Thinking of buying in Aude - B&B business?

[Ljt]

I'm thinking of helping my parents invest in a semi-retirement property in the South of France and the Languedoc (partic. Aude) appears to offer reasonable properties at not too extortionate prices. BAsically we're thinking of a three bedroom village property with terrace/small garden and have a budget of about Euros 120,000.

Can anyone tell me if this sounds reasonable (it appears yes from some of the property web-sites but you never know)? Also, mum and dad would love to run a small Chambre D'hotes business with the spare rooms - does anyone have any thoughts on this? In particular - is there a demand, is the red-tape long and torturous etc etc?

Finally - given what I've said above - does anyone have any recommendations on particular areas/villages etc?

Sorry for all the questions - just trying to manage expectations before we go down the path of house and area hunting!!

Leisha

[Quillan]

LAST EDITED ON 07-May-04 AT 03:27 PM (BST)

If you don't want to have to renovate then it may be possible to get a village house in good condition with no garden.

With regards to running a B&B you might like to look at the following threads which cover the main areas of doing it legally and how to work out your tax, NI (equiv) and licences.

http://www.livingfrance.com/dcforum/DCForumID50/52.html (Licences)

http://www.livingfrance.com/dcforum/DCForumID50/50.html (B&B Micro Enterprise)

http://www.livingfrance.com/dcforum/DCForumID50/34.html (regulations)

There is loads more stuff in this part of the forum.

DO YOUR HOMEWORK is all I can say.


Good Luck

Chris

http://www.chambresdhote.com

[Baz]

Leisha

Prices of Property in Aude have dramatically increased in the last couple of years and you may be hard pressed to find any thing with a garden and 3 bedrooms in your price range that doesn't require a fair amount of renovation. Even Village properties with no garden in a good state of order are likely to have prices in excess 120,000.

But it is cetainly worth going and having a look as you may just find an ideally priced property. That's what I did 15 years ago and I did find a bargain and made an offer the day it went onto the market. Good house hunting.

Baz

[Westoncromwell]

To get this sort of house for this sort of price, you will have to buy alittle bit away from the coast, in the Corbieres for example. We bought from the following agence who were very helpful throughout:

cledescorbieres.com

[Richard Capon]

I would also recommend the Corbieres or into 'my' area in the Minervois. Even so, 120,000 Euros is rather a low sum for a property for even a village property that will attract B&B customers. Yes, you will certainly get a three bedroom village house for 120,000, but you may find a garden or garage is not affordable.

Olonzac, for instance, has several Estate Agents that speak English and carry a good range of property.

All the best with your venture.

Richard 

[Quillan]

Judging by what some of our guests are bringing back from agents I reckon that you would be talking about €200,000 plus. You then have to think about modifying the house by adding en-suite facilities to each letting room as most people expect this these days (even the French).