Case study: Mandi & Alan Plummer

Early off-plan buyers in Alpe d’Huez were Lincolnshire couple Mandi Plummer and her solicitor husband Alan.

In previous years, the couple, whose home is in Stamford, enjoyed many holidays in Alpe d’Huez, sometimes taking Alan’s grown-up children with them. Says Mandi: “Alan, Will, Tommy and Elle are awesome skiers and the resort has something challenging for everyone.”

Although the Plummers had been looking for a place of their own in the resort, the only properties to buy were in the old town, away from the ski slopes.

In January last year, Mandi was walking through the newer part of the town, noticed that a site had been cleared for construction work just 100m from the ski lift, and made a note of MGM’s London office telephone number from the site board.

“We were so keen to buy a family apartment in this location that our meeting in MGM’s sales office was little more than a formality”, recalls Mandi who says they made their decision to buy there and then.

The Plummers purchased their property at a cost of €500,000 but only had to pay €350,000 because they were able to take advantage of a discount of €150,000 in respect of the VAT which is waived under the leaseback system and a ‘rental credit’ rather than a rental income.

“This has already proved to be a good investment for the Plummers,” says MGM’s Richard Deans who reports that, in the period since they bought their apartment, demand has pushed property values up by 10%.