carol24

we are pretty much fearless when it comes to DIY, but we are getting older and wiser (that's debatable ) and my attitude is, if not now, when ? We are both from England originally and have to say that unlike Americans the English can be a be of a naysayer nation ... Here I have learned and had to to get on with it, My motto is ... where there's a will .. get out of MY way, its worked well for us so far ...I'm hoping with my Irish Anglo upbringing and my adopted American lifestyle will help me conquer most things ... here's hoping

carol24

As for the weather in Brittany I live on the east coast ... freezing /blizzards in the winter, hot humid summers ... and I grew up just outside Manchester rain rain ,more rain ,so come on throw it all at me after all I will be on holiday so who cares about the weather. SMILE

carol24

anyone know about the mayenne area we are open to looking there too
as property seems to be a bit cheaper

Novocastrian

This is pretty much what we have done. We bought five years ago (in Calvados) and have done most of the needed renos during the last several summers.

The "bones" of the house were good so nothing ridiculously difficult has been required. Unlike you we intend to retire in France rather than commute across the Atlantic (we live in Toronto). On the finance side, we simply arranged a line of credit secured against about 20-25% of the equity in our Canadian house and bought the place here outright. Perhaps this is something you could consider too?

carol24

Hi Novocastrian
we did just that , line of credit plus small savings but we still want a BARGAIN ... who knows we may retire there its an open book at the moment ... and we still have to find a place and things look like they are coming down in price so fingers crossed

Novocastrian

Happy house hunting! We are lucky enough to have family here and one of my wife's cousin noticed that the house we finally bought was on the market and sent us the details. When we came back to Calvados for our annual summer holidays in 2007 we sort of, err, fell in love with the place (even though it was a tip at the time). I've often said that she spends more time deciding on a pair of shoes than she did on this house. No regrets at all though.

I agree that prices are decreasing still around here at least. Go for it!

victorian67

I am French and I cannot encourage you strongly enough but to rent first and see if you feel that the place will be right for you as a place that you only visited while on Holiday can be so incredibly different when you live there

The French real estate market is very unstable for the moment with an increasing number of real estate agencies closing down and an expected 20 000 jobs lost this year in the sector

Banks are "walking on eggs" as us French say when it comes to granting even small loans and the sellers are holding on to their houses refusing to drop the prices in fear of unhappy tomorrows, so I would suggest you study very carefully the situation and not jump in as you may live to regret it.

After all, you deserve a happy move but a carefully prepared one

abbytuttut

Hi Carol - from one manc to another - the weather and the landscape here (Huelgoat) is very similar to the peak district, just not as grey and although it rains a lot, the rain doesn't hang around for weeks on end its beautiful!!!
We live just outside Huelgoat, we bought our house 18 months ago and its coming along nicely, hard work, materials and the cost of a lot of items are more expensive but daily living is mostly on par with the uk now and I love it!!!
inbox me if you want any advice, dont worry I won't try to sell you anything lol
I've got nothing to sell!