Ancient, modern or newbuild

[Patf]

Everyone to their own tastes, but I'm interested in why people prefer a certain type of house, how much they cost, resale values etc. We looked at over 30 houses when we first came and I would have loved an old farmhouse ( we looked at several) but in the end bought a modern pavillon. Mainly for financial reasons as we just couldn't afford to do a lot of renovation. Although the house needed finishing and the lambris was overpowering the bonuses were the setting, the land that goes with it, view, and distance from busy roads. If we sold it I doubt if we would get much more than we paid for it. I wonder why other people chose the type of house they ended up with ? Pat.

[epinay]

Hello

As you have had no replies I thought I'd give you my thoughts on houses.........

I personally prefer an old house with character features and some history to the house.  I also like to put my own mark on a house.  Often I can see how the layout of the rooms can be improved or how, by re-siting a staircase it would give better or independant access, or how opening up a vaulted ceiling could create the wow factor - and I enjoy implementing my ideas.  I also enjoy the physical work involved.  And when the house is finished, all to our own design but retaining or having re-discovered unique character features - well, that gives me a geat feeling of satisfaction and pleasure in my house.  I have always loved houses, and my dreams are often of houses - but never new ones!  

Epinay

 

 

[Tresco]

Hi.

We certainly would have considered a modern house, if one had come up in the right place that wasn't snapped up straight away by locals, mostly. I have been in some lovely ones, but I also see many that just look ugly to me (exterior wise). I have lived nearly all my life in very old houses, and I suppose you do get used to certain things like room hight, architraving, etc, which are sometimes absent in modern houses.

The thought of building never occurred to us, because the cost of building what we would have wanted - well, grand designs does come to mind, and there was no way we could unleash the potential for spending in that way. We played safe and bought an old house that was basically a shell. I'ts still only half done, but very comfortable and livable in.

tresco

[Piprob]

Well, we went for new built. But there is no shortage of old character - the moment hergoodself crosses the threshold!

[Patf]

Thanks for the replies. Interesting that you would have bought a modern house, Tresco, as I get the impression that most Brits want something with "character". But perhaps there are many like us that can't face or afford the renovations. What I'm really asking, I suppose, is when (and if)we decide to move, what type of people should we aim the sale at? It's a 20 year old pavillon with a habitable sous-sol and 3 hectares of land. The outside should look quite attractive after we've tarted it up a bit. Would this appeal to the French more than to Brits? Pat.

[Mysfloss]

Character is what you put into a house yourself,a new house allows you to put that character  without interference.Outside character is not for me something other then look at me,aren't I wonderful .

[Quillan]

We looked at all three and our thoughts after looking at quite a few houses were these.

 

Renovation – A lot of what we were shown were basically four walls and if you are lucky a roof. Now I do a bit of DIY to a reasonable standard but a builder I am not. The major works would therefore need to be done by a professional and having followed some of the experiences of others here a few years back I became quite worried about who I would employ. I would have preferred to employ French builders, after all the older French builders have been around for years and are fully conversant with the types of houses built here. The problem with this is lack of French language which as others have said here and I now totally agree is paramount. How do you get what you want across when you can’t speak the lingo? Mind you I love some of the house descriptions; my favourite is “requires some modernization”. What that inevitably means is you would be better of blowing the place up and starting again.

 

New Build – Having seen a few round here, new builds, as do renovations, need to be project managed to ensure you get what you want and that it comes in on price. Approving a drawing, getting planning permission then going back to the UK and visiting every 6 to 8 weeks is not a good idea, you really need to be there. In my personal opinion you need to live very close by if not on site. Again this is the same with renovations. It’s often very hard to see from drawings, even with 3D impressions what things really will look like in the flesh. The bigger problem comes when the utilities are installed, do you want a power socket here or there etc as things do change as you go along. Probably the biggest thing is the wait. Any good French builder will be booked two possibly three years in advance and we were not willing to wait.

 

Modern – This is the route we went. OK in our case we had to make some changes as we converted the house to a B&B and made all the bedrooms en-suite. Having said that if we just wanted to live in it we only had to decorate, this is the way you put your personal mark on a house and for me I can do most (not structural) of the work myself. Our house was 18 years old when we bought it so we had a mature garden (something you don’t get with a new build) and the house had ‘settled in’. Houses of this age, like a new build, are well insulated which is difficult to do with renovations if you want to keep that ‘character’ feel.

 

We were lucky in that a lot of thought went in to our house and it was built to a high standard. There were quirky things about the house which we now understand like the kitchen faces north and not south as we are accustomed where possible in the UK because it would get far to hot in the summer. It has a walk in pantry, having it in sunlight during the day will make stored go rotten quicker. There are a few other things which we thought odd (well different to the UK) but as we get use to the house we work out why things are as they are.

 

Conclusion – At the end of the day we are not all the same and people want different things so I would be very stupid to say what we did is right although it was for us. Horses for courses and all that.

[Miki]

After having done one too many renovations in France, the energy levels are really no longer  au fait with all it entails, especially with living rough, we have worked too damned hard already to desire renovating any longer, so I have to agree with Chris.

No more piles of stones for us to do up, on finishing with our present abode, we agree, it is a search for a modern but not too modern (in the sense of say around 20 years old but neo style, whatever that means  and for the same reasons, garden matured, int, ext problems solved (or should have been !), hopefully on mains drainage and on or close to shops. I bet all the immos are now saying, "so what's new with those requirements then " !!

Mind you, an old Breton stone house professionally restored looks great so just perhaps but it would have to be really well done and NOTHING to do.

I have seen too many problems associated with new builds but have also seen some really good ones, inc the neighbours sons new place along the lane but.......

 

 

[Anton Redman]

Will probably go new build as we are now resident. If we could get similar value for money from renovation of an old property we would consider going down that route. 10 years ago we bought very cheaply, have spent serious money and time on the project and love the house BUT what was fine as a holiday venue is both too small and too quiet for full time living.  

[Quillan]

[quote]Will probably go new build as we are now resident. If we could get similar value for money from renovation of an old property we would consider going down that route. 10 years ago we bought very cheap...[/quote]

Thats the thing with some of these properties to renovate is there remoteness. If you do it for a holiday home it's different but when you live here full time it becomes a real pain driving miles and miles just to get a loaf of bread and even further to get to a supermarket. Transport is another thing, being 4km from Quillan where there are bus's and trains (OK only 6 times a day but it's better than nothing) is a real boon. I used to take my car to Carcassonne to the Landrover dealer for service. When they found a problem during the service and had to wait 24hrs for the part at least I was not totally stranded. Quillan has all the shops, banks etc you need for day to day living and two supermarkeds as well.

Some of the places to renovate were really in the back and beyond which creates other broblems like getting materials delivered and because you (nearly) always pay for the service. The further you are away the more you pay plus the longer it takes to get the stuff. I often think it's the small things that catch people out when they go down the renovating route and this is only one example of a possible problem area. This is why I and many before me on the forum always say you MUST do your homework first and try to think about absolutly everything. Another example is that we know a couple who renovated and put oil CH in. They got to nearly empty and phoned up for some more, no problem, except they only delivered to that area once a month and not in the winter (because of the snow) and they had missed the last delivery date by 2 days. Stupid thing really but they didn't know and until they mentioned it I would not have thought of it either but it's just another of the many things you have to think about. As I always say we have been incredibly lucky as in the end when we bought our house the logic went out the window and the heart ruled but luck was with us and we have everything we need and in easy reach.

[Patf]

Another problem with renovation projects is that they usually end up costing much more than you expect. Some unforeseen complication will turn up, as we've found many times when renovating in UK. I've noticed many old properties for sale described as " partly renovated", I suppose people have run out of money. All in all we're happy with our pavillon now, but if we stay in France we will probably buy something with less land and nearer to a town. Pat.

[Quillan]

[quote]Another problem with renovation projects is that they usually end up costing much more than you expect. Some unforeseen complication will turn up, as we've found many times when renovating in UK. I've...[/quote]

I think in some cases people have bought places to renovate and start off very keen. They come to France to work on their 'project' which will be "a wonderful holiday home when it's finnished". The problem is that their partners can only take so many years of coming and sitting on a pile of rubble for 3 or 4 weeks a year while the 'old man' knocks walls down or whatever, not much of a holiday really. There are quite a few properties round here like this. The other thing is that these people don't really know what they are doing and have no idea of building regs in France. I've seen houses with twin and earth cable in (in one case the whole house was wired to UK spec including the power sockets), plumbing done the same way as in the UK and all sorts of things. They have to take what they can get when they sell as in some cases the whole lot has to riped out and done again. This is the main reason I always say I am not a builder and always seek proffesional advice from a local French artisan or get him to do what I know I can't do myself.

[Owens88]

We wanted light rooms (without being too hot/bright) and many 'character places' were far from that.

Having an outside space and a view, within our budget, was also important.

We were averse to being in a germolene coloured house in an estate of boxes (and we had rented a in suburbia previously, not with the full germolene colour though).

In the end our place is 150/100/30/10 years old depending on which bit you look at !

I alos note what Quillan says about renovation. That was never our intent anyway (I can tell a hammer from a screwdriver, but would rather avoid both) .  By and large it must be worth getting ones head around local standards and supplies, particularly if you are in an area where climate is markedly different than 'home'.However I am still mystified by the price of central heating boilers which (as far as I can tell) are sold on a world market anyway . Drifting Off Topic now..