At 2, place de la Gare, in Houilles (78), the entrance doesn’t look like much. A very small door, a facade that leaves something to be fulfilled. It is difficult to see from behind: a fallow garden, a demolished wooden structure or even a shed with rusty sheets. And yet this land is listed at 10 million euros! A transaction that is not common because it is a judicial auction that will be held in a Paris court 16. The reason? The owner’s real estate company was liquidated and, under pressure from creditors, the courts seized his land to pay off his debts.
“This exceptional sale will be one of the most important in 2024 in the Paris region», says Alix Bernard-Faucon, development manager at Vench, the real estate auction site where the ad was posted. It is the second for the platform in a few weeks, after the auction of a prestigious chateau near Angers (49), whose owner saw its SCI (Société Civil Real Estate) liquidated. “It is extremely rare to have two exceptional sales in a short period of timecomments Alix Bernard-Faucon. We usually do 3 to 4 a year. With inflation, labor costs rise and block projects. Owners can no longer make payments, property goes into foreclosure, and the work is often half-finished.»
Interesting for promoters
Another explanation for such a high price: the area of the plot. The total area is almost 11,500 m² at 17 addresses. Or just over 870 euros per m². A ridiculous price that is likely to attract real estate investors such as developers who want to use such land for residential construction. And all the more so because this country is a stone’s throw from the RER A station, which will bring Ovillois to Paris in just twenty minutes. But after consulting the terms of sale, interested parties will have an unpleasant surprise: the area is not sure to be that high.
The real estate complex, which for those in the know stretches between Place de la Gare, Avenue Charles de Gaulle, Rues Gambetta and Rues Robespierre, does not belong a priori as a whole to an unscrupulous owner. Several communities of co-owners claim ownership of certain plots of land. The obscurity associated with the death of the owner who did not “did not allow the liquidator access to the elements relating to the ownership of the land“. “It will be up to the candidates to make the necessary inquiries regarding the actual ownership of the lands.», warns Maître Valérie Dutreuilh, the prosecutor.
A real obstacle course that proves that buying foreclosed property is not always good business. “No pun intended, this is a lot of legit auctions“, says Alix Bernard-Faucon with a smile. In order to avoid unpleasant surprises, it is necessary to carefully read the documents available to the buyer (records of the representative for justice and conditions of sale). Without forgetting the visits that will be organized on April 30 at the Houilles field.