Lies! Lies! Lies!

My friend Lee is incredibly thoughtful and regularly sends me articles from UK newspapers or magazines that she thinks I might be interested in. (Thank you Lee!)

Today I received an article from last week's Mail on Sunday and it was very interesting but not exactly true!

The article is about real estate in the Cote d'Azur and the headline reads " SIX BEDROOMS AND A POOL FOR £500,000... SUDDENLY IT'S A LOT LESS DEAR IN PROVENCE" OK, first of all the whole area they are referring to seems to shift alot as they refer to the Cote d'Azur/French Riviera/Provence as it was all one area. It's not. Provence is over two hours away from us so not what I'd call in the same area (but I'll check this out incase I'm wrong).

Correctly, the article states the "cheaper" properties are to be found if you move inland - which is what we have done. It then goes on to list a number of properties, all at bargain prices and "in the pretty town" of X, Y or Z. Well it's WRONG!! Yes, there may be one off properties that need a quick sale BUT I have seen over 20 properties so far and NONE of them have been within the price range they claim (£500 000). Even the most run down of properties we've looked at haven't been within this price range. They also make it sound like these properties are bang in a village - they aren't (unless they are a town house) or that they won't need serious works - they probably will.

However, on the plus side some of the rather smug owners talking about their bargain properties are based in locations we wouldn't want to buy in and are generally deemed as "unsafe" but again this is by living-in-a-bubble Monaco residents... I still wouldn't want to find out the hard way!

Now I've ranted a bit and gotten it all of my chest I suppose the audience the article is aimed at is not really me. It's aimed at Brits who want a home abroad they can visit or rent out occassionally not use as a weekend retreat. They want something near Nice airport not near Monaco. They aren't thinking Friday night and Sunday night traffic because they'll be on holidays and I guess they won't mind jumping in the car and exploring nearby villages whereas we are thinking about daily walks to the bakery all year round not just "in season".

Still, I'm almost tempted to take the article to the estate agent I'm seeing tomorrow and asking her where the six bedroom houses with pools are for this bargain price. I'm guessing I'll draw a blank.