ABOUT US

We are a full service estate agency offering chalets, apartments, businesses and land for sale in the French Alps.

Our fully qualified English and French staff can help you with every stage of your property purchase - from your initial enquiry to your completion date. We also help with any questions you may have about your new property once you have moved in.

Our expert knowledge of the area and the properties available leaves us well placed to steer you towards the ideal property for your needs - whether it be a studio for occasional personal use or a 9 bedroom chalet to be run as a business.

Unlike other agencies that don't care if the property/person match is correct as long as they make a sale, we strive hard to match person to property in every single case.

Why buy property from us?

1. We are the largest and most experienced estate agency operating in and around the Portes du Soleil region. As well as mountain properties, we also have a number of properties in the Lake Geneva region.

2. We have the largest selection of property in the region at the best prices.

3. You don't need to deal with anyone other than us. If you see a property elsewhere (in a shop window or on the internet), we can negotiate for that property on your behalf.

4. As owners of successful holiday businesses in the area, our English staff are well placed to give you realistic advice about property rentals and setting up a business in France.

5. We are a fully licensed French agency. That means that you can deal with just one person from initial enquiry to completion. Other so called "agencies" operating in the area don't have the necessary qualifications and simply refer you to estate agents when you arrive. This quickly becomes confusing with regards to who you deal with etc.

Most importantly, our service is second to none. Look at what we can offer compared to some of the other estate agencies and the glut of unqualified "referral agencies" which have recently sprung up in the area.

OUR SERVICE At SkiChalet Property

we pride ourselves on being the only business in the area who can offer a real "ONE STOP SHOP" when it comes to purchasing property. Our expertise in the property sales business, as well as our proven expertise in the holiday industry ensures that we can offer the following:

- " Full and unbiased advice about which property best suits your needs as a potential buyer.

- " Full and accurate information about potential returns from your new property. Remember, we have many years experience of running both self catered and catered properties, so we know what we are talking about.

- " If you purchase a property, we can talk about renting it on your behalf, or if you are planning to run a catered chalet business, we can take bookings for you - a good way to get the business up & running fast.

- " If work needs doing to the property, we can offer you a full interior/exterior renovation service, and a full interior design service. Even if you just need pointing in the right direction for buying good quality affordable furnishings we can help. We won't just refer you to the local village furniture shop that charges a fortune and pays a commission to the agent!

- " If you see a property elsewhere (either in a shop window or on the internet) we can negotiate for it on your behalf. Our standing in the region means that we can often negotiate discounts that other agent's can't.

- " Of course we also take care of all the more mundane aspects of buying a property such as dealing with the Notaire on your behalf, making sure the sale goes smoothly, and helping you get your new property up and running.

What to look out for when buying a property

It can be a bit of a minefield when you are looking for a property. You see things on the internet and don't know whether you are dealing with an agent, the buyer or an intermediary of some description.

Rest assured that if you are reading this then you are dealing DIRECTLY with the selling agent. There are no shady "middle men" operating in our organisation.

When choosing who you buy a property from, we strongly recommend that you ask the following:

Are you dealing with an estate agent directly?

If the answer it "NO" then walk away! There are lots of web based UK businesses who operate in quite a grey area and in the end simply end up referring you to an agent. We have seen many examples of sales falling through on dream homes because the buyer put too much faith in the referral agency or one of their representatives, who in the end can't do anything to assist in the sale other than give the benefit of their wisdom.

Although UK based, these agencies often employ people to accompany you to the agency or in most cases agencies. They are there to give advice on the area, and potential returns from a property. Before taking their advice, ask about their credentials. How long have they lived in an area, how long have they run businesses in the area? Just because someone has lived in a village for a year doesn't mean they know anything about running properties other than their own chalet (which of course may not be relevant to what you want to do).

When you deal with us, you deal with only us! When you are given advice from us, you are given advice from people who have successfully rented and managed a huge array of property from small studios to large self catered five bedroom chalets; from catered chalets to hotels. In some cases, we are actually managing some of the property for sale so we don't even have to give you advice, we can give you facts!

THE PURCHASING PROCESS

5 stages to completion

To a foreigner with no experience of buying abroad, the French system can sometimes seem quite daunting. Fear not, we will assist you through every step of the purchase process.

The stages involved in buying a property in France can be summarised as follows:

1. Find your ideal property, and put in an offer which the seller accepts.
2. Choose a Notaire.
3. Sign the Compromis du Vente, or pre sales agreement.
4. Arrange your mortgage.
5. Sign the L'Acte Authentique de Vente or deed of sale.

Pre sales & after sales costs

In order to budget accurately for your dream French property, you must take into account the following costs:

" Where the property is more than five years old, the notaire's fees, stamp duty and registration fees will amount to approximately 6.5% of the purchase price. These are payable in addition to the purchase price.

" For newly built properties, French V.A.T. - T.V.A. at the rate of 19.6% is payable and is usually included in the price " In addition, notaire's fees and taxes of approximately 2% to 3% of the purchase price are payable.

" If a loan is secured on the French property additional notaire's fees will be payable.