janet101

Hi

I am new to this forum and went to the Limousin region on holiday last year. We liked it very much. I speak French and like France and would like to consider buying a small property for holiday rental or even small business in the future. We have seen that there are some bargains in Limousin/Charente. Does anyone know of any regions further north where property prices are quite low, where the weather is quite consistently good in spring and summer. The Mayenne possibly?
Thanks.

Ka Ora!

Welcome to the Forum, Consistently good and weather don't go together in France. Even in the south we see -10/15 conditions in the winter and a fair bit of rain

jonkemp

Hi there, we are currentl;y buying in Northern Mayenne, just below the Normandy Border, near Lassay les Chateaux. Lovely Longiere, three double bedrooms, massive kitchen, 2 bathrooms, salle d'eau and a barn. Perfect condition. We are paying £118,000 which includes estate agents fees and notaires fees. We are delighted!

cjm

Hi Janet, think you have to pick some areas and tour, perhaps using on line estate agents to check property types and prices. Advice is don't jump in, explore the patch that looks good, even to asking the mayor. If you can pick up a white pages phone book, then you may be able to pick out other Brits (names are pretty obvious), to call and speak with. Forum here though beats most. House sales seem to be a mixed bag from stuff we hear. Some places sit while others find a buyer. It is though a buyer's market, so offers are the way to go. Happy if you want to PM me.

jonkemp

We decided on an area, then just blitzed it on the web, using google street view etc. We drew up a shortlist of houses and then went over to see them. All the houses (as it happens) were British owned. We did negotiate on the house we are buying, but what surprised me were the owners who just stood by the asking price without any room for negotiation. Most areas where there are more than one Brit, usually have a dedicated website set up by one of the Brits. That's how we found Lassay Les Chateaux. But everything is a compromise. We are 100% happy with the proximity to the ports, the house and what we are apying for it. If I am honest, we are only 80% happy with the immediate location. But you can spend/waste a lot of time and money looking for perfection.

oasis51

The Vendee area, a short distance in land from La Tranche sur Mer is very beautiful, benefits from the reasonable weather one can expect to find south of the Loire, and still has some 'value for money' properties available. My advice would be to rent in the area while looking at properties. This will also give you the opportunity to see if you like the area. Towns and villages around Angles, Lucon, La Roche sur Yon. All are pretty close to La Rochelle and the beaches are as varied as they are beautiful. Nearby is the nature reserve of the Marais at Marans. The area is popular but unspoiled and there are plenty of small villages, not far inland (6-12 miles) offering high quality properties, usually with decent sized plots. PM me if you want to pick my brains further. Bon chance.

Etoile de Berger

Couple of things.

I am not sure what you mean by "good weather". I have lived in the Gers where it is hot and dry in spring and certainly summer...by that I mean up to a week or uninterrupted 38-40ish temps and I stayed indoors. The sun was like a blowtorch.
I now live in Salies de Bearn, half and hour away and we get far more rain and far more humidity...that means more comfort but lots of bestioles. We can grow slugs and snails the size of langoustines.
There is a generala rule of thimb that says France is cold north of Limoges and hot south of Limoges. Bad weather in general tends to concentrate north of Limoges and better weather down south but be careful of very dry conditions. However we can get some glorious thunder storms if you live within 100 k. of the mountains.

So you pays your money etc. Try contacting the Meteo online and see if there are any records of temps etc over the last ,say, ten years

Now point number two. If you are thinking you may want to start a business in France...DO YOUR HOMEWORK BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING. Check taxes and employment conditions. It isn't as easy as doing it in GB. And do remember that you don't want to be stuck in the middle of what seemed at first to be idyllic isolation.

Good luck.