to around 1500. To learn more about this community system you can best start at Wikipedia

French Castles built in this period were functional and very large to accommodate and shelter entire local communities also in case of an outside attack. Meters thick walls, small windows, single entrance via drawbridge in a position overlooking the small village at the foot of the valley.
Many of the fortified castles can be found in Dordogne and were built prior and during the 'hunded years wars, but then these huge fortified properties were built literally everywhere of strategic importance in all corners of France.
Some of the medieval chateaux are still standing and a few have been privately restored, at great expense, to provide contemporary and luxury accommodation.
After 1600 and following dozens of battles fought in many french regions during the middle ages, where fortified castles clearly served their purpose, Castles started to be built to show splendour and wealth.
Of course many Chateaus or Palaces like Versailles, Fontainebleau, and many  others are well known and definitely worth visiting. Some of the most royal châteaux can be found in the Loire Valley (Valley of Kings) and mostly built between 1550 and 1700.

The larger french properties

Many of the post Middle Ages built chateaux can also be described as manor homes, usually being the largest house in a village or community, so many of the Manor homes found in the 36,500 odd communities in France could also be qualified as a Chateau and vice versa.

Typically we see around 1,000 chateau for sale at anyone time and several thousand Manor homes. because of their size and associated cost, of maintenance or re-building these larger homes, the ownership turnover of Chateaux and Manoirs is much smaller and we have seen many of these homes having been on the market for a long time.

Chateau and Manor energy consumption

We have seen a lot of energy efficiency improvement, i.e heating these larger homes. Thick walls by their functionality keep the warmth out in summers and the heat inside in winters but much still can be done to make many of these homes much more energy efficient. As most of these properties boast over 1000m2 of living space such improvements will come at greater expense, yet there are many manor homes and chateaux that have benefitted from major improvements to energy and which can be found at rather attractive price offers.

There are many interesting web pages discussing the history of Castles and Manors in the different parts of France and anyone attracted to this type of property should definitely  research some of these sites online. You may start by looking here to find  famous historical Castle buildings and develop an understanding of the various regions for their quality of life, climate and cultures.

Buying a french castle and guidance

Moulin.nl works with a number of quality estate agents and for prospective french Chateau or Manor owners we may also suggest transparant advice and guidance in their journey to acquire a new Chateau or Manoir residence.

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Advertise 'FOR SALE BY OWNER'

The 'For Sale By Owner' (FSBO) option to advertise is typically executed via a preferred Property Portal website and is usually a pure online activity in exchange for a payment that can vary anywhere from around €100 per annum to €3,000 for a fully serviced listing and marketing campaign. But let Moulin.nl surprise you!

Using a listing agent can be relatively costly and also varies from country to country. In countries where it is more common to appoint an estate agent with an exclusive sales mandate, the commissions are usually lower and typically between 1% and 2% ex VAT.


In many countries though, like Spain and France for example, residential homes are usually sold by way of a non-exclusive mandate where commissions will be anywhere from 3%-5% for higher priced properties and even up to 10% for properties with a list price of under 100,000. Property owners often extend non-exclusive mandates to be listed with a few regional and also more internationally oriented agents or portals which can often lead to a portal showing the same property at different prices and sometimes even different locations.

The 3 options that residential property owners have for selling their home are:

  1. Appoint a local professional Real Estate agent to list and market the House
  2. For Sale by Owner (known as FSBO)
  3. Appoint an estate Agent and do a FSBO 'Do it Yourself' with your option to forward all leads to the estate agent, who can then handle follow up

Moulin.nl has been active since 2003 in a number of niche markets like Mills, Chateaux, Manor homes, Farmhouses etc. and offers the FSBO option with a very competitive price and listing solution. Properties can be listed on our expanding Portal with descriptions in the 6 primary languages English, French, German, Spanish, Italian and Dutch. All property details are always and automatically shown in all these languages.

Key Benefits of FSBO

  • A real estate transaction by the owner (FSBO) can save the seller many thousands in commission fees. 
  • In most instances the owner him- or herself knows the property best.
  • Doing the advterising of your property yourself often saves time because the communication with a potential buyer is instant, provided the owner is aware of the security risks dealing with online applicants and does a proper check on them.
  • Owner obviously always has the option to send leads generated by the Moulin Real Estate portal to an appointed local estate agent that protects the interest of the seller.

Key Benefits of appointing an estate agent

  • Market and negotiating experience
  • They filter to only approved and serious buyers

What asking price is realistic?

Do you need a valuation for your property from a surveyor or well trained and educated professional property agent? Most of the time this is not necessary. You know what your house is like and what it really offers in terms of quality and status. You will know whether your property has more to offer than the average home for sale in a similar neighborhood and of similar size. Scanning the web therefor gives you a pretty good idea at which price level the property can be pitched. Driving through various neighborhoods to do some research can help a lot to determine a best offer price for your home and after scanning the internet again. In slow or fast markets, a different strategy will apply and you can find a lot of good information on the internet how to approach your pricing strategy depending on your time window for the execution of a successful sale. 

FSBO? Show a "For Sale" sign with phone number or website address. 

The "For Sale" sign outside the property can be an important part of your strategy. If the property is in a secure zone or location showing a 'For Sale' sign can speed up the time to realize a sale. Owners of larger properties should be aware that any public information available on the internet, such as an aerial view image, an address or any visible sign will lower the security status of the property to a certain extend. A lovely well-maintained property in a good location will always find a buyer even if no exact address is provided at first. Once the request comes in the seller can start the vetting process and eliminate early potential tourism

Where to list your property as FSBO

Several popular websites let borrowers search for homes. It is often recommended to put your FSBO home on as many websites as possible, including some which are for free. This strategy can be very counterproductive as we have found over many years of Internet advertising. Especially niche properties, such as typically shown on the Moulin.nl websites, will be researched in all the places where they are found on the web, and if something isn't quite right that property becomes a 'no go'.

Serious buyers will spend a lot of time researching and therefore you will do better starting with a listing that can satisfy your goal and also to test out. The Moulin.nl offer should not disappoint in this respect and you can start right now by clicking one of the links on this page.

Contracts and Negotiations

If you choose to do this yourself, it is easier than you might think. A buyer has the right to choose the notary or he/she can choose someone you know. It is up to them and it will take as long as is typical in a certain region or country. If you are really happy with a realistic asking price the negotiation should be simple. You may wish to markup the price just a little to give a buyer some room for success, but that also depends on the conditions of the property market at that time.

Make sure your house is immaculate

Prepare you house to be in a clean and generally repaired condition and be ready for quick visit requests. Little paint jobs can make a big difference as well as less and easy positioned furniture and other articles in the various rooms. Remove any non-relevant items before taking a picture such as vacuum cleaner in the room or a cleaning cloth on a table.

Take time to photograph every aspect of your property, both interior and exterior, and upload the best photos to the website listing. Make more than one digital image of every aspect and choose the one with the best quality and lighting. Quick photo jobs are often counter-productive.

Buyers like to feel free when visiting a house to buy. Make them feel at home with a few flowers or plants here and there and a fresh smell throughout. Then give them space to wonder around and talk freely without your presence.

Property Search Services from €1.5M

Please let us help and advise you to find the perfect house at the right price in the right location.

Are you looking for a new home as permanent residence , holiday home or business venture?

If you are interested in this service for high end buyers please visit the property search instruction form on our secure subdomain.

CLICK HERE FOR A 'NO OBLIGATION' SEARCH INSTRUCTION

 

 

Estate Agents Advertising

Immoulins offers a multi-lingual service for estate agents with and without own websites to advertise any number of listed properties. Pricing is very competitive up from minimum 20 to 500 or more live properties listed. Special pricing for larger portfolio's. Automatic presentation on moulin.nl/immoulin.com and other immoulin owned domain names subject to type and location of the listed property. Strong international search engine penetration reaching the expatriate community.

Our Generals Terms & Conditions

Immoulin is well known for quality (character) property in the medium to higher price ranges.

If you are interested please contact for a competitive quote and we will get back to you very shortly.

CLICK HERE TO INQUIRE

 

Regions in the northern half of France - Google Maps

Hauts-de-France

For sale Nord-Pas-de-Calais
59 Nord
62 Pas-de-Calais

For sale Picardie
02 Aisne
60 Oise
80 Somme

Normandy
14 Calvados
27 Eure
50 Manche
61 Orne
76 Seine-Maritime

Île- de-France
75 Paris
77 Seine-et-Marne
78 Yvelines
91 Essonne
92 Hauts-de-Seine
93 Seine-Saint-Denis
94 Val-de-Marne
95 Val-d'Oise

For sale Centre Loire valley
18 Cher
28 Eure-et-Loir
36 Indre
37 Indre-et-Loire
41 Loir-et-Cher
45 Loiret

For sale Brittany
22 Côtes-d'Armor
29 Finistère
35 Ille-et-Vilaine
56 Morbihan

For sale Pays de la Loire
44 Loire-Atlantique
49 Maine-et-Loire
53 Mayenne
72 Sarthe
85 Vendée

Champagne
08 Ardennes
10 Aube
51 Marne
52 Haute Marne

For sale Burgundy
21 Côte-d'Or
58 Nièvre
71 Saône-et-loire
89 Yonne

 

Grand Est

Alsace
67 Bas Rhin
68 Haut-Rhin

For sale Franche-Comté 
25 Doubs
39 Jura
70 Haute Saône
90 Territoire de Belfort

Lorraine
54 Meurthe-et-Moselle
55 Meuse
57 Moselle
88 Vosges 

France MAP Départements

Regions in the southern half of France - Google Maps

Nouvelle Aquitaine
24 Dordogne
33 Gironde
40 Landes
47 Lot-et-Garonne
64 Pyrénées-Atlantiques

Poitou-Charentes
16 Charente
17 Charente-Maritime
79 Deux-Sèvres
86 Vienne

Limousin
19 Corrèze
23 Creuse
87 Haute-Vienne

Occitaine

For sale Languedoc Roussillon
11 Aude
30 Gard
34 Hérault
48 Lozère
66 Pyrénées-Orientales

 

Midi-Pyrénées
09 Ariège
12 Aveyron
31 Haute-Garonne
32 Gers
46 Lot
65 Hautes-Pyrénées
81 Tarn
82 Tarn-et-Garonne

For sale Auvergne
03 Allier
15 Cantal
43 Haute-Loire
63 Puy-de-Dôme

For sale Rhône-Alpes
01 Ain
07 Ardèche
26 Drôme
38 Isère
42 Loire
69 Rhône
73 Savoie
74 Haute-Savoie

 

Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

For sale Provence-Alpes
04 Alpes-de-Haute-Provence
05 Hautes-Alpes
13 Bouches-du-Rhône
84 Vaucluse

French Riviera
06 Alpes-Maritimes
83 Var

 


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