Monday, November 7

Is this true?

So, tonight I'm watching HGTV's House Hunters International while I'm stamping "Merry Christmas" on the inside of 50 cards and I hear something I thought was a little strange.

This couple was looking for an apartment in Paris (they were living in Portland and were retiring) and the wife said that in France when you go to get a mortgage a full physical is required and your interest rates are determined by how healthy you are (but it doesn't matter if you smoke) and I wonder, gee, do they do credit checks too or doesn't that matter??

They also said that the average apartment in Paris is about the equivalent of $350,000. I don't think you can find a cardboard box in NYC for that. The apartments were great, but the kitchens were teeny tiny, and is purple a popular color for French water closets?? They found a cool apartment close to Moulin Rouge, it even had a huge patio.

8 comments:

Megan Frampton said...

No, you can find a cardboard box in NYC for $350K. Now, if you want the "Amazon" label scratched off before you move in, that'll cost you extra.

Tara Marie said...

Megan--LOL!!!!!!!!

Bob & Muffintop said...

$350, 000 sounds awfully cheap to me, but I've never looked for apts. in Paris either.

What did you end up giving Jr. for allergies? Our youngest has a stash of liquid Zyrtec (supposedly no longer avail.?) & takes loratidine & Flonase.

I'm glad all is well at your house again. It must've been a long weekend.

Nicole said...

Yeesh, I think our first house here in a couple years is going to be less than $200,000. We have friends who bought a house and 7 acres of land for $150,000 earlier this year.

Another reason to stay here in the Midwest! How do you guys pay your mortgages?

Megan Frampton said...

We rent our cardboard box, actually. And since we're rent-stabilized, we might never get to own, which always makes me kind of freaked out. Until, of course, my mommy-lit gets optioned as a movie...gotta have goals, no matter how unattainable.

Tara Marie said...

Amanda--we were able to find a pharmacy with Phenclor Tannate Pedi 240ml, this is what he was prescribed last year that works so well for him. He only needs it for about 6 weeks during the transition from fall to winter and then again during the transition from winter to spring. The rest of the year he seems to be allergy free, please note I'm knocking the wood on my desk.

Nicole--we bought our house 23 years ago this month before there was anything close to a housing boom. My husband works in the building industry, most of the builders he deals with build homes starting around $500,000 and go upward to around 1 million, and the real estate taxes can range up and over $35,000 a year--it's frightening.

Megan--my grandmother had a great rent stabilized apartment on Avenue S, one of my Aunts is in it now.

Sam said...

Hmmm. I live in France and I don't know about the physical thing. We're renters though, and it's pretty expensive.
Paris is very expensive. It's about average 35,000$ per square meter I think (or was the last time I looked)
Interest here is very low right now (and I still don't think you have to get a physical, honest)
But prices are Very high. My BIL is in real estate so I could ask him I guess, but I was surprised when I read the post. They actually found an apartment? That area by the Moulin Rouge, BTW, is not very nice, so maybe that's why it was inexpensive. (althought that price sounds ludicrously low to me)

Tara Marie said...

Sam, I thought it sounded low, maybe the program was recorded a couple of years ago, I didn't check the copyright date at the end. Though they did say the neighborhood wasn't the best, the apartment was amazing.