holiday home

[Nebulous]

[quote user="grumpyaudeman"]Hi

Quillan is just down the road for me it's the pits After 18 months nearby cannot wait to move back to the Pays Basque The Aude is a very poor area cheap properties but poor services and the locals are not friendly beggars are everywhere begging a cigarette I have lived in France 20 years and this area is not on my hit list we have to travel 30 minutes along a tight gorge to Axat for a Doctor and dentist because there are no professionals locally[/quote]

Thanks grumpyaudeman. We haven't actually been to Quillan yet, and may find it puts us off as well. We intend having a good look around this time when we're over.

We really expected to like the Pays Basque, but it was our least impressive holiday to France to date. Miles and miles of maritime pines and very few tourist attractions. There were some impressive caves and a mountainside railway, but they were quite a journey from where we stayed. Maybe we need to give it another try at some point.

[suein56]

Nebulous wrote : We assumed property nearer the coast would be more expensive but I really like that.

Ref Norman's find : https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/1010936312.htm?ca=13_s

It's great but I'm not so sure for a holiday home as there is no outside space at all, not even a tiny terrace.

Sue

[Judith]

I agree with NormanH that Trebes is busy - but if you like that, there are lots of shops and tourists there. Some of the areas in the Aude and Herault are very dependent on tourists, and die out of season (the season being June - Sept if you are lucky, quite often only July - August).  It can be bleak out of season in the hills, and quite a lot of places are are least 30 mins drive to the nearest shops.

Pricewise, I haven't looked at the adverts which have been offered here, but I can tell you that even if you do not at the moment think you will want to sell one day, be aware that house prices tend not to rise much, if at all, and quite often fall.  We have just taken almost 6 years to sell the house we bought when we first came to settle here, in the Aude, and only did that with the help of a very hard working agent and by reducing the price several times, to almost half of it's original price by the end.  So do not look at it as an investment .... which  you could liquidate quickly if in need of cash.

Having said that, my sister is now happily using the holiday home our father bought 20 years ago (not in this region), though during the last few years they have had to have considerable work done on it to bring it up to reasonably modern and comfortable standards .... eg new roof, replacing paving, windows modernised, new kitchen ... etc and that was from a perfectly livable-in if old fashioned house.

I also think you could have some lovely holidays without worrying too much about cost if you put what you are thinking of putting into a holiday home into your holiday fund instead!  IMHO there are just so many places to visit, and owning a holiday home is not a cheap option (taxes, bills, dealing with fonctonnaires etc).

[NormanH]

Sue is quite right about the house in Coursan. There is no terrace or garden.

Only you can know if having a bit of outside space is important of course.

There is plenty of countryside, and beaches are close, but it is true that it is nice to just relax at home with a drink or brekky on the terrace.

At the same time that is something that puts up the price...

[woolybanana]

Norman, whatty the hecky is 'brekky' when it is at homey, a Somerset term for late lunch?

[Nebulous]

[quote user="NormanH"]Sue is quite right about the house in Coursan. There is no t. errace or garden.

Only you can know if having a bit of outside space is important of course.

There is plenty of countryside, and beaches are close, but it is true that it is nice to just relax at home with a drink or brekky on the terrace.

At the same time that is something that puts up the price...

[/quote]

That's the kind of stuff I need to work out for myself Norman. I appreciate the suggestions you've been a great help. The house in Trebes has a roof terrace, which was a big part of the attraction, but the one you linked to looks much nicer inside and is in what I would consider a better area (nearer the coast) Buying anything always involves compromises and different people will put different values on the same things. I'm aware that at the bottom end of the market my choices will be limited.

I've emailed one of the advertisers you linked to, asking for outside photos and if we can view in early October. The second one is more of a challenge, as the advert said contact by phone only. My French might not quite be up to that! I'll get somebody to help. 

[NormanH]

If the phone is a mobile you can always send an SMS explaning that you are English and prefer not to have to talk on the phone, and at the same time asking for the essential details.

Comme je suis de nationalité britannique je ne suis pas tout à fait à

l'aise au téléphone en français.  Merci  de me faire parvenir les

éléments suivants concernant la maison:

One thing to beware of in Coursan is that the very busy Béziers-Narbonne road runs right through the centre.

You wouldn't want a house directly fronting on to that...

[URL=http://s253.photobucket.com/user/bfb_album/media/Screenshot_2016-09-02_17-32-35_zpsmzyvarhv.jpg.html][IMG]http://i253.photobucket.com/albums/hh80/bfb_album/Screenshot_2016-09-02_17-32-35_zpsmzyvarhv.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

[grumpyaudeman]

Hi

Maritime pines? I guess were in le Landes rather than the Pays Basque

Tourist attractions Skiing, Bayonne and Biarritz,to name a few I have lived there for 10 years compared to the Aude and dordogne/correze it's great

As for Quillan Google earth,the street view will give you a good idea one house was for sale for 1 euro ,its surrounded with b arriers now

Whilst I lived there for a few months two houses were burnt down in two weeks

[grumpyaudeman]

deleted

[NormanH]

I have only been to the Pays Basque a couple of times so can't comment in detail.

I liked the Corniche basque, St Jean de Luz and the proximity of both mountains and sea, but I believe that prices are considerably higher in that part of France...

[Nebulous]

Well we are back home, a little older, and possibly a tiny bit wiser!

We had a great holiday, across the top of Spain to Girona, up into France, great weather in the South, moved up to Limousin, Picardy and home via Calais.

As far as house-hunting went we had very little success. Mainly tracking down houses we had seen online and discounting them without even a viewing. We had an appointment arranged before we left home to see one house, but the agent contacted us two days before to point out it wasn't a true two bedroom, despite being advertised that way, but was one bedroom and a dressing room which could be used as a single bedroom.

We came to the conclusion that our budget wasn't enough to get what we wanted in the South-East, though we really liked the area, staying at Colombiers, visiting Beziers and the roman fort at Nissan-lez-Enserune.

We then went to Limousin, partly because it is reputed to have the cheapest property prices in France. We looked in Uzerche, with one cottage in particular which appeared very good in the photos, but it was very disappointing when we found it.

The drop in the £ has made a significant difference to purchasing power. Even in the nearly 3 weeks we were away the rate we got dropped from 1.16 to 1.09 euros to the pound. Quite noticeable since last year in a basket of shopping. Certainly noticeable on a 60,000 euro purchase.

We have decided our 60,000 euro budget isn't enough to get what we want -  two bedrooms with good structure and connections to drainage / electric etc and hopefully a bit of outside space, a roof terrace or patio.

Given that a fairly modest one-bedroom flat at home would be difficult to get for less than £100,000 I don't suppose we should be surprised. We may well have been expecting too much.

Some of the refurbishment properties in Limousin came with a lot of land - 8000 square metres in one case, but that would be more of a liability than a benefit for a holiday house.

So we're home and need to reflect and research more over the winter. We also need to consider increasing our budget and that will partly be dependent on the exchange rate.

Thanks to everyone for all your help advice and suggestions.