Hi - I'm new to this Forum!

I would be very pleased to hear from those who have experienced selling up in the UK and moving to Brittany.

I have read a number of forums from expats and read advice that before moving, it's best to rent a property for 4 weeks and sell your own property before buying in France.
I have hired a gîte in January (couldn't find one any earlier) in Rennes, but have not yet heard from the owner to confirm this booking.
I intend to visit Pontivy; Josselin, Vannes and Auray with a view to deciding which of these to move to.

I have transferred some money (primarily to place a deposit of around 10%) into Euros via Moneycorp and an Estate Agent is "going live" today, with the advertisement of my property on the Kent coast.

I've been contacted by AXA, who want me to open a bank account with them.

I'm now telling myself that I'm running before I can walk!
I feel that if my sale goes through PDQ, I'll be homeless.

Please tell me what I should be doing!

DON'T PANIC!
I never rented anywhere, but I did live in a campervan for a while Homeless is great, you feel very unfettered.

There's no rules, you do whatever suits you, you just need do what feels comfortable and beware of certain pitfalls.

The main reason why we often say Rent First, is because if you rush into buying a house without thinking about it carefully enough, and it turns out to be the wrong house for you, or in the wrong area for you, it can take literally years to sell. And property transactions are expensive in themselves.

If you can afford to buy in France without selling in the UK, that's a good position to be in - if you rent your UK property out you'll have an income, and somewhere to go back to if you ever decide you want to. But if you need the money from the sale in the UK, either don't sign a contract until you are 101 per cent sure you will get the money in time, or have a clause put into the contract saying it's subject to selling your UK property; because once you've signed the contract you are committed.

Open an account with AXA if you want to but don't open an account with AXA because they want you to. Would you open an account with Santander in the UK because they rang you up and told you to? You wouldn't, would you.

If you're getting twitchy about your rental, email or phone the owner.

As long as you've planned your finances realistically and you know how you'll access healthcare when you arrive, probably all you can do is sit and wait for things to happen and try to stay calm - yes it's hard when you're on the edge of an adventure. Brittany is lovely. Enjoy what lies ahead.

Hope this helps

Firstly, Welcome to BE!.

I would consider renting for more than a few weeks before deciding to buy, you really need to see the area in all sorts of weathers etc, and 4 weeks is really no more than a long holiday. If you can, I would consider at least 6 months and preferably a year before making the decision to part with your cash.

Hi, and welcome to the forum!
If your Rennes gîte isn't confirmed, why not look for a gîte further West, nearer to all the places you mentioned? If you go visiting every day from Rennes, you've got all that driving to do, there and back, in January to boot. It's advisable to visit possible properties at different times of the year, but at least you'd be visiting houses at their worst in January and wouldn't have nasty surprizes after only a summer visit....
Good luck with your search, you've chosen a lovely area!

Welcome to the forum!
My very first impression trying to read between the lines of your post was yes, not only are you trying to run before walking, but there are also some hurdles out there which need careful thought prior to leaping over - and to avoid a painful (and potentially expensive) fall.
But I may be wrong. You may be perfectly in training for what you wish to achieve.
First things first.
-How well do you know France?
-What draws you to leave the familiar, relative comforts of UK?
-Is this a move related to retirement (without the necessity of finding employment)?
- Are you familiar with the healthcare formalities, delights of dealing with French bureaucracy etc?

One comment you made has me feeling uneasy. "I feel that if my sale goes through PDQ, I'll be homeless".
The follow-up comment from ET, "Homeless is great, you feel very unfettered" may refer to a few, but for a great many, putting oneself in that situation imho would be extremely reckless, not to mention stressful. My advise to anybody would be (i) rent out UK property if practical before you arrive in France, or (ii) only sell your UK property when you are convinced that you really want to remain in France.
I'd agree with other posters, you are visiting at the right time of year. If you find an area that really appeals to you out of season, with long drawn-out nights and winter temperatures, it is highly likely that you will love the place even more during the other seasons. Ideally you should stay longer than one month if possible to get the true vibes to assist in making the significant decision of moving abroad permanently.
Good luck with your plans.

Homeless is fine as long as you're not also destitute. It's just a little parenthesis in life's rich tableau. You stick all your worldies into storage and the world is your oyster. Very liberating. What's to stress about?
But I did also say, if OP can hang onto their UK property, or even downsize so as to keep a stake in the old country, that is certainly wiser.

PS Why not Saint-Malo? I really really fancied renting a rooftop apartment inside the walls and going for a run on the beach every morning. But renting was so complicated, it was easier to buy a house, and after the Saint-Malo dream went wrong I decided against Brittany and came to Normandy instead. But hey, you could live my dream for me!

PPS don't take anything I say too seriously, nobody else on the forum does

I think most of us do. Those that don't may well learn why in time.

OK. Put that way I agree does make sense.
(As Novo said, I'm learning with time).

Hi and welcome. Read and re-read your post and the good replies from some wise heads. It's about what you don't share that was touched on in one post. Why do you want to sell up and live in France? Are you retired? Close to that point? Why France? You know the country well? Do you need to work? Can you work in France if you do? Do you speak, understand French? Do you know all that is involved in buying a house in France? What do you know of the health system and that while brilliant from my experience, is not the same as the NHS? The areas you refer to, do you already know them? Holidays there? Other links? Finally, if you buy and change your mind, say a year later, house sales in France are not quick as in the UK. It is not unusual for sales to take a year or even two plus. í ½í¸³

Hi all - thank-you so much for your replies - I feel as though I've made a load of friends already!

Your posts are very helpful!

To shed some light on my position, I had retired (too early) at 51 and moved to the coast from Sidcup - I lived in a nice flat which was well managed. I now live in a flat that is very badly managed and the management fees are high. I cannot really afford to live here and selling up to buy another property in the UK is a non-starter.
I have no income, not particularly good family relationships and only friends in London, who come down from time to time.
Hence an idea to buy in La belle France! I've studied the market in various locations within the Morbihan region and via Google, 'visited' these areas. Pontivy attracts me, because most properties are a good size and ready to move into - but I don't have a feel for the Département, because I haven't visited it yet.
Also, Sterling is strong; thus my converting some money now, with a view to paying a deposit (if that's usual to hold a property) once I've negotiated the asking price - I am aware that web-sites give inflated asking prices. I shall also instruct a Notaire.
Another 'plus' for me, is that the French themselves, have told me (voluntarily) that I speak French well. They've even argued with me, saying that I cannot be English!
My family generations past, came from Brittany and I walked the 'O' level, realising that I'd been given a gift.
Some years ago, I drove for a number of weeks, around the Loire region, ending up in Lyons and Grenoble and hit the heavy traffic in Paris on one occasion. I no longer drive, but the Pontivy - Rennes coach will be useful, as I can buy a carnet and get off the coach to look round places such as Josselin and Pleugriffet.
The ease with which I can open a bank account is also encouraging, as I thought it would be difficult - I've been sent the three opening forms by AXA who are recommended by Moneycorp. I'm keen to open an account, because my Euros are just sitting in a Client account earning no interest. AXA will open the account, accepting the Compromis de Vente when it is available. There is a branch in Baud, which I can reach on the no.17 bus, if I move to Pontivy.

You can tell that I've retired, by the length of this post!

BTW: My Estate Agent has just sent me the link which gives info. about my property which I have to agree to, before it goes live. I'll ask him to hold off until I return from Rennes in January, unless forumites tell me otherwise.
I've been panicking due to the timing of the whole conveyancing process.
I'd like to think that when required, I shall have the purchase monies available...

Thanks for reading!

Hello NickB62 - it's decades since I knew Sidcup, it was very des res back then.

Your main issue would seem to be, how you're going to access healthcare. If your pension is sufficient income to make you eligible to join CMU, the general national healthcare scheme, it won't be an issue, you'll just pay contributions based on a percentage of income. However if your income is below the threshold and you are refused, you would need to arrange full private healthcare which can be quite expensive, and in some cases unobtainable if they don't like your medical history.

Also, paying a deposit upfront to hold a property sounds dodgy to me. The house buying process in France is very straightforward and transparent. But trying to do things in ways the system wasn't designed to do, usually ends in tears. There are loads of properties on the market and a lot of people desparate to sell - come over, spend time looking, and make a considered decision.

Once you've found a property, then you get the contract drawn up and you read it very carefully - rights of way, access, guarantees for recent building work, structural problems. If you have any queries you get them sorted. When you're happy with the contract you sign it, and that's when you pay the deposit. After that neither party can change their mind. Well you can :-) but best scenario for you is, you lose your deposit, worst case scenario, in theory, you still have to pay the full asking price. Don't sign anything or put a deposit down until you're sure. It's not like the UK where you can change your mind and drop out at any time.

If you're hoping to put down a deposit without committing yourself, I don't see how that would work. Most sellers market their property privately and through any number of different estate agents. I don't see them taking it off the market entirely to give somebody the option if that somebody isn't ready to sign a contract, and the law in France is that if a seller has a property on the market and somebody offers the full asking price, they cannot refuse that offer. The fact that you'd put down a deposit, if no contract had been signed, would make no difference.

Check that healthcare isn't going to be a problem then come over, spend time, get a feel for the places, and don't rush into buying. Start looking when you've been here for a month or so.

PS even when you've chosen your property, it's going to be several months before the sale completes. It's not a quick process. But I totally agree that you should spend time here first before selling, many months rather than a few weeks, to be sure that this is going to be right for you. And check out the healthcare situation - sorry, did I say that before

Yet another post that could be the beginning of a Sticky thread (with a change of title)

Nick, I know you said earlier that you retired (too) early @ 51, but you didn't say how old you are now?

If you're in receipt of a State Pension from the UK (or elsewhere in the EU), the health care question is easy to resolve.

Healthcare in France may well be a problem; I had a heart attack back in June and the NHS introduced me into a cardiac rehabilitation programme which is about to finish.
I am not the normal retiree - I'm only 53 and have some years to receive a pension!

If only I'd signed up to this web-site when I first considered moving!