PRICING
Until the 1st of March the price is 650 000 € after which it drops by €1000 a day
All offers will be taken into accoung (see below)
An innovative way to decide the sale price
We have decided to use an unusual approach to sell the apartment. Rather than getting an estate agent to fix the sale price in advance, we propose to use a dynamic pricing technique where the sale price is initially set at a high level- possibly considerably above the market rate. This price will be maintained for a period of a month or so during which potential buyers will be able to visit the apartment. Indeed, they will be encouraged to stay at the apartment by renting 2 or 3 nights via one of the plateforms used by Keytoko.
If, during this initial period, anyone decides that they want to pay the full price, we will offer to sell it to them.
If, on the other hand, there are no buyers at the full price, the sale price will decrease by €1000 every day until a buyer can be found. This effectively guarantees that we get the best price possible for the apartment.
Note that potential buyers can enter bids at below the current price at any point. In that case, their bid will become valid when the price has dropped to their offer.
How much will Le Pierrotin Cost to buy?
Today, we cannot say how much the apartment will cost. We will start at €650,000, and it is possible that someone falls in love with the apartment (like we did in 2017) and offers the full price. But then, starting on the 1st of March, the asking price will effectively drop by €1000 every day.
The graph shows what this looks like. Suppose that someone offers €500,000. This corresponds to the price proposed on the 29th July. It means that they could have the property and all the contents for €500,000 if nobody has proposed a better price before that date.
Similarly, if someone proposes €400,000, they would have to wait until 6th November 2025 before we would sign.
We will be updating the Blog with information about the latest and best offer that we have received. The blog would say, for example, that we have so far received 10 offers, of which the best is €500,000 corresponding to the price proposed on the 29th of July
How did we determine the initial price?
The decision to start at €650,000 may seem very arbitrary. However, there is a website called Efficity that has a range of sophisticated methods to estimate the value of property. We asked them to say how much they thought Le Pierrotin was worth and they provided three sets of estimations.
The first uses information available on line.
The second approach uses an analysis of the prices of competing offers matched as well as possible to our property
The third uses data on the market prices in the sector where Le Pierrotin is located
Typical prices in Toulouse
The Efficity site also provides details of recent sales based on official government records
In Toulouse, typical prices are currently around €3400 per m2, with high values around €5330.
Higher prices on the banks of the Garonne
That said, it is clear that having a location directly on the banks of the Garonne results in a substantially higher value. For example, the next images shows a selection of sales in 2021-2023 s involving apartments like ours with substantially higher valuations - €6026, €6714, €7005 and €7058 per m2. There is even an 3 room apartment in the very same building as ours (the same co-propriety) that was sold in 2021 for €5882 per m2.
If we assume that the Pierrotin has a surface areas of 86 m2, this implies that, if the recent transaction values for apartments on the Garonne are relevant, the value could be between €517,800 (assuming €6000 per m2) and €604,100 (assuming €7000 per m2).
Note, however, that according to the legal definition (Loi Carrez) the basement rooms don't count because they do not have windows that open.
Furnished vs Unfurnished
Finally, note that all the valuations provided by sites such as Efficity are for unfurnished properties, so it would be necessary to add that value of all the furnishings that we are providing to the future owners. The details are provided on a separate page.
When we purchased Le Pierrotin in early 2017, we decided to equip the apartment with very high quality materials. The tables, chairs and sideboard were all made by hand by craftsmen at Meubles Lattes in Revel (the cité du meuble). For example, the sideboard has drawers that are decorated with beautiful images of butterflies made with marquetry.
We installed a state of the art Bose Lifestyle 650 home cinema system that cost several thousand euros when it was purchased in 2018. Remarkably, if you were to purchase the same system today, it would still cost over €7600.
Altogether, it seems to us that our starting price of €650,000 is not unreasonable.
Of course, in the end, the value of the apartment is entirely dependent on what someone is prepared to pay. We hope that our innovative approach of having an initial price that decreases by €1000 every day means that we will be able to find the right price at some point during the coming year.
If the apartment is really attractive, it might get sold very rapidly. If it is only worth the average price for apartments in Toulouse, we may have to wait until the end of the year to find a buyer. But, as pointed out, we are not in any rush.