REAL ESTATE – BECOMING A PROPERTY OWNER : THE ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME | TF1 | Reportages

According to property experts, interest rates on borrowing have rarely been so low. This is the now-or-never moment to buy. Getting your own roof over your head is the dream of 9 out of 10 French people, but the road to property is often strewn with pitfalls. How do you avoid the traps and buy at a good price? Several couples engaged on this great adventure in front of our camera lens. For a year, we followed them, step by step, for better and for worse.

Clara and Axel, 30ish, are hoping to unearth that rare pearl for their first buy: a fine old house that has to be big enough for Axel to start his new business. Should they give up on certain criteria in order to become owners? From small ads to the signing of the contract at the lawyers, we shared this young couple’s quest to find the ideal home: “Buying a house is a big step for us. We’ve been together for 8 years and PACSED for 3. We’re obviously moving into grown-up territory with this sort of action. We’re in a hurry!”

Buying property is sometimes an irrational choice. This was the case of Julien and Veronique. The couple fell in love with an 18^th century chateau in the Sarthe, but it was in ruins. “It was love at first sight for both of us. We went inside and said: This is it. We’ve actually found our “home”. It was quite obvious for us to think: We’re crazy. We know there’ll be highs and lows, this will be a monumental project, but there it is.” Since buying the chateau two years ago, Julien and Veronique are at its bedside every day, fighting to save it. The construction lot of a lifetime.

Becoming an owner doesn’t mean your troubles are over. Arlette and Andre lost everything within a few minutes during a flood that devastated several communes in May 2016. Today, their battle is not just to rebuild their home, but, more important “to rebuild themselves”. “When you buy, you’re happy. Do you think of what might happen? Maybe, when you see things on the television, you think about it subconsciously, but you tell yourself that it couldn’t happen to us.” The retired couple have already been waiting for 11 months for the green light from the insurers to start work. For the moment they are living in a caravan at the bottom of their garden.