Fitzy and Shahine

Hi everybody, we're Fitzy and Shahine from London. We're currently looking to buy a nice house around Limoges (Limousin or Charente) to use for holidays whilst our twins grow up and hopefully to retire to when the time comes.
Hopefully sooner rather than later!

If there's one bit of advice you'd give to someone in our position, what would it be?!

Look forward to getting to know you all!

EuroTrash

Hi. Welcome to the forum and my advice would be, unless you're manic gardeners don't get carried away and buy lots of land just cos you can. You want to spend your holidays having fun, not taming a jungle! (Sounds obvious but you'd be surprised how many people are tempted into buying places with acres of beautifully tended grounds, and seem to somehow expect the grass and weeds not to grow between visits......)

Enjoy.

Chris'nJulie

Buy mine...

NigelS

I apologise for jumping into this post but I am curious why so many people are leaving France after many years.

I have a desire to retire somewhere in Europe and France seems to tick many of the boxes. I'm concerned that, like most people, I'm viewing the French lifestyle with rose tinted specs but what other reasonable options are there? The cost of buying is far less expensive than the UK; the weather tends to be better and its far less crowded and doesnt suffer from large volumes of traffic.

I had a job which was based just outside Versailles and spend allot of my time in that area and albeit I didnt pick up enough of the language as I'd hoped I did sort of get by.

I've seen many splendid properties for sale in the Dordogne region and adjacent departments and certainly you get more for your money there compared with the UK

I have departed the UK and spent the last 8 years in the Middle East (UAE, Egypt and Qatar) so I guess the leap to another country is going to be less of a problem.

I would appreciate anyones thoughts on the matter.

Chris'nJulie

Oh, I'm not leaving, merely interested in going somewhere else in this lovely country, in the fullness of time.

Chatter Static

As said before if it's just for holidays anything bigger than 1000 smtrs is going to keep you busy whenever you come over and pick the house wisely as it will be empty for periods of time and that is when the damp musky smells set in, a big issue with old stone houses are they are not designed to be all closed up with no ventilation.

EuroTrash

Unfortunately that sums up perfectly the reasons why some people move to France. What they really want is the UK lifestyle they aspire to but can't afford in the UK, so they think France will deliver it with cheaper property, better weather and less traffic. They don't particularly like France or even know much about it, they haven't bargained for the culture being different, the customs being different, in particular the language being different, and the fact that they will have new obligations and limited entitlements in their new country - rules to respect, red tape to deal with, taxes to pay etc, and the authorities don't always make allowances for non-French speakers who get things wrong because they don't understand the system too well. And it's all outside their comfort zone and they discover they don't like it. You'd be surprised how many cling to UK TV, get all their news about what's happening in France from the UK newspapers and news channels, get their shopping delivered weekly from Asda, only want to use English speaking artisans/hairdressers/doctors, and generally don't seem to have much of a clue what's going on outside their front door in France. Plus they make the mistake of moving to remote country villages because property is cheapest there, whereas at heart they're townies and would never have wanted to live in the country even in the UK. One way and another it can't feel much like home and it can't be a very fulfilling way to live.

I'm talking about a minority but I think there was a definite surge of this type of expat 10+ years ago, because of all the TV programmes, and having stuck it out for a few years, over the past 4 or 5 years a lot have had enough want to go back but are having trouble selling.

IMHO you do need to actually like France and the French ways in order to settle here and be happy, or at the very least you have to prepared to let go of UK culture and try to adapt to your new surroundings.

cyrian

Sooo very true.
IMHO it is the people who love France because it is French who adapt best and gain most.
Houses can be cheap in certain areas of France because it is usually only foreigners who want to buy them.
The French buy new well-insulated modern houses on manageable-sized plots because of the cost of fuel.
I live in a new-built French apartment which wasn't cheap and the interior finishing is not up to the standard I would expect in the UK.
Eventually, when I choose to sell, it will sell relatively easily because there is a strong demand.
Do not expect to make a profit when you sell - the market is not like London or even the UK for that matter.
Try renting a gîte for your summer holidays first and explore your chosen area before you jump in and buy. Use the time to improve your French and ask more questions on here.

Fitzy and Shahine

Some really great comment and debate here - and sound advice too. Thank you very much.
It's a struggle to keep your feet on the ground where you see what's on offer and for how much. I've tried to do it but I still find I run away with myself a little, so thanks a lot for helping me to be sensible lol
We want a substantial, nice garden for the kids to be free in, to explore and play in as they grow up. It's hard to define what is big enough for that but easy for us to manage until we can get over there a lot more as we job share/retire, which is our goal, ultimately spending most of our time in France.
Between now and then the kids have school and we have to work.

InVinoVeritas

It depends a lot on your age and whether you can pay someone to look after the garden when you're not there. I used to have 50,000m2 and it took me all week just to look after the garden. Now, an apartment looks appealing

Touraine

Why around Limoges (Limousin or Charente) ??????????? Why that part of France ?????

cyrian

Another point worth considering for location is your travel options.
Is there a direct flight or an autoroute or a tgv line?
From West London the Tunnel is not too far nor the ferry at Portsmouth.
It depends if you would need to nip back and forth from time-to-time.
Limoges by car is showing 8.5 hours or or 1hour 40mins by Ryanair but it would take you 2 hours to get to Stanstead.
You don't (perhaps you do?) want to spend valuable holiday time driving.

Touraine

Good question/point...;

Would you go through the expense (HASTLE !!!!!!!) of buying a house in France (diverse country) based on its road/rail/air connections to the UK ? ????

If I bought a house in the UK, I would buy a house in an area I want to live/stay/want a holiday home. I don't want house near Doncaster because there is a direct flight from Tours to Doncaster.

InVinoVeritas

True, but not every trip is a holiday - often it is a quick, unplanned trip for something important and then ease of travel is the difference between dealing with it or putting it off.

Chatter Static

It has to be a consideration if it is a holiday home because in the time it takes you to drive to Toulouse you can fly to Miami and I would prefer to have a flight attendant give me Gin and Tonics whilst tryings to manage my legs in less space than sardines on a supermarket shelf.