Cheap France

[idun]

I didn't move to a cheap France, or a cheap region, because where I moved to there was work and people from all over France moved there too. Not a dying region, more dynamic really.

However, when the young are deserting their family homes to move far away, then eventually where they are from starts to die. Ofcourse, in these regions property was cheap and foreigners moved in, but even with all the foreigners it still has not stopped some hameau from dying. 

These tiny villages with several homes, some even renovated and out buildings, maybe a bar, a church, a salle, and all for the price of a house elsewhere. One estate agent happily said that one deserted hameau was like an island, that one had to want to be there, and that made my blood run cold. I cannot imagine living in an inland area that is considered so remote as to be compared to be an 'island'. I am a practical person, and it simply goes against every oz of me to find that idea in anyway charming. I wouldn't even want to holiday anywhere quite so isolated.

These hameau are for sale all over France, but as another estate agent said, sometimes people end up losing when they come to sell, after investing a lot of money, and that would be a very easy thing to do, invest lots of money on very old buildings. A risky business and perhaps not a good investment.

[grumpyaudeman]

I agree with Idun

20 years back I moved to France yes it was cheap in the Correze £20,000 we left 10 years later for another area sold the house with just £2,000 of works for 135,000 Euros the entire village is now inhabited by none French families

In the Pays Basque our next home prices were expensive and few non French residents and very few unemployed personal, it took a while but we sold up with a little profit

Now we are in the Aude its Correze time again cheap properties many Brits Americans and Aussies and dying villages In some towns there are young teenagers demanding money from you in the street

[Quillan]

Round my neck of Aude they either go to Bordeaux, Toulouse or Montpellier for work. If they can't find work there they go to the UK because they can get work there in within a few days of arriving. There is nothing here for them and the days of people working a short distance from where they live have long gone.

[lindal1000]

I suppose it depends what you are looking for. We can see at least 10 other houses from ours. I find that quite reassuring and we both agreed that we didn't want to be so isolated that we never saw anyone..although for some people it's what they wish for.

I suppose it also depends on what you mean by 'cheap'. You can still pick up reasonably cheap property in the country, especially if you are using the proceeds from the sale of a London or Parisian flat to buy it!

We are looking at buying an investment property at some time in the future, and for that, one of the criteria is that it must be within reasonable distance of a railway station, as commuting is definitely on the up amongst our target renters.