Chalet Toukbal is back on the market. The previous offer has fallen through. The asking price is 400,000 euros, which for a 3 bedroom chalet with 1900m2 of land is very good going. Add to this the fact the owner will accept an offer and this will make it a bargain.

Full details for the chalet are on the website. Click the link for access!

www.alpine-property.com/index.php?page=prop_1_toubkal

“After a poor second half of 2008, French ski resorts are witnessing an unexpected
but welcome soft landing. In spite of negative economic reports, recent price falls
have spurred buying interest in previously unaffordable ‘niche’ areas. This is
particularly evident in prime locations within famous destinations such as
Chamonix,Megève,Morzine and Samoëns. France has not suffered from a credit
crunch and interest rates are still falling,which in turn ought to be reflected in
healthier demand as we progress further into 2009.”

The full report is available here.

I know 200 doesn’t sound like a lot of properties for a web based agent. It is when you consider we operate like a traditional agent. We know each individual property and for each one we visit, take the photos and arrange a contract with the owner. We do not just “re-advertise” the properties for other agents.

It sounds like a lot to me. The reason for this is that Jo and I prepare the information and pictures and put each one on line. We have worked out how long (on average) each property takes to upload. Assuming we have to create a plan for the property (a lengthy task) then the whole process takes about 5 hrs.

So it made me wonder. How many properties have we put online in total? This is fairly hard to work out before 2002. And very easy to work out since 2002 (the year we went from a “static” HTML website to a “dynamic” database driven website). Since 2002 we have advertised 716 properties.

Thanks to Alexa’s “way back machine“, we can track how many properties where online on any given month since we went online. Here is the history for Alpine Property.

http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.alpine-property.com

This is also an interesting place to browse if you want to see what a property might have been worth 10 years ago!

So here is the data for number of properties visible on the website (so it includes properties “under offer”). I’ve also added initials by the year each team member joined.

Spring 2000 - www.alpine-property.com goes online with 15 properties SN/CB which overed St Jean d’Aulps, Morzine, Les Gets and the Chatel Valley - AKA The Portes du Soleil

Spring 2001 - 24 properties GJ/JN

Spring 2002 - 28 properties - website mk 2

Spring 2003 - 32 properties

Spring 2004 - 37 properties JD helping GJ

Spring 2005 - 109 properties - website mk 3 DB/JC, adding Samoens, Chamonix, Megeve

Spring 2006 - 110 properties VM, helping DB

Spring 2007 - 112 properties LM, helping CB

Spring 2008 - 160 properties - website mk 3.5 EC/RO, adding Les Carroz, La Clusaz and Le Grand-Bornand

Spring 2009 - 220 properties

The initials stand for

1. SN = Steve Norris
2. CB = Claudia Buttet
3. GJ = Gareth Jefferies
4. JN = James Norris
5. JD = Jo Davison
6. DB = Denis Barbier
7. JC = JC Skiera
8. VL = Valérie Maes
9. LM = Lee Massey
10. EC = Emma Casanova
11. RO = Richard Owens

Just online, Land les Vaisys is situated above the Samoëns valley, in a lovely position just 350m from the ski lift in Vercland. Planning permission has already been granted for a 6 bedroom and 6 bathroom chalet with a living area of 231m². This would be an ideal spot for either a holiday home to run a business. Building costs are coming down, in 2008 we would quote 2,500 euros per m² to build a new chalet, now we think it is closer to 2,100 - 2,300 euros. This would mean that the building costs for this chalet may be closer to 500,000 euros.

Water and electricity are available near the site and the mains drains are accessible too.

Click here for further details

Until the end of March

• Apartment Hibou 4 – sous compromis
• Chalet Grange Bovere – sous compromis
• Chalet Toukbal – sous compromis
• Apartment Pas du Loup – price reduction
• Land la Balme – price reduction
• Chalet Haute Rive – price reduction
• Land les Vaisys – new instruction
• Land Machamp – new instruction
• Villa Bethanie – new instruction

Villa Bethanie is a magnificent stone built chalet in the centre of Samoëns, recently refurbished to a very high standard its 5 bedrooms are currently used as holiday accommodation. Very few chalets exist in the Alps that have this level of character.
Because of its central position the nearest shops, restaurants and ski bus are just a minutes’ walk away. The main face of the building is south facing and the terrace will catch the warmth beautifully.
The level of finishing is exceptional; the chalet is very spacious too. In fact some of the ensuite bathrooms are bigger than some bedrooms in other properties we have for sale! The stone floors and stone staircase give a real sense of the provenance of this villa.
Internally the layout consists of:

Basement: Twin bedroom (1) with ensuite shower and toilet, utility room with heated ski and boot room.

Ground floor: Long entrance hall, large living area, wooden conservatory “sun room”, double bedroom (2) the “red room”, ensuite bathroom with double basin.

First floor: Double bedroom (3) the “green room”, with walk in “dressing” big enough for a cot if required, ensuite bathroom with walk in shower and toilet and double basins, dining area, seating for 8 people and kitchen with access onto a sunny terrace with views of the mountains, there is space here for a table and BBQ.

Second floor: Twin bedroom (4) the “Chinese room” with ensuite bathroom, twin bedroom (5) the “ski room” with ensuite bathroom.

More pictures and 360 tours are available by clicking here.

So in March so far..

• Maison des Gys « sous compromis »
• Land in Bellecombe « sous compromis »
• Chalet Clos « sous compromis »
• Vielle Ferme « sous compromis »
• A new development in Essert Romand launched at 2009 prices (not like 2008 prices!), so that means 3,500 euros / m² not 5,000 euros / m² a 30% reduction in new build costs.
• Apartment Le Petite Tanière, down in price by 15% so now providing a potential 7% gross ROI
• Apartment FlorAlp, down in price by 15% - so now providing a potential 8.5% gross ROI
• Apartment Caroline, down in price by 15% as well.
  

Chamonix : an interesting and very playable course set in stunning scenery. Not that posh in comparison to some of the others but expensive green fees in peak season (July – August), circa 65 euros, cheaper the rest of the time.  I am a member so I’m a bit biased. Really nice restaurant and friendly staff.

Megève : definitely posh but less interesting as a golf course, the greens are often in poor condition. High green fees.

Annecy : two courses around the lake : Talloires : expensive in high season, a short but hilly mountain-type course kept in excellent condition, especially the greens (which are notoriously small). Giez : longer and more playable “parkland” course, worth a visit, friendly atmosphere and decent pro-shop (a rarity).

Evian Masters :  splendid championship course with fantastic practice facilities but very expensive in Summer. Best time to play is just after they’ve had the Ladies Masters.

Esery (near Bonneville along the M40 motorway) : really nice and fairly challenging parkland course, super fast and very big greens, superb club house, shop and restaurant. Absolutely worth a try.

Divonne : haven’t tried this one but my mate who is a scratch golfer says it is better than Evian.

Bossey (at the foot of the Saleve mountain near the Swiss border) : very challenging course, Jean Van de Velde is a regular!

Aix Les Bains, 30 minutes from Annecy, old parkland course with character and in good condition. Playable throughout the year.

The 2 others are Flaine and Les Gets, useful if you are staying nearby but not really comparable to the others.

“James Bond” because we could imagine him staying here!

Chalet Gentiane is a modern high specification 5 bedroom chalet just off the piste in Morzine. There are very few chalets in Morzine that can be regarded as on the piste, probably less than a dozen. This one is 50m from the “green” return piste that runs down to Morzine from Les Fys.

The finish is very high quality, the floors in the main living areas are tiled and the walls clad in wood. The bathrooms are tiled to the ceilings. There is under floor heating throughout.
The layout consists of:

Ground floor: Double garage, entrance hall, laundry area, bedroom (1), shower room, sauna.

First floor: Open plan lounge / dining room / kitchen with an open fire and access onto the deck. The deck is large sheltered and south facing; it has a hot tub installed. Bathroom (2), WC.

Second floor: Double bedroom (3), double bedroom (4), single bedroom (5), shower room, WC, store room
Externally the land is shared with the neighbouring properties, it is landscaped and has a maintenance contract in place.

Click here for more photos and information

Just online!

Chalet Grange Bovère is in Sixt-Fer-a-Cheval, it backs onto the piste at Sixt and is situated in the hamlet of Lavoisière. Where else in the Haute Savoie can you buy a chalet on the piste for this price! Although the skiing at Sixt itself is limited a regular ski bus runs around to the télécabine at Samoëns and a piste runs down from Flaine to Sixt offering a great return home. The summer in Sixt should not be forgotten either, this area is very popular with walkers and families taking multi activity holidays, this doubles the amount of use you can get from your holiday home.

This chalet is well decorated and presented. It is heated via an open fire and electric radiators.

The chalet consists of:

Basement: Garage, boiler room, bedroom (1).

Ground floor: Dining area and kitchen with stone fire place and access onto the terrace, old bedroom now opened up into a lounge, bathroom, WC, bedroom

First floor: Large mezzanine, bathroom, double bedroom (2), double bedroom (3).

The total floor area for the chalet is 210 m², set on a large plot of land with an area of 1096 m². The chalet has a septic tank and the road to access the chalet is kept clear in winter.