cyrian

Many new members on BE talk about operating a gite in France.
I found this article which may be helpful.
I also found other similar articles.
Operating a gîte in France

dmu

Should be included in the FAQs above!

EuroTrash

Interesting article.
Just a shame (IMHO) that it seems to take it for granted that the target market will be Brits.

Tweedpipe

Just had a speed-read through the linked article. I note there is no indication of the date of the article, therefore the estimated figure that there are five gîtes available for every person wanting to book one, may or may not be current.
One thing that does appear to be the case now is that the gite market is saturated. I base this comment on a 60sec scan through LBCoin and see that there are 15078 gites (or potential gites) currently on the market in France, 12877 with agents, and 2201 placed by private sellers. That imho is a huge amount. Obviously a certain number would be ageing owners deciding to retire, but the others? I could have a damn good guess......

dmu

I speed-read the article, too, and had to read through a second time to find "don't forget to factor in the tax and other social contributions" and the recommendation to consult an Accountant.
This administrative/fiscal aspect was glossed over, a minor detail compared to the rest.
For potential gîte owners who are reading this thread, the link below gives official info concerning the different types of "Meublés de tourisme" (= gîtes). Such a venture involves a certain level of French in order to cope with the Bureaucracy, which I don't think was mentioned in the article.
https://www.service-public.fr/partic...sdroits/N19104

Tweedpipe

Good additional info DMU.
I'm sure at least a few current gite owners will read this and think, 'Oh if I'd only known that before diving in.'

Novocastrian

I find it bewildering (and somewhat amusing) how often the phrases or words "relaxed lifestyle" "stress free" and "maybe run a gite or two" appear in the same post on here.

BEVS

I have added the link

Tweedpipe

Since my post #4 above, I note that on LBCoin there are now 15170 gites (or potential gites) currently on the market in France. That's an increase of almost 100 in just 4 days!
Maybe it's just the time of year, or more owners planning retirement, or panic selling. I'll let you guess which.
What could be helpful in an attempt to understand the stats further, are any comments from current content gite owners, and also from any who have regrets about taking the plunge. I appreciate that failure is always more difficult to discuss that success, but any related feed-back could be invaluable.
To those that have suceeeded and for whom it's their sole source of income, is it really a relaxed and stress-free lifestyle?