cjm

Research, research, research! Nothing beats it. Ask the questions. Yes, south is attractive, but costs are higher than further north. Determine what it is you want. Get the pen out and start writing, Must have, must have. Would like! Coast, country, town, hamlet.
France is a big country, children will adapt, they are good at that. If you are happy and settled then surely they will be too.

A post suggested Britanny. Lovely place, but very much like England weather-wise I am advised by former residents. Yep, it easy to get back to the owld country, but if you move you move. Maintain links, but France is your new home. Language is key. I'm still getting there, it's not easy when you get older, but one must persevere.

There are many sages on this forum; they all speak sense.

holmesy

Im sorry too for the hijack but you seem to be in a similar situation. Well sort of!!!

Just wondered if anyone could give me some advice on this subject........

I'm too a complete new member and trying to use everyones knowledge to see if my masterplan will work

My life summed up so far.....

Me and my wife are 32 years old have 3 children ages 1,4 and 6 and we currently live in brisbane australia. Moved here 3 years ago from london. I have had enough of the shiftwork I have to do in my job and am aiming for a nicer lifestyle with my wife kids and mother (who wants to move in with us and grow veggies and fruit organically) and also we want to be closer to family and friends in england.

My masterplan..... (feel free to set me straight)

I love greenery and village life so intend to move somewhere in the south west and as I will need to pop back to gatwick airport so I think I have to be near bordeaux. We have combined about 450,000 pound cash to buy somewhere and we need to earn about 15,000 pound from a gite business. I can pop back to uk and make up the rest of the money we need.

My question.....

So can we afford to buy somewhere that will generate this 15,000 pound income comfortably with the cash that we have and provide the living space we need in SW france. If so are there any recommendations on area (nice villages etc) how many gites I will need. Anything helpful would be so helpful as we are about to book flights to go walkabout in france in the september.
Also am I right in assuming I need bordeaux as my local airport to return to gatwick.

Thanks in advance

Holmesy

Le Chant

Firstly, Roo. Sorry, but I'm not about to divulge personal details to you or anyone else, however nicely they ask. Do what I did, and plenty of others did before us - visit a bank.

Secondly, Holmesy - there's no 'one size fits all' solution to moving to, and living in France. If you read my first post in this thread, you'll see that I recommend a minimum of three gites to earn anything like a reasonable income. Even then, it's not guaranteed. Do the maths. Look at gites in the area you're interested in moving to, see what they charge, then look at their availability calendars to get an idea of how they're doing.

That's the best advice I could give anyone thinking about 'doing gites' as a living. Study the opposition.

Roo.

No problem at all, fully understand.

cjm

Back to my post, research is the key. Lots of websites in English often selling Brit houses. Google some key words and then go though it all. Again, cost varies, depending on where you choose to be. Create the must have list. One wonders why France? Do you have language or does it just take your fancy? France isn't Oz, shift work or no. Gites are only profitable if they are full of bookings. And, you have to get the bookings in a tough and competitive market.

bonchance

Just popped in to say thank you all for your comments so far..keep them coming

Martin Parker

There is a lot to think about and it is often said but more often ignored - take your time and work it all out before jumping!

We didn't!!

While in the process of buying our property complete with barn to convert into three gites (we had researched that bit!!) one of those life changing moments occurred and we decided we were going to move about 6 years earlier than expected.

We have started two businesses to provide our income and the gites are now a long way off.

I can only agree that the gite market is quite crowded and you have to stand out from the crowd. One of our businesses is property management and we look after a few gites / apartments. It is hard work chasing after bookings and Saturdays are spent scrubbing and cleaning - one of the gites we run sleeps 27!! It is different if it is your own gite, but it is still cleaning up someone else's mess.

As for declaring income, there are special rules for gites owners I believe that reduces the social charges you have to pay. I am sure someone on here can tell you exactly what percentage it is. Both our businesses are on Auto Entrepreneur, with one paying 18.3% of gross and the other paying 21.3% of gross income as social charges. Income tax in France is very low and you are unlikely to pay much, but do remember that you will have to declare any other income that you may have, where ever in the world it is earned. UK ISA's are not tax free in France!

You have a lot to consider and the best suggestion I can give is to keep researching and posting questions. Once you think you understand it all, speak to a French accountant, IFA or business advisor to find out all the bits you missed!!

Good luck and don't be disheartened by the mountain of info that will come your way. It is easy to get bogged down in it all.

If you don't try, you may one day regret it and that is why we are here and loving it.