Any ideas please?

[irving]

Hello

I am bored of weekends in London and am looking for a small town house within 3/4 hours of Calais to chill out lock up and leave cost up to 60k. I am not that expert in France but want to spend a couple of weeks searching around a good region as the size and choice is daunting. Basically are there are any favoured nice towns not to far south that people can suggest that could fit the bill? Ideas that I have discussed so far are

- One of the little seaside resorts on the channel coast

- Somewhere around Reims

Does anyone else know any nice towns to look at? e.g. Le Mans area or Orleans area? Or anywhere else really as long as it is a town and not too far too drive!

I suppose like many my ideal is a nice market town with some good bakers, bars, and plenty of older style traditional housing

Thanks

 

 

 

[Anton Redman]

3/4 of an hour from Calais only takes you a bit past Boulonge, St Omer or Dunkerque. If you try your budget in Selonger.com you may find studous in Bolougne.

However you need to be aware that if you buy at a total cost of say € 60,000 through an immobelier and sell to somebody who sends the same amount of cash in five years time it will cost you about €20,000 in notares and immo's fees.

I would rent a studio for a few months first, out of season holiday let, as if you are bored with weekends in London you will find a whole new level of boredom in a small French own on a wet Sunday in winter.

[Théière]

I think the OP meant 3-4 hours [8-)]

[suein56]

[quote user="irving"]... am looking for a small town house within 3/4 hours of Calais to chill out lock up and leave cost up to 60k.

... are there are any favoured nice towns not to far south that people can suggest that could fit the bill? [/quote]

To be honest if you are looking for anything in a coastal area or a town you should be adding at least a 1 in front of your figure. Certainly where I live by the coast even small studios, ie one room + bathroom, in town start at €95K plus notaires/state fees of around 7%.

Sue

[EuroTrash]

Assuming you meant 3-4 hrs and not 45mins - is this the sort of thing?

http://www.cazin-immobilier.com/b901056_u5-dans-une-ville-tous-commerces-maison-de-ville-avec-courette-et-dependance.html

(sorry you'll probably have to cut & paste, my browser can't seem to do urls on this site)

[Val_2]

Coastal properties cost a great deal more than say half an hour inland in most areas. Spend some time trawling the internet for the preferred region and see what properties are going for. Try also Leboncoin.fr for private and professional sales, saving the immo commission could make one hell of a big difference to your finances and also local notaires, who obviously also sell property.

[irving]

Hi thanks guys - yes I did mean 3 to 4 hours!

The coastal thing is probably too expensive - I did see a little town house for 45k in a place could Treport but have no information on the area. I think overall however the value offered in the Channel coast in better than southern english seaside resorts plus the different culture which is worth a lot in itself

I have also noticed that Sunday's in France are bit er...slow....but I am hoping that the absense of cars and people can help do some more outdoor things like cycling etc

I think like many people I have driven through France and you do so often drive through little towns that are so nice - I should have noted down a few more names!

One final question - has anybody been to Laon as I have seen some very good value property on there and it seems very well placed between Paris and Calais

Cheers

 

[idun]

Laon, well I posted about it recently, we were warned by someone there not to leave our car or it would get nicked or we'd be robbed.

I got the impression that it is a bit of a rough old place.

 

As with anywhere, the value will indicate lots of things. ie Knightsbridge or Peckham, work out which would be dearer and why, just the same in France, as some town/villages are expensive and some are not, same rules apply, even in the country of liberte egalite and fraternite.

[suein56]

[quote user="idun"]Laon, well I posted about it recently, we were warned by someone there not to leave our car or it would get nicked or we'd be robbed.

I got the impression that it is a bit of a rough old place. [/quote]

So ... perhaps not quite the place to buy a lock-up-and-leave holiday place then?

Sue

[Beckett]

Don't know about Laon but Le Treport is nice. Sleepy, but nice. It'll liven up in the summer.

Have you any idea where you want to be, or are you still at the pipe dream stage? Would you be better taking some time off work - maybe a month or so - and touring the likely areas? There are plenty of good books on the subject - Amazon had loads - for you to browse.

[Beckett]

As a general rule of thumb, though, for your sort of money you'll be getting a small property in a poor part of a big town, or something bigger in a village, or a renovation project.