I Bought an Art Studio!!
New studio space!
We had been looking for two years
This adventure started over the summer of ‘22 when I came across a listing for an apartment for sale. Pierre and I had spent almost two years looking for an apartment in our city of Strasbourg, France. Real estate prices were quickly rising in the city and we were feeling the pressure to buy something sooner rather than later. The problem was, we weren’t having that “coup de cœur” feeling with any of the places we were finding. The most common issue was the lack of outdoor space, which already isn’t common with apartments located in town, but you do find some scattered about. Many of the apartments we were visiting had either a small balcony or small yards/ gardens that were privatized by one of the building's landlords. It felt like such a tease to have an outdoor space that we could see, but couldn’t use. Especially having children and Pierre who is an avid gardener. I was really starting to wonder if we would ever find a place to live.
When I came across the listing to this space, there was just something about it that instantly tugged at my heart. The apartment was different than anything I’d come across. Most architecture in Strasbourg consists of slanted/ angled ceilings and apartments built into rooftops, but this place was different. It was a quirky empty loft, which is a rare find in the city of Strasbourg. I could see that it was going to need a lot of work, but was open to the challenge in order to create something special. I showed Pierre and after viewing the listing he said “oh wow, did you see there are actually TWO spaces available?” TWO!!? Both loft spaces were side-by-side, one smaller than the other. We went to the open house and were very happy with the apartment space. We hadn’t really planned on looking at the smaller space across the hall, but took a peek since we were already there. The second I walked in to the smaller space, I KNEW it was my studio. I had never had an instant feeling of excitement like that before with other spaces we had visited. It was sunnier than the apartment side and had such great creative energy flowing through it. Kind of the feeling that anything was possible.
Putting in an Offer!
We put in an offer for the apartment loft at asking price. In France, once you place an offer at asking price you’re able to block any future offers from coming through. We learned that someone had placed a low offer on the studio, but it was rejected. I knew I couldn’t let the space go to anyone else. We then came back two weeks later and negotiated a price for the studio. The buyers were happy that we bought the first at asking that they were willing to negotiate the price down for the studio. Now the long process of waiting and getting financing began.
Fun fact: I’m not sure if this is true for all French cities, but when a buyer accepts your offer to buy property in Strasbourg, the city has TWO MONTHS to decide if they want to buy it out from under you. So there were two months of waiting and hoping that the city didn’t find interest in these spaces.
I’m not going to sugarcoat it, the whole acquisition part of the process was a very stressful experience for us. There were many factors that made this process longer and more difficult than most. A few reasons being…
That the space wasn’t habitable upon purchase, which added some time to the process.
Our buying process started in the month of August, which if you know anything about France, it essentially shuts down for the whole month of August. This means my accountant, my banker, the notary, the real estate agent and Pierre and I were all on vacay during some point of the month. Which means, not much moved forward.
My husband had left his full-time job in the spring and was just getting his chocolate business set up.
I’m American who was an independent worker. Meaning I work for myself don’t have a full-time job contract - which is essential for securing quick financing. I also don’t have French citizenship (working on that soon). Due to a law that Trump passed while in office, many banks weren’t too open to giving me financing because I could essentially ghost them and head back to the U.S.
We were purchasing TWO difference properties at one time. This is essentially unheard of here in town.
Honestly, buying both of these spaces has been the hardest thing i’ve even had to as an expat living in France. I think this subject can be its own post because there’s A LOT to share here. I’m just really proud that we stuck through the process when we could’ve given up so many times. We signed for both places during the month of December!
Apartment loft
About the Building
The building was built in the 50’s and has had many many lives. It has been a dance studio, a prayer room, a judo studio, a furniture factory and (get this) an ART STUDIO! Our relator says it often works out that way where if a teacher is selling an apartment, then it’s most likely a teacher who will buy it. I suppose I was drawn to its artistic energy. The building definitely has a “if these walls could talk vibe”. You best believe I saged every corner, especially since we’re about to start construction haha.
The stairway between the two apartments is quite a sight. You can tell that the artist who inhabited the space (before the last owners bought it) was quite the anarchist. There are anti-government posters lining most of the stairway. It kind of has a concert hall feel to it. We’ll be completely renovating this space as well. Behold the intense stairway lol.
The Project
These spaces are going to need to be renovated from A to Z. Both spaces came with modern updated windows along with new rooftop terraces that were built on top of both apartments. We’ll be re-doing the floors, the electricity, adding insulation, replacing the ceilings, putting up walls and more. At first the goal was to connect the two apartments from the inside, but we decided against it based on our final floorplan.
Construction starts this week and we can’t be more thrilled! We are so ready for this new chapter and to slowly make this space our own. This was a big personal goal finally realized for me. I couldn’t have dreamed up a better space for our first home and professional space purchase!
I’ll be documenting this journey on my personal Instagram account @jessiraulet So feel free to follow along there! More to come!
xo,
Jessi