Buying a house in Tunisia

I too would be extremely interested in the range of house prices and the legal process and steps needed to be taken in order to register the property as legally one's own.

However, rather than tying up capital, it's probably better to rent for a couple of seasons, and that way it's easier to recognize pitfalls!......and also avoid until you're absolutely sure of a person's integrity, projects, which are more than likely doomed to failure.....

As a word of warning though, and take heed!
I've rented from three different and on the surface charming landladies but they've all attempted to rip  me off big time with utillities' bills..........not reading arabic is definitely a disavantage.......on one occassion I was presented with a bill that charged for her other properties in another part of town.............I truly believe that she was trying to pull the wool over my eyes , desperate times call for desperate means, and this lady had her son's marriage to finance!,........Having discussed this with other ex pats, have found that they've been treated in the same manner..........these landladies appear to have a different code of conduct and has shaken my faith in human nature

Hi, I recommend you contact Melanie at this address: http://www.thetunisianhouse.co.uk/
This is not an advertisement, I do not know them, but buying property in Tunisia is full of pitfalls and you should take expert advice and they seem very expert to me (no direct experience though).

And I agree with Helen Pierrette that not speaking French and Arabic makes you vulnerable to being ripped off

No, you cannot buy a nice house for this price anywhere in Tunisia!!  The prices here are cheap if you have foreign currency but not that cheap.  Djerba is a tourist destination and therefore the prices of houses reflect that.  Have you been to Tunisia and have you looked at any houses??  I have just bought a house in the north so if you want to send me a private email then I can give you some details about the costs.......oh and don't forget that you pay the selling agent a percentage of your buying price and you must also pay approx 9% tax on the buying price although there are ways to get that down a bit.

This is a generalism. Yes you can find things at that price but will spend as much rebuilding them. Build standards are poor to say the least!

Despite being a developing nation house prices in some areas are as much or more than Portugal or Spain.  Property tends not to loose it's value here or hasn't.

Property ownership is possible for foreigners but getting paperwork can take years and i mean years...

NEVER buy with a Tunisian. If anyone tells you you must buy with a Tunisian they are lying and out to scam you.

Get a GOOD lawyer (hard to find most are time wasters) who is neutral and has no interest in your purchase eg not tge property oeners cousin if buying privately. Prices will miraculously more than double for foreigners..

Good luck.

I'm looking for a unfurnished apartment for one or two bedrooms in Sousse or surrounding area do not mind decorating up to 450 dinara want to contract on a long please can you call 53312958

Carole - it was not a generalisation, the question was could Beachbum get a 'nice' house.  Well it is not possible!!  I have built a house and I have renovated a house and I am happy with the quality.  Sure it's not like the UK or anywhere else as building products here are expensive and we don't build as the west.  However, if you get recommendations from friends (meaning Tunisians) then it should be fine.  This last builder I used offered to show me the houses he had built and renovated and I took him up on the offer.  However, building or renovating here can be a disaster filled minefield if you are a newbie in Tunisia and you don't understand how everything works

Tunisiandolly, May I ask how much you spent on the house?

I can give you an indication but not on a public forum.

That would work. Private message?

Yes - no problem

I also have one more question. Is it a problem for a woman to own property in Tunisia? Will anyone sell to her without a man being  on the paperwork?

Tunisiandolly wrote:

I can give you an indication but not on a public forum.

Do not want to buy just rent xxxxx

BeachBum2015 wrote:

I also have one more question. Is it a problem for a woman to own property in Tunisia? Will anyone sell to her without a man being  on the paperwork?

No man is needed for you to sign/own/rent/ property here

Carol Moore wrote:

Tunisiandolly wrote:

I can give you an indication but not on a public forum.

Do not want to buy just rent xxxxx

Sorry Carole - my reply was to Beachbum..............I've lost your comments, where do you want to rent?

I'm to old to buy that's why I want to rent xxxx

All we want is one or two bedroom apartment unfurnished don't mind decorating that is not a problem at to 450 dinar a month in or around Sousse xxxx

Hello Carol Moore,

I would suggest you to browse through Housing in  Sousse where you may as well post an ad with your requirements. Hopefully this will ease your search

Good luck

Thanks & Regards

Mishna

Thank you I am trying that but no luck yet xxxx

Tunisiandolly wrote:

Carol Moore wrote:

Tunisiandolly wrote:

I can give you an indication but not on a public forum.

Do not want to buy just rent xxxxx

Sorry Carole - my reply was to Beachbum..............I've lost your comments, where do you want to rent?

If you are not having any luck with the ads on this forum I suggest you go to www.petiteannonce.tn where you will find literally hundreds of ads for apartments to rent.  Good luck

In are around Sousse thank you xxxx

later on when i get home i shall give you some agencies / links to sites etc you can try. They will be easier to wade through than tunisie announce etc.

they are around but now is a difficult time to be looking with ramadan starting in june. I'm just about to move again (4th time in 9 months). I have to view more thsn 28 places & this is a compromise! I've paid to have it re-painted and insisted on  a few changes prior to moving in. 

I'll include a few things to be aware of eg pitfalls all based on hard experience and people trying to fleece me.

Carole

Carole

Thank you so much I'm lucky that my husband is Tunisia so he knows we went look at an apartment and the pictures were lovely but when we got there it was not the sign he also went to look at another apartment which was disgusting again not like in the pictures we will get there one day we don't mind decorating and making it look nice i'm respecting the person's property it may be their property but it would be our home once again thank youxxx

Ditto! Some of the places i saw i would not put a dog in!!

Most tunisians prefer europeans because we pay on time snd don't wreck the property. 

Have to say that this landlord is ok. The place i'm going to so far, the manager has turned up gor appoinyments at the alloted time and did the initial work on trust eg i did not part with the money until the work and legalised contracts. I paid my lawyer to re-write a contract as most are ridiculous and don't protect the tennant's interest.

Carole

i'd be cautious about buying here. i'd want to see how government reforms progress and if they keep the extremists at bay!

I can see where you are coming from xxxx

Carol

couple of things.  I take it your husband is with you otherwise why is he not looking?  As you know, sending in a Tunisian guarantees a cheaper price!  The majority of the agencies are within a 10-15 drive of each other.  So easy to "hit" all of them in a day.

The price you're looking for is difficult as this is Sousse and the pricing are climbing.  Anything decent furnished is minimum 700 tnd pm and unfurnished something pretty ropey around 450 tnd.  You will need to paint and few put in a washing machine.  I had to buy mine and lots of other stuff also, as even furnished I could not eat of a plate or use the cutlery, it being so yukky.

First things first and depends on how much stamina you have.  You will avoid agency fees if you look around and take numbers off buildings and ring the landlord.  That's how I found my last two places.  Infact my last 4 places have been private deals but that brings issues as well.  For example people promising a contrat de location and it not appearing because they just want the rent and not to declare taxes!

Agency/Web sites - a few numbers and where I can people who may help.

This lady is super helpful and speaks good English.  I almost took something with here but the location wasn't quite right.  About the only agency that actually listened to me!  Ms.Kraiem Faten  Top Immo Tunisie <[email protected]>    tell her Carole the English lady sent you.


lamudi.com  - gives you access to a wide range of property and the search criteria actually works.  I gathered most of my agency details from this site


Hela at Tecnocasa is a lovely lady and her English is quite good.  Fees are high.  1 month rental plus taxes.
Agency Sousse - Affiliate Pro Real Estate
Avenue Ennakhil quoted Khzama - 4054 Sousse
Tel: 73277960 - 73272860 - Fax: 73277930
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.tecnocasa.tn    /         https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/imag … c6egslran_


[email protected]


Nom:    Madame Nedra Jaballah
Adresse email:    [email protected]
Téléphone:    00216 73347097


home in Tunisia might be worth a try but little English spoken and they delivered nothing to me in terms of a place but that may be because I told them off for poor customer service!

There's also a couple of agencies - sorry for the life of me I can't find their details -  one on the same side as the Al Hana Palace hotel (Caruso) bit further up.  It's a black and red single storey, ground floor building.   Also opposite side near to the office furniture shop / bakery in green and purple and mini-market is an agency with loads on their books.  Just a question of being here and calling in.


How well do you know Sousse?  Personally I like the bottom end, Tantana, although parts of central Sousse near the Taj Mahara are nice but I don't like Sahloul, or places like Kzhema.    You know of course how noisy it gets.  If it's not children thumping balls on your car, it's donkey's, chickens and dogs all hours of the morning.  One friend left her apartment due to the person above putting a sheep in the kitchen which bleated 24 hrs.

Contrat de Location.  My reading ability is better than my spoken ability and most contracts I've refused to sign.  This recent one I got my lawyer to write out so I could put in a break clause so that it was recorded that if either party wanted to terminate the other there would be 2 months written notice either side and thus 2 months' liability on my side in lieu of notice if I quit early.  Trust no-one and nothing on the verbal!!  Even the best of them here are slippery when it comes to money matters.

Hope that helps.  If you need anything else let me know.

Bonne chance!  Carole

Oh finally,on the opposite side of the road to the Dreams Beach Hotel (close to the monoprix supermarket roundabout in Hamman Souse, there is a small agency that were helpful. 

Only trouble I found was there are some decent (but more expensive) modern blocks but they are a box.  The more traditional buildings have a bit more room but then it's a massive trade down in luxury.  I took ages to find something in (for me) the right location, the right price, half decent, as few stairs as possible and as few people in the building as possible, with secure parking and reasonable access to the beach (I'm 5 mins walk away) without being ON the beach, and as quiet as you can get here, with a half decent landlord.  Phweeee......

Take care.  Like I say YOU check EVERYTHING yourself and don't be afraid to walk away or barter if not right.

Carole

Thank you for what you said I'm lucky I have Mourad xxxx

Lucky you finding Mourad. I wish i could find a decent guy here of any nationality! The ex-pat guys are more interested in golf than women or men my age want a woman 20 years younger.

So far, the Tunisian men I've met (and there have been many offers) are either married men wanting easy sex with a European or not very bright or wordly, don't respect women as equals or talk utter rubbish.

The only decent conversation i've had with a man in 9 months is my lawyer (Tunisian) and a platonic friend and he's Libyan.

Maybe Mourad can introduce me to someone decent ...

Take care and good luck.  I hope you will be happy here. Are you coming for good or just for a holiday?

Carole

I have just came back from having 10 days with him with my girls and my grandson I'm back in June for two weeks and then I'm back in September for four weeks and then back in December until February and we are talking of getting married we've been together 2 1/2 years I love him to death he is a wonderful loving caring man we have a big age gap but the way we are together you would never think that maybe we could meet up who knows but I didn't think there were any good Tunisian men but I was very very lucky and I did find one so maybe one day you will do to lol xxxxx

Not all but the vast majority of men looking to interact with older European women do it for one or all of three reasons. Easy sex, visas and money.

I am NOT saying this is your relationship as you know your man but I would always be highly suspicious of an approach by a younger guy.  I have seen first hand the havoc and misery heaped on women by those engaged in "beezness" here. Sousse and Hammamet are the worst areas for it.

I have been approached by men before now on this web site (I've blogged about it) and in some cases met with them and caught them out with their lies.

Anyhow you seem to have lots to look forward to and sincerely, I wish you well.  But if you do take steps towards marriage, for your own protection, I would urge you to take legal advice both here and in the UK. As you are aware Islamic law operates differently to our own and whilst Tunisia is trying to embrace modernity its traditions remain very routed in the past.

Good luck. Carole

In 2 and a half years that man is never asked me for anything ever I give because I want to and is always telling me to stop buying need this and this and this but he is my husband as far as I am concerned and I care I know what I'm doing at my age and for what I've been through we love each other very much he had never been with a woman until he met me and has he's told me I hand is first Andes last my girls were very sceptical at first as you can imagine because of the age difference but they have meeting and they love him very very much and he loves them he says he is their dad and they're all older than him which is quite funny and my great grandson calls him grandad when he sees the picture on my iPad he kisses him and says grandad which we all laugh I asked the Mourad if he has a nice friend for you and he says yes and he does know some really lovely lovely guys because I have met them they often come and meet me at the airport and they are lovely really lovely where are you staying nowxxxx

Carole I have nothing good to give him only me and he has nothing to give me just himself and that is all we want is one another when I see him I fell in love the first time I met him and he felt the same for me and we just it was like a love story I know that sounds a bit like sick lol we get on so well and I'm so happy with him I count the days until I'm back out with him again that is all I live for is to be with him

Indeed one of the lucky ones. I do wish you both well. Life is too short so make the most of what you have now.

Hello,
I would love to get some tips where and how to find a nice place in Tunisia.
Many thanks for the support
Gabriele

Where in Tunisia do you want to live?  Coast or inland. Big city or smaller. What are the things that are important for you? Will you have a car. I live in Bizerte a 40 minute journey to Tunis but it is not as chaotic and I have everything I could want or need here, however it is not on the tourist trail which suits mr fine.

Let me know and I can give you some advice,  i have lived here for 12 years so I know Tunisia quite well

Thanks 👍 for your information. I will be aware of the Arabic bill if I live in Tunisia