Proper planning prevents p**s poor performance!

We often get asked why we moved to live in France and the French are as interested in the answer as anyone.  Everyone has their own reasons for chasing the dream and for us it was about living a more fulfilling and less stressful life with the opportunity to have some peaceful, open space around us and breathe some clean air. It was not a rash decision after a bottle of French wine whilst watching one of the many UK TV programmes about Brits moving to the sun; it was something we had thought about for at least five years before finally making it happen. 

But for a move like this to be successful I think planning is key and every now and then I come across a document on the computer that was related to what we termed “Project Cinquante” (I’d just turned 50 you see!). Lists of tasks that had to be completed before we could move, lists of organisations that needed to be informed and, most importantly, the budget sheet detailing every conceivable expense. We even had a sheet showing who (between Nikki and I) was responsible for each element of Project Cinquante – removals, healthcare, finance, rental in France, the dogs etc.

A friend recently asked me if I’d be happy to have a chat to someone who was thinking of moving to France and this made me come up with the following things to consider.  Please note that this is by no means an exhaustive list, just my opinion based on our own experience.

Start your research by checking out some of the online expat sites that are a mine of very useful information and have very active forums where you can find the answer to just about any question you can think of. Two of the best I have found are the “Survive France Network” (http://www.survivefrance.com/) and “AngloInfo” (http://dordogne.angloinfo.com/ for the Dordogne version).

Where do you really want to live? In the countryside or a town, village or hamlet, totally isolated or with near neighbours for that ‘cup of sugar’ moment? We met a chap some months ago who told us that when he and his wife moved over to France they moved from London suburbia and fulfilled their dream of being totally isolated on a quiet Dordogne hillside. After two years they were going stir crazy and were fed up with only each other for company – they sold up and bought a house in the local town!

Think about transport links back to the UK - lots of flights from the regional airports in France are either summer only or they have a restricted winter schedule. If you expect to have to return on a regular basis look into the alternatives – rail can be a good option using the excellent high-speed rail network in France; alternatively you can always drive but consider the length of such a journey.

Learn the language; it still amazes me how many people we meet who have lived here for many years and still speak very little French. It can be done if you want to limit your experience to only meeting other expats and ordering your food from Tesco. Nothing wrong with either of these but what a lot you miss out on and how incredibly rude and arrogant not be able to engage with the local people in their own language. Children will pick up the language fairly quickly, but it will be very difficult for them to begin with and can take up to 18 months before they are totally happy in school; the older they are the more difficult it can be for them to settle in.

Think carefully about what your living costs will be in France; wine may be cheap (hurrah!) but food can be pricey. It does get cold here in winter and unless you have your own wood and a chainsaw, heating costs are likely to be as high or even higher than in the UK. 

If you need income beyond your pension or your lottery winnings, think carefully about how you are going to earn money to live. In rural France there is already high unemployment and if your language skills are limited it will be very difficult for you to find even a part time job.  Setting up a business is not as simple as it is in the UK and you need to think carefully about what you are going to do. Just because you were a bit handy at DIY does not mean you can call yourself a builder in France! Tourism related businesses are very popular (gites, chambres D’hotes etc.) but remember that the season is limited to only four, possibly five months of the year. Also look into the taxes that apply to businesses as they can be very…….well, taxing.

Healthcare in France is excellent but the healthcare system is very different to the UK, even once you are ‘in’ the system you have to pay for each appointment before being reimbursed and you may want to consider having a ‘top up’ health insurance policy since not all costs are covered.  It can take many months to get yourself registered in the French healthcare system, even longer if you go about it the wrong way! Again, do your research carefully about how to go about it properly

We love France, even if some of her ways can be frustrating at times and living here is certainly not one long holiday, but then nothing in life is perfect. We have, just about, achieved some of our goals in that we are able to spend more time together and are both less stressed by work; we are living mortgage free in a house that is economical to run; we have a two acre garden around us and the peace and privacy we yearned for; this year we will start to grow our own vegetables and we have an acre of wood to supply logs for the woodburner. Our monthly living costs are low but then at this stage so is our monthly income!  But, whatever happens in the future, we followed our dream and gave it our best shot. I would never discourage anyone from making the move, but I would urge them to plan it well.

Dreams of better times ahead

We are now well into our first winter in France and it is just as miserable an experience as it ever was back in England. The gloomy days with cold and wet weather just make me yearn for that first spring-like day when the sun starts to feel warm on your face and nature starts to awake from its winter hibernation.

There is an old saying that I will probably misquote here but it is something along the lines of “You can only appreciate the summer after you have lived through the winter”. It is so true and one of the reasons why I don’t think I would like to live much closer to the equator where the differences in the seasons are much less marked.

I came back home ridiculously excited last week - whilst out walking with Rolo I spotted some hazel catkins and read it as a sign of better weather to come. Sure enough, a few days later and we had our first dose of snow!

Le Clos des Chênes 'sous la neige'

Snow is not uncommon in this part of France but neither is it such a regular occurrence nor so heavy that they are particularly well geared up for it. In our rural corner there are no gritting teams working through the night so the roads had a good covering when I ventured out to view a property for my clients from New Zealand (more of this in a moment).

Wintry landscape in Busserolles

The answer the French seem to have to snowy weather is to just do nothing – literally, do nothing. Stay in by the log burner, don’t go to work, relax and wait until the snow has gone. This approach was best evidenced by the market traders at Piegut market this week. We arrived expecting a jolly winter wonderland of a market scene with stalls jammed with shoppers eager to stock up their winter store cupboards. Normally there would be 70 or 80 stalls in Piegut on a Wednesday – this week we counted 8. I’m not sure even the market manager turned out as the few stalls were scattered through the town rather than gathered together in one place.

It was cold and it was snowing, so why go out and freeze your brass monkeys off on your market stall – particularly if your customers are going to be thinking the same. We decided to reward the entrepreneurial courage of the hardy few traders who had made the effort and we bought something from nearly all of them. The one we struggled with was the stall that sells outsize undergarments and nylon housecoats to the doughty French madames. I suggested Nikki might find some of the underwear nice and warm for the winter – I won’t tell you what her reply was!

Back to the house I went to visit. It sounded too good to be true; it had the location, the interior space, the barn and the land size that my clients had specified and it was well below their budget. 

It has been used as a holiday home so I met the lady who was acting as the key holder and she kindly opened the place up for me. As she went on ahead to open up the shutters I heard her groan, “Oh dear, what a mess”. I followed her through to the rear and found the lounge floor littered with broken plasterboard – we looked up the stairs to see a large hole in the landing ceiling. Further inspection revealed damp and mold in the front bedroom as well. Unfortunately the barn, which adjoins the property, has not had a roof for the last 18 months, having had it removed before it collapsed. 

The property with its roofless barn

 The owners had decided to leave it in that condition because they never used the barn. Looking at the jagged edge of the tile roof on the house and the stone wall between the house and the barn that was now completely exposed to the elements, my guess is that the frost and rain have done their work over the last two winters and now the house is suffering badly with water ingress. 

The end result!

What a shame for the property; what a shame for me who still has to unearth the perfect property for my clients!

In the meantime, I am continuing my efforts to develop a more self-sufficient approach to daily living. Three or four times a week I try and spend an hour in the woods with my chainsaw, cutting up fallen trees and carrying the logs back up the slope in my wheelbarrow. It is back breaking work but my log pile for next winter’s use is growing nicely.

Rolo inspects the newly dug vegetable patch

I have also dug over two 15m2 patches of our field to create a vegetable patch. Over the next month or so I want the rain and the frost to work on the exposed soil (beneficially this time) and with the addition of some more spade work and some nicely rotted manure from a local farmer, I hope we will be ready to start planting in the spring.

The patches I have dug over are close by the ends of two drainpipes that I discovered take the rainwater from the house roof and currently just drain it into a muddy soak away. My next project therefore is to install a water collection system (“rainwater harvesting” I think is the eco warrior word for it) so that we have a ready supply of free water with which to water the vegetables with in the summer.

Ah, the summer……….

The French Property Scene

As I get more and more involved with French property as a result of my activities as both a property finder and an “agent commercial”, I have been trying to assess the state of the property market in France, particularly of course in the Perigord Vert. So what is going on according to those supposedly in the know?

Well the latest figures published by the ‘Notaires de France’ show that prices have fallen nationally by 3% in 2012 although this figure hides some notable falls in certain areas and rises in others (prices around Toulouse for example have actually risen by 4.5%). Over the past year, FNAIM, the national association of French estate agents, reports that house prices have fallen by an average of 1.3%. There has also been a substantial fall in property sales with both Notaires and estate agents reporting a slump of around 20% in the volume of sales despite the record low mortgage rates. As with the UK market, much of this is to do with the banks that have introduced tougher lending criteria with the result that mortgage lending is down by around 30% in the past year.

In this region, there has certainly not been a noticeable drop in prices actually asked this year but I have noticed that sellers are being more realistic about accepting offers below their asking price and this seems to have sustained the market here and kept things moving. This means that 2012 has been a buyers’ market and I think that this will continue into 2013. Properties needing total renovation are also in the frame again as are part renovated properties which are habitable though in need of some finishing, as long as the price is realistic and reflects the work to be done.

A great example of this is a property that I have recently taken on to market through Allez-Francais. It is a former railway station that was converted (rather badly) some years ago into three apartments but it has been empty for some years now and is looking rather sorry for itself. It is a large property that would make either a fine family home or perhaps a bed and breakfast property. It was on the market for €260,000 and was attracting zero interest. I advised the owners that if they really wanted to sell, they needed to lower the price significantly to reflect the renovation work that would be required. It is now on the market for just €159,000 (about £130,000) and is attracting a lot of interest. Have a look at it here.

In addition, demand for good quality properties in good locations is also strong, thanks to a lack of domestic buyers which has opened up opportunities for British and international buyers to snap up desirable properties. Click here to see an example of another property that I have just taken into my portfolio that very much fits the "quality property" tag. I really enjoyed myself photographing this one!

So how to sum up the property market in this region in 2012? Well, despite the continued uncertainty in the Euro-zone, France stays consistent in its appeal to foreign buyers and I can’t see that the wish to own a small part of this beautiful country will be changing any time soon. Certainly the lower risk factor of buying property here keeps buyers and investors interested and the very low mortgage rates, tight controls and the uncertain Euro mean that French houses are still very good value. And while property in this region hasn’t been reduced to bargain basement prices, it generally remains well under UK averages with plenty of properties available within any budget. So despite the widely varied reports on the market from different sectors of the industry, 2012 has been a relatively stable year for property in this region. Sellers have become more realistic about the price they are likely to get and so long as buyers are reasonably flexible in the kind of property they are looking for and the compromises they are prepared to make, there are some outstanding bargains to be had.

I don’t think anyone knows quite what is going to happen with the Euro or the financial climate generally but I have every confidence that, for anyone who wants a beautiful French house in a stunning location combined with a fantastic quality of life and a lovely climate, this is one of the better places in the world to spend your money on property.

Of course that is just a personal viewpoint from someone who has no regrets at all about having made the move to live and work in France!

Seeing the logs for the trees

Phew! It’s been a busy few weeks (which is my excuse for not having posted a blog for a while). My portfolio of properties for sale via the Allez-Francais.com website has grown with a further four owners entrusting me to act as their estate agent. One of my clients, Jean, wrote to me after all the details and photographs of her house had been posted on the website with the following comment: “Great example of how to market a property - you should be an estate agent!”

Jean and her husband Dave have lived in France for over 20 years and, having started off in Normandy, they have gradually worked their way further south as they have developed a series of old barns. They are ready for an easier life now and Dave started to tell me about their dream for their final project – to build a timber framed and clad house. I showed him a photo of our house in Busserolles and he went weak at the knees! This was just what they had imagined their dream house would look like so I invited them to come over and have a look. They were so excited to see our house and their enthusiasm was infectious; it really reinforced for us how lucky we are and how right we were to have forsaken the stone cottage vision that we originally started with. “However much you want for it, I’ll pay you” said Dave!

My other major work project has been the hunt for a suitable property for my clients from New Zealand who have taken me on as a Property Finder. The difficulty with this one is that I have found them a perfect property far too quickly! They do not arrive in France until March but I have found them a fantastic property that fits all their criteria and their budget (just) already. I am trying to secure a verbal agreement with the vendor but understandably they are reluctant to take it off the market to wait until a viewing in March. I think we will have to run the risk that it is sold by the time March comes around so I am continuing to view other alternatives – so far none have even come close!

The weather turned really cold here last week with a temperature of minus 10 recorded one morning. We are snug as bugs in our house though thanks to our fabulous wood burner which radiates heat through to every room. However, we inherited a limited supply of seasoned and dry firewood and the log pile has been reducing at an alarming rate. Whilst I have a whole acre of wood to go at with my chainsaw, it is wood that will not be ready for the fire for at least another 12 months. With the children visiting us over Christmas, I did not want to have to ration log usage so decided to try and buy in some more logs.

Despite seeing enormous stacks of wood around the area, I had been told that people are very protective of their log stocks and reluctant to sell. I reckoned I could work the charm however and decided to try asking at a local smallholding. I had never met the owners but they had huge piles of firewood all around their house. It turned out to be some experience!

In the yard was an old man who limped heavily towards me, reminding me of Lurch from the Addams family. He eyed me with great suspicion as I explained my request in halting French. Despite my best efforts to spread some neighbourliness, no smile cracked his impassive face. “We will ask my brother”, he grunted.

I sheepishly followed him towards the farmhouse, the journey seeming to take forever as he dragged his useless leg after him. The door was opened and I was ushered inside. The scene that greeted me was like something out of a horror movie. In a single downstairs room with broken wooden floorboards and lit only by a single dim bulb suspended from the ceiling, was a wooden kitchen table piled high with unwashed pots and cutlery. In one corner was an unmade double bed (did the two bachelor brothers share the bed?!?!), in the other an ancient and filthy wood burning stove which was obviously the sole method of heating and cooking. Sat at the table was the brother who stared at me from sunken eyes set within his pale, almost white face.

“Bonjour, comment ça va?” I tried in my cheeriest voice. “Mauvais” was the grunted response – “bad”. Lurch explained what I wanted and an alarmed look passed between them along with much shaking of heads. Sensing this was not going well I mumbled that it really was not a problem and made moves towards the door. “Cancer” and “death” were the next words I understood and I realised then that Lurch’s brother was dying of cancer – “prostate” was another word I picked up on. Feeling desperately sorry for this tragic pair but not having a clue what I could do to help them (other than not take any of their firewood) I made my excuses and left.

I have to confess that the experience left me a little shaken; partly because I felt so helpless and useless but also because it is amazing that in the 21^st century, people still live in these sort of conditions in a civilised country like France. But perhaps they choose to live like that?

I went for a safer option next and asked my French teacher is she could recommend someone – the upshot of which was a trailer load of logs delivered the next day by a charming local cattle farmer. And best of all, they burn beautifully!

Finally, with Christmas approaching, our local mayor (who is a Christmas Tree farmer) has arranged for the village streets of Busserolles to be lined with around 50 trees that the local councillors have been out and decorated. As newcomers living right on the edge of the village, we feel privileged to have one at the end of our drive. On that note, may I wish my readers a very peaceful and happy Christmas.