Tres Chic, Tres Cher

  Last week I recorded an HGTV episode of "House Hunters International".  I don't usually watch HHI but this episode featured a woman looking to buy an apartment in Paris.  She had been working in Paris for five years and decided it was time to buy.
  When asked how much she had budgeted, the buyer said her limit was "$550,000.00, with $100,000.00 set aside for renovations."  Normally sums like that would make most people choke.  FIVE HUNDRED FIFTY THOUSAND DOLLARS to BUY an APARTMENT?  And an additional ONE HUNDRED THOUSAND DOLLARS to renovate?!  You'd think for that kind of money you'd be able to buy a large home in move in ready condition, surely!
  No.  Nope. Non. Not in Paris-one of the most expensive real estate markets in the world. What that kind of money buys in Paris is a 400 square foot apartment.  Yes, 400 SQUARE FEET. That works out to be $1,375.00 per square foot.
  That does not guarantee that you'll get a fully equipped kitchen either.  Counter space will be non-existant and a buyer will have to be creative.  Leave behind any notion of buying a large American-style apartment, let alone house, you're in Paris and things will be different.
  The buyer was shown three different apartments.  Two of them were in the very popular Marais area.  The last one was further out but had a terrace.  All had "views", if looking at rows and rows of roof tops is a person's idea of a view.  All had small kitchens that lacked counter space.  One apartment had a bathroom door way that was so narrow that a person had to walk in sideways to get in it.
  The buyer ended up choosing the first apartment she saw, despite disliking the glass block wall that was all that separated the kitchen from the sole bed room.  With some of the money she'd set aside for renovations, she had the glass block wall removed and a nice door put in place.
  When they returned 3 months later to see how the buyer was doing, I liked what she had done with her place.  I was also impressed to see that she'd gotten the renovation done in 3 months, as my experience with living overseas is that custom work can be a long, frustrating wait.
  I keep this episode in mind, as we try to find an apartment to rent in Paris.  My husband has chosen a few apartments to look at, only to discover they've already been rented.  While I looked forward to the experience of finding an apartment with my husband, the reality, we decided, is that he's going to have to find one on his own.  Places are getting rented so quickly we are afraid we may not have much to choose from if we wait until I can come to Paris to look.
  If I'm lucky, Mark or the apartment rental agent will send me photographs of potential places.  I told Mark to go ahead and rent something as I trust his judgement.  (We had a fabulous top floor apartment, overlooking the River Thames, when he was working in London.  He chose it himself.)
  While I may not have direct input into selecting our place, I'll be fine with it.  I'm already comforting myself with a new book I bought that is about the markets in Paris.