Irish flock to an island in the Seine

Irish francophiles are buying everything from studio apartments at around €250,000 on Île St Louis in the heart of Paris to statelier pads that cost millions. Lara Marlowe explains why it's a good idea

Estate agents are unanimous: drawn by prices that are 20 to 30 per cent lower than London or New York, the Irish are coming in droves. Fiona Dermody is an agent on the Île Saint-Louis, the bijou of an island in the middle of the Seine, behind Nôtre Dame Cathedral.

Fifty per cent of her clients are Irish, another 30 per cent British and American. "I've sold properties over the telephone to Irish people who've never seen them," she says.

Some of Dermody's Irish buyers are willing to put down between €220,000 and €250,000, sight unseen. "For that kind of money, I recommend a 30-32sq m 344sq ft) studio on the Île, with a high beam ceiling and red tile floor," she says.

"It's great for short-term rentals, and there's demand from French people as well as Americans who come over several times a year and move from one flat to another.

"For the same amount, you can buy a one-bedroom apartment on the adjacent right or left bank, suitable for a long term rental." Small properties in this price range usually sell very quickly, within a week or two.

Dermody divides her Irish clients into three categories: those who buy boutiques and shops to rent out as a long term investment ("It's much more profitable than London or Dublin," she says); people who buy a studio or one-bedroom for their own leisure, and those who build up a small collection of apartments to put on the rental market.

Don't be afraid to buy a studio, Dermody tells Irish people; the French are accustomed to living in tiny spaces. And don't be afraid of renovations. French people tend to leave their apartments untouched for decades. Refurbished apartments are hard to find, and expensive. French builders do good work. Horror stories of the Irish variety are rare here.

Frank Cruess-Callaghan, 71, sold his business, Stanley Cookers in Waterford, five years ago. "My wife Evelyn and I always liked Paris," he recounts. The couple rented an apartment in the Denfert-Rochereau area in southern Paris for one year, to make sure they liked living in the city, and to decide what area they wanted to buy in.

They have expensive taste: "We liked around the Luxembourg Gardens, and I was really taken with the Île Saint-Louis," he says. "It's a little village, with restaurants and bars; very friendly." When they decided to buy, the Cruess-Callaghans found their totally renovated dream apartment in an old building on the Île Saint-Louis quickly, after seeing an advertisement for the Knight Frank agency in The Irish Times.

"The agent we called 'the beautiful Priscilla' told me 'No offers'," Cruess-Callaghan recalls. "Because I don't speak French well, I retained the services of a Welsh solicitor in Paris. He told me 'nonsense', and I haggled viciously. I paid €29,000 less than they were looking for."

"You always negotiate," says Manijeh Teymour, another agent with an Irish and English-speaking clientèle, and upper-end-of-the market apartments.

Agents like Teymour and Dermody do a lot of hand-holding, introducing clients to bankers for mortgages, and builders for renovations. "I don't charge anything for it; it's good will," says Dermody. "French people are afraid of debt; they wouldn't take a 25-year mortgage. Irish people come over here and take loans at 3.5 to 4 per cent interest rates. We work with several banks who understand how the Irish and English function."

Location should be a buyer's foremost consideration, Dermody says. Property on the Île Saint-Louis, her "niche market" ranges from €10,000 per square metre for an apartment with no view, to €15,000 per square metre for properties with views of the Seine.

By that standard, Frank Cruess-Callaghan got a good deal, paying €11,000 per square metre for his sunny, two-bedroom apartment with bath and shower rooms, a large living area and good-sized kitchen. "You can get the same size apartment in a grotty area for half the price," he says. "But if you want to sell later, upmarket neighbourhoods have a higher resale value."

Cruess-Callaghan's last home in Dublin, a terraced house in Donnybrook, is now worth about what he paid for the Paris apartment. "I much prefer the flat in Paris," he says. The couple have an ideal existence: one-third of the year in Connemara, one-third in Paris and another third travelling.

"We love being in Paris," he says. "We walk around, visit friends, try the restaurants. We're absolutely delighted."

Manijeh Teymour says the avenue Montaigne in the 8th arrondissement, apartments overlooking the Luxembourg Gardens (6th) and the Esplanade des Invalides (7th) are the most expensive in Paris. One of her Irish clients bought a 155sq m (1,668sq ft) apartment in perfect condition in the Parc Monceau area (8th) 18 months ago for €1.4 million.

Teymour's partner, Arnaud Poitevin, now manages the rental for the Irishman. The apartment brings in €4,800 per month.

Teymour's portfolio includes several dream flats. A luxuriously refurbished one-bedroom, 85sq m (915sq ft) penthouse with a view over all Paris, in a high-rise in the 15th, is selling for €620,000. Teymour calls it "a selfish person's apartment, for a golden boy." A 67sq m (721sq ft) two-bedroom designer apartment in rue de la Harpe, in the heart of the Latin Quarter, has featured in Belle Demeure magazine and is priced at €690,000, furniture included.

For €1.82 million, she has a 138sq m (1,485sq ft) two-bedroom apartment with triple reception area on the Champs de Mars, with the Eiffel Tower right outside the window. Or how about a five-bedroom, five-bathroom townhouse in the avenue Victor Hugo (16th) with two parking places in a private lane? Asking price: €5.25 million.

The cheapest areas of Paris are the 13th arrondissement and parts of the 19th, where security can be a problem. Montmartre, in the 18th arrondissement, has shot up in price since the film Amélie Poulain.

"You can still find apartments in Ménilmontant (20th arrondissement around the Père-Lachaise cemetery) for between €4,000 and €5,000 per square metre," says Teymour. A hilly area with views over the city and an ethnically mixed population, Ménilmontant is off the beaten tourist track.

"Traditionally, the 9th, 11th, 12th, and 20th arrondissements were cheaper areas," says Fiona Dermody.

"But as the French move out of central Paris because it's too expensive, all these areas are becoming bo-bo-chic. (Bo-bos are "bourgeois Bohemians").

"It's hard to find anything for less than €5,000 per square metre today," she says. "The 'cheap' arrondissements are catching up with, for example the 16th (next to the Bois de Boulogne).

Ten years ago, the 16th was one of the most expensive areas. Today there's not a lot of difference - perhaps €1,000 per square metre - between the 11th (Place de la Bastille area) and the 16th. In a sense, the traditionally expensive areas are better value."

There is nothing better than a helpful estate agent who understands your needs. But if you want to cast a wide net, Le Figaro's daily property pages, with listings by arrondissement, are a must.

"De Particulier à particulier" advertises properties sold by private parties, thus saving the agency fee. They have a website (www.pap.fr) but you must provide specific criteria of district, price range and size to navigate the site.

CONTACTS

Fiona Dermody

Tel 00 33 6 75 96 08 37

www.district-immo.com

Manijeh Teymour

Tel 00 33 6 60 90 22 38

www.freestone-fr.com