Our Crazy Adventure!

[jlaceysmith]

Hello Brad and Penny, and welcome to LMH.

We are in the Vienne, 3 gites and our farmhouse. We bought them as "ready to go" but they just weren't. We've spent 3 times the price of your example house price (which appears to have no land - 0.12 of an acre?) just on getting the gites, pool and gardens to the standard that we're happy with, including all the boring stuff like rewiring, fosse septiques and heating. Our own house didn't have a serviceable kitchen or bathroom and we thought we could live with that, but believe me, the novelty soon wore off....

I think many people think that the more gites they have, the more revenue they will have. That's not always the case, sometimes it's the opposite. Last year we had a washing machine, a dishwasher and a major fault on the pool pump all fail in the same week. Guests expect those problems to be fixed immediately and so would I - so we did. But it wiped out a big chunk of our income, and you'll have to be prepared for that. Even general maintenance - painting, decorating, replacing linens and planting the gardens for summer can be a big expense that needs a budget. We're very lucky that we have brilliant guests and run at an 85% return rate. but that's taken a lot of work and even more financial and emotional investment!

Good luck with your dream, I'd never say don't do it because we did, with a 9 year old daughter and not much of a financial safety net and we've never regretted it for one moment. But I wouldn't use Leggetts as my pole star, I would look at the national French notaire immobilier site and local agents too.

[JaneS]

Penny and Brad

No you are not stupid and everyone needs a dream. My experience would have been vastly improved if I had found this forum at the planning stage as you have. Just be careful and spend time doing research. You may find that a small B&B with your IT work might be an option to look at it you are looking for a lifestyle change.

[annedab]

Definitely don't feel stupid - you have asked the right questions and been given some very wise advice here which has probably thrown up points that you (and many, many others in your position) would not have considered. Jlaceysmith has summed it up nicely. We didn't have any nasty shocks when we did almost exactly what you are doing, but it is the little things that all conspire to make things more difficult/time-consuming and expensive than you have anticipated - giving a room a quick coat of paint, replacing a wonky blind etc etc. All easily solved in the UK by a quick dash to Wilko/Homebase but a bit more of an "meticulously planned expedition" in rural France, especially factoring in lunchtime closing, lack of Sunday trading.

Personally, I love being away from the whole 24/7, retail culture mindset, but it takes a bit of getting used to and does need to be factored in.

Good luck with your adventure - whatever it ends up being...... most of the answers you could ever need are here on LMH somewhere!

[CSE]

Never feel stupid. You have taken some advise from this forum. Just wished we had seen this website when we started in this game.

[Ecosse]

Please don't feel stupid - you did what many don't, and asked for advice from people who are already in the business. If only everyone had the sense to do that first! I'm not sure I can add anything, other than that many, many people have the same dream as you, and while it is possible, for many it's not feasible. Yes, all of us here have no regrets, but we are the ones who 'made it', so to speak. I suspect we represent less than half of those who start out.

If you're still serious about moving to France, you could consider getting a 'caretaker job' for a season or more? We have lovely British clients who stay with us regularly (they're into climbing/skiing and stay with us whenever they book a course with a locally based guide) who are gearing up for their second winter season running a catered chalet elsewhere in the Alps. They'll be employees of one of the large ski companies (can't remember which one, but there are many) so will have none of the risks associated with setting up on their own. They're renting their UK house out and are using this second season as a real taster to see if they want this lifestyle long term.

Other friends found an ad on Gumtree for a couple to become concierges of a towerhouse that was occasionally let out, near Limoux (Carcasonne)... it's been a bit of a rollercoaster for them as the property was sold recently, and they've now been given notice to leave, but not before they've had a chance to really settle into the area, make friends and find alternative employment.

One of these couples (both similar in age to you) could speak good French before they came, the other intends to start learning properly this winter. It also helps if you're a bit 'handy' - not only is it often necessary to fix anything that breaks while you're a concierge, but it can be very useful for finding other work, as our friends in Limoux found to their benefit.

Good luck with whatever you decide!

[French Cricket]

That's a great idea from gitemontjoly.

One thing I always suggest to someone looking to move to France is to try before you buy if at all possible! I don't know how well you know France, Penny & Brad, but it's really important to find a region that you really love, not just one where prices are low ... buying in the wrong place for you could be a costly mistake in so many ways. We rented before we bought our current house, and I'm very glad we did as we were simply not quite in the right place for us. After two or three months we moved our search area further south and west and bingo!