Hello all.
Brand new here, so Hi. Planning a move to France at the moment.
Just wanted to say hi as the questions are going to be coming thick and fast from us.
"Us" is myself my wife and our friends, who are also a married couple, 4 of us in total, plus the 2 cats! (can't leave them at home can we!)

Planning to move to the south-west of France, visited a couple of times to inspect the areas. Absolutely love what we have seen so far.

Does anyone have any advice for us?

Thanks.

Hi and welcome on board,Glad you bringing the cats.As for advice you fire away with the questions,and Im sure you will get the advice you need,there are a lot of lovely people on here and between them a vast amount of knowledge.Looking forward to your posts.

I think I actually made sense then(note to self)

hi,


Just to say 'well done' and have a great life'.

Thanks for the speedy welcomes!!

Heres a question for you then,

In the Aquitaine region we seem to have an idea that the house prices are going up quite a lot at the moment? It seems as if the region is where the UK was 5 or 10 years ago? Is this right or not, or is it half right, or is it so far from the truth its unreal?

Hi GT from a fellow Tyke! I think it's safe to say that house prices are increasing right now across the whole of France with just a few exceptions.

The only advice I'd give you is to make sure you have a very strong friendship with your friends if you're looking to move, live & work with each other. Oh, and if you don't already speak French, then learn at least the basics. Other than that, it's fantastic out here. Only I'm in the Loire, not Aquitaine.

Good Evening and welcome

PJ

Welcome aboard. And good luck planning and executing the move. There are lots of knowledgeable and helpful folk in here, (even if I'm not one of them).

This september it was reported in the local paper (Aude in the South/Eastern Pyrenees)that for the first time in 10 years property prices are going down across France with the exception of Paris and the Cotes d'Azur. July saw a drop of 0.6% in the prices of old properties. This is from a high point in in 2004 of a 16.9% increase. When it comes to second homes the newspaper reported:

"The days when the English bought barns and ruins at any price over" explained the estate agent from the Ariege who for the first time in five years could find no buyers in Mirepoix, the most British of the bastide's in the South of France. Taking into account the cost of building work, foreign buyers, no longer as numerous, are starting to bargain. Another phenomenon, having a principal residents in the countryside around the Gers, the Ariege or the Lauragais, is no longer in fashion. In the Pyrenees and on the coast, abundant newbuilds are bringing about a drop in prices ... for old buildings.

Treskillard

House prices have dropped here to Tres.

eh up then
As usual Tres has come up trumps - With all the info that tres has i secretly think that tres is in actual fact........

Wikipedia!!!!!

no joking aside keep the info coming Tres i for one couldnt manage without it

Well said PJ,

Hi,

A little advice....

Spend sometime exploring the region and getting to know whats what.

For instance ... a tempting 'do it up' project could be some distance from the nearest 'Brico' or builders merchants and delivery charges are high here!

What may be a bustling market town in the summer could turn out to be a ghost town between October and March.

Get used to enjoying a long lunch...probably for less than 12 euros with 3 courses and wine!

Learning French is a must...or at least try...the locals will appreciate the effort...I am pretty useless, but they smile a nod a lot!

We toured in a new, rented motorhome from a company based near Bergerac, run by an English family. It was perfect to explore and locate our new home.

Best of luck....keep us informed

Good luck with your research, we will be new to the Aquitaine region ourselves after Christmas and have a lot to learn also.

In the meantime, enjoy your searches, and most of all do your research well.

Well I expected only 1 or 2 replies but got loads more than that - Thanks for your help.

Especially interested in the stuff that Treskillard said, thanks for that info.

We are all currently living together in a small terraced house, this is so we can save up the pennies by splitting everything, but also so we can find out how we live together, if it would work etc.... So far so good and its been a good few months now.

need2no - Hello to you. Whereabouts in the region are you planning to move to?

We are looking to move to the Limousin or the Cherente, we visited in June and found the place charming. It was like stepping back in time and as pensioners form a bygone era when good manners and a smile were the norm, we were hooked. I have been researching the property market for ages and have found the property prices in the above areas much cheaper than the Aquitaine. How I wish we had taken the plunge in June as since then the Euro has taken a dive against the pound and therefore making property dearer. Hope this is may be of use to you.