True, but all these costs are a lot less than in the US
For example, fur my house in the pyrenees, all taxes, water, electricity etc under 3,000 eyes a year, on a 350,000 $ house
What size house?
Our house in the Alps (200 square meters, plus open grange) is also relatively cheap to maintain, with the huge caveat that we have an oil furnace and plan to switch to heat pump powered by good old French nuclear energy (and maybe solar, as we have sun exposure on a huge roof for most of the day. We also have a gravity-fed spring in addition to municipal water so we can save on stuff like drinking/cooking water etc. Next year I might try to figure out a way to use more of the spring water, maybe somehow feed it into the washing machine...
Local labor costs...depends. Right now everything is expensive because of the materials issue and inflation. Honestly, it really depends if you are in, say, Meribel or a hamlet like ours, which is not in a ski station and close to the blue-collar town of Cluses. And also, there's the "we'll charge the foreigners what we think they can pay..." You can always find someone to work "in the black" here (ie cash), too...
I do agree that a foreign buyer should know the peculiarities of the local real estate market and inheritance taxes. Here in France inheritance can be a complete and utter disaster if you don't sort it out, and capital gains are very high (but eventually sunset). For example, you won't need a lawyer to buy in France but you should still budget 8-10% of purchase price for notaire fees/purchase tax. And also, right now it's very hard to get a mortgage for an American, because most French banks won't touch us due to Fatca reporting.