What's your "must haves" in the Alps?

Ive been a J2Skier for three years and now I'm set on buying property in the French Alps but as with buying at home, you can't have everything...what's a must have?

Small in your favourite resort/big but a way off?
Walk to the lifts or drive?
Big enough for wife and kids, or must it accommodate a second family?
Do needs change as small kids become teens?

My ideal place is a 3 bed in Megeve, but at €660,000...I think not.


I can get a studio in Rochebrune or a 3 bed in St Gervais - but what are the trade offs?

I want to host friends, but is the reality that most times you're on your own? Etc.

Cheers all,

TP

You'll not need advice when you find the right one, you'll just know :)

Cheers, but I've got to research somehow!

I've done catered ski drive holidays for the past two years, going back to sorting everything out myself will be a challenge of itself.

My brother owns his own chalet in morzine. He bought it about 5 years ago and ha never looked back. He chose morzine as it was close to geneva airport so short trips are feasible and he resort is varied. Th other reason he chose morzine is that it is also somewhere to go during the summer. With a family it was important o keep options open, morzine and surrounding area is great or mountain biking, walking, rafting and much more in the summer.

It was never in he plan, but he also rents it out now

Depend what's you want, but not necessarily all about the winter

Do you know what he chose the particular property for? Size, proximity to lifts etc?

Facilities - jacuzzi and yes lifts and town

Location every time.
Find your favourite resort. We have just bought in samoens ready June 14. It's only at 700m but we love the village, access from geneva and fast link to skiing at 1600 m. Can use both summer and winter. Once we decided on samoens we worked out budget and started looking. Whole process takes time. Get a good English speaking solicitor and good luck. Go for it

Well, we bought in Switzerland 10 years ago, when everyone else was buying summer places in Spain and Florida. It was a decision we never regretted. Obviously everyone is going to have individual preferences, but here are some tips.

Overall, as the previous post said, probably the easiest way is to narrow down to one or two locations ASAP and focus on them. For us the process was 1. Somewhere French-speaking, 2. Somewhere we'd actually skied 3. Selected three specific locations we could visit over 2-3 days and went over a long Weekend. 4. Back to the UK to consider all the issues and lined up the funds 5. Chose 2 final locations and re-visited 6. Viewed four properties and decided and chose one 7. signed and got the keys within 2-1/2 hours! 8. Followed-up with Notaire on payment and some more legal signings.

Some specific thoughts:

£/m2 - Pricing in the Alps is usually on the basis of CHF or € per Square Metre, which is easier than in the UK. However, be careful, as what's included isn't always the same. Specifically, is your underground parking included and is your basement storage included in the total M2?

Also consider the number of bedrooms and how you'll use the place. In France, the tendency is to stuff as many bedrooms into as small an area as possible, while elsewhere you get more living space. We opted for two bedroom from 68M2 in Switzerland, while I'm fairly sure that in France it would be 3. But if you have a bed-settee then you can trade living space for sleeping space. Your choice.

Underground parking is really useful and attractive to rental clients.

You need a private storage area ('cave') somewhere (usually in the basement). Especially if you plan to rent: you don't want to consume space in the apartment and there's always the risk of theft.

Be realistic about what 'Guaranteed Rental' really means if this is something that's part of the buying or rental package. There is no such thing - in reality, it's the rental agency guaranteeing you a set income in return for your keeping away from the place for other than your fixed 2 weeks. Fine if this suits you but if you fancy long Weekends and spur-of-the-moment trips out there then it won't work.

So consider what balance of rental income versus flexible use you are happy with. In our case, we rent through two agencies but don't have any fixed agreement. We get more flexibility but we have to accept they take a bigger slice of the rental fee. If we were after more rental income, we'd have to 'hand over' the place for most of the year.

Refurbishment: Be realistic about these costs. Apartment blocks and chalets need major refurbishment work after ten years or so. The mountain climate is not building-friendly. Like any property, there may be big ticket items every few years. In our case, we bought a 1980's apartment near to the gondola. The downside was that over the last ten years we've had to spend around £15K on a new kitchen, flooring and redecorating, and our share (along with other owners) of a new garage door (£6K); new water tank (£10K); new boilers (£40K) ... and so on. No different to a flat in the UK but you need to be able to fund this. In our case, the rental fees cover maintenance charges and special items such as these.

Heating & Water: We have a central heating and water system. I've stayed in places in France with self-contained heating/water for each apt and it's been a pain. In our place, 4-5 of us can come back from skiing or walking and have baths in succession, no problem. It can be quite a selling point to rental clients and it's certainly convenient for us. But this can make for a relatively significant heating charge and if you only use the place for a couple of weeks in total per year you might resent subsidising more local owners who visit more often.

Closeness to lifts: In most holiday villages the £/m2 drops off significantly the further you are from the lifts and facilities. So this is another factor to consider. In the summer, you probably don't mind walking a kilometre to the lift. But in the winter, in your boots, carrying your skis it would be a pain. Similarly going to the shops or restaurants. In our case, we opted for an apartment near the lift rather than a small chalet at the other end of the village. Most of our family and visitors say that they prefer this, if only because it means that people can come and go at their own pace.

Don't be seduced by the 'on piste' thing. Yes, it's certainly convenient for skiing out/home, but the location may be some way from the centre of the resort. In the summer, you may regret being so far away, and in the winter it may mean getting into a car to go to the shops and restaurants. Obviously, if it's both central and on piste, that's great, but there will be a £/m2 premium.

En suite. Yes, the modern preference is for everything en suite but again there's a premium in both space and price. Would you rather have two bedrooms with en suite, or three with a shared bathroom? A compromise may be a second toilet, but sometimes this can be ridiculous - almost literally a closet, with plasterboard partitions that mean you can hear ....

Generally, French construction isn't as solid as in Switzerland and Austria. All our walls are concrete in our Swiss apartment, so there's less noise and more privacy. Both within and between apartments. You may have no choice, but it's something to look out for.

Cable TV and Internet: At home, we have 200 Mbs broadband and Virgin TiVo. Up the mountain, it costs is much more for less. We pay about £18/month for 20 Mbs and 50 cable channels, only four of which are English-speaking. I resisted the broadband for a while but really, we need it and customers expect it. Make sure what contract you have and how long it's fixed for.

Usage Policy: Once you buy, don't tell anyone about the place until you have decided on your usage policy. Every week's rental or usage puts disproportionate wear-end-tear on the place. Some relatives may expect free use but if they have it when you'd otherwise be renting it out, then effectively you're subsidising their holiday. Our arrangement is that the Agencies ask us in July for a list of 'owners reservation' dates, and we generally reserve a couple of weeks end of Jan to start of Feb; they then publish the availability on the web; they will usually sell Christmas, New Year and Winter half-term holidays quite quickly after July (remember EU half-terms are staggered). Our children can use the place for free (but they must be in the group). Other relatives get the place at net rental (about 50% of the public rate). Colleagues and acquaintances ditto but we must know someone in the group - this is essential if you're to avoid friends-of-friends trashing the place with no comeback. Initially, try not to tie yourself down to restrictive contracts, or be over-generous in lending it out for free other then to immediate family.

Local support: Although local agencies are the obvious choice, bear in mind staff may not be resident locally. So if your clients (and more importantly friends and relatives) need any help, this can be a problem in the evenings and Sundays. Help can range from problems with the car to people needing an interpreter at the hospital. So see if there are any locally-resident agents as well as the obvious Interhome types. They may not offer as good a net return but if there are problems, being on hand can be a Godsend.

Transportation: a) In terms of flights to the nearest Hub b) driving and c) public transport/shuttles. It's easy to overlook the inaccessibility of some locations if you're really attracted by somewhere that is in a pretty location with a good £/m2 etc. The ideal is (as I think you mentioned) less then 2 hours drive from Geneva or similar hub; less than 8 hours drive from Calais; and with public transport connections in the summer and low seasons as well as winter.

Legal: In France and Switzerland, a single Notaire acts for both buyer and seller, rather like in Scotland. They just don't use the adversarial model we have in England of separate solicitors. So live with it - it has a lot of advantages. However, once you sign, there's no going back (we'll, not without your paying a penalty fee). And there are still occasional cases of a dishonest developer or immobilier, so you still need to be very clear on the process, and wary of handing over money.

Language: Being an owner will involve you in all sorts of things and if nothing else, correspondence from the local council, agencies, property agents, cable company etc. It helps a lot if you speak at least a bit of French and/or are willing to put some effort into learning some more and perhaps keeping up-to-date with the local news (esier now papers usually available on Web).