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HOMEHUNTER WIZARD
created by Steve Bannell
Welcome to HOMEHUNTER WIZARD – a selection tool to help you identify your dream home in France from all the choices available at any one time. It assumes that you have already decided upon your budget and that you have selected your region – the Charente Maritime, of course!
Typically, people looking for property in France are interested in finding something different from their current home and their often busy lifestyles in the U.K. Thus, a different frame of reference is involved. Often, they will have limited time available to spend searching, and there is the cost of searching to be considered, too. And, house prices are rising. We expect, therefore, that once you have seriously decided to search that you will want to make the right decision, and quickly.
Our answer was to create an efficient process involving:
- focussing on just one lead local property agent (Chris)
- reviewing properties on his website every day for 4-6 weeks ahead of a planned visit for property viewing
- corresponding with him by email to gain additional insights about specific properties
- establishing and refining a firm set of weighted criteria to evaluate selected properties from the desktop search
- applying those criteria and rating the most interesting properties seen on the website against each criterion, on a scale of 1 to 5.
- based on the results of these evaluations, arranging to view the top 6 properties on the forthcoming visit
- viewing the properties with Chris, who also showed their individual surrounding areas
- re-evaluating the properties short listed after viewing, using the same criteria and updating the original desktop ratings. This was to ensure that the heart and head were in harmony and that a final selection could be made
- second opinion before decision – although the main search had to be done without my wife, she joined us to view the final two choices and make the selection.
For us, the time taken from starting the search in earnest as above to signing the initial contract was just 6 weeks, thanks to good fortune, good counsel and a systematic approach.
Below you will see the criteria framework we developed, the weightings we attached to each criterion and the initial results summary for our short listed properties. After viewing, the lead property’s ratings were reassessed and a 95% result was obtained. We bought the property!
FRENCH PROPERTY SEARCH EVALUATION CRITERIA:
COMPARATIVE SCORING SUMMARY
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Rating |
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Evaluation: |
Weighting |
Property 1 |
Property 2 |
Property 3 |
Property 4 |
Property 5 |
Property 6 |
Property 7 |
Property 8 |
Property 9 |
Max |
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1. Position |
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Panoramic view |
3 |
12 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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Aspect/Neighbours |
3 |
12 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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Amenities nearby |
2 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
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Time from Coast <35 mins |
3 |
6 |
15 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
15 |
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Fast access to motorway |
2 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
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Tranquility |
3 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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2. Appearance/Charm |
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House external attractiveness |
3 |
12 |
9 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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Internal feel - living areas |
3 |
12 |
12 |
10.5 |
12 |
10.5 |
12 |
10.5 |
10.5 |
10.5 |
15 |
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Internal feel - upstairs |
2 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
7 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
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Garden |
1 |
4 |
4 |
1 |
1 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
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3. Buildings State of Repair |
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External walls |
3 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
9 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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Roof |
3 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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Septic tank renewed |
2 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
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Electrics/plumbing |
3 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
15 |
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4. Garden |
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Manageability |
3 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
15 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
9 |
15 |
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Facing south/west |
3 |
9 |
12 |
9 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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Separation of terrace area |
2 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
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Room for pool |
3 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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5. Facilities |
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Toilets upstairs & downstairs |
3 |
6 |
12 |
12 |
9 |
15 |
6 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
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Pool |
2 |
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8 |
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10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
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Central Heating |
2 |
4 |
4 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
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Garage |
2 |
6 |
4 |
10 |
8 |
6 |
8 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
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Cellar |
1 |
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4 |
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5 |
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Outbuildings - good repair |
2 |
6 |
6 |
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6 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
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Outbuildings - for renovation |
1 |
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4 |
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4 |
4 |
4 |
5 |
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Basic Land |
3 |
12 |
12 |
9 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
15 |
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Surplus Land |
1 |
5 |
5 |
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5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
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Living space |
2 |
10 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
8 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
10 |
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6. Kitchen |
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Fully fitted |
2 |
6 |
8 |
6 |
10 |
8 |
4 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
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Adequate size/worksurfaces |
2 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
4 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
10 |
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Utility room/back kitchen |
2 |
6 |
8 |
6 |
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8 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
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7. Bathroom |
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Fully fitted |
2 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
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Adequate size/units |
2 |
6 |
6 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
8 |
6 |
6 |
6 |
10 |
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8. Bedrooms |
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3 reasonable bedrooms |
3 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
12 |
15 |
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Additional bedrooms |
1 |
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5 |
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2 |
2 |
2 |
5 |
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On-suite bathroom |
2 |
8 |
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8 |
10 |
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10 |
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9. Other |
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Price/Value for Money |
4 |
16 |
20 |
16 |
16 |
20 |
16 |
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20 |
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Nice furniture for sale @good price |
1 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
3 |
5 |
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Planning permission |
1 |
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5 |
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5 |
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TOTAL |
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281 |
293 |
274.5 |
299 |
341.5 |
311 |
306.5 |
306.5 |
306.5 |
440 |
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% |
63.9% |
66.6% |
62.4% |
68.0% |
77.6% |
70.7% |
69.7% |
69.7% |
69.7% |
100.0% |
The evaluation tool is an Excel model with an individual evaluation sheet for each property and a summary sheet showing all results. There are some simple instructions included in the Summary sheet, and changes made as per these instructions will automatically update all the sheets. Thus, it is very simple to amend our criteria (39 in all) and weightings to fit any individual preferences. It is not necessary to use all criteria lines. If more criteria are required then some simple Excel work will be required to expand the sheets.
Chris has the model and will be happy to supply it (caveat emptor) free to anyone requesting it by email. We hope that you will find it useful. Good hunting!
SGB March 2007
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