Need Answers And Advice About Long Term Flat Rentals

[visvaldis]

Long Term Renting in France

I am an American, but lived in Germany for many years. Currently, I live in the US. In about 18 months I plan a permanent move to retire in France and rent a flat in the general areas of Toulouse, Bordeaux, Dordogne, Limoges, or Lyon. A radius of 50 kilometers from any would be fine. France is beautiful with many nice places that choosing a location for any areas south of the Loire should be easy.

I have two small, well behaved terriers which should not be a problem.

After checking the rentals from the Bordeaux and Toulouse newspapers it seems their listing are mostly new apartment buildings. My preference is for an older building, possibly in a town of about 20,000 or less. One hour driving time from a larger city would be fine.

I received advice that rental agencies registered with FNAIM are reputable and have more listings of available flats.

What is the difference between a ‘salle de bains’ and ‘salle de eau’?

If a flat states the area as 50 square meters, is that the total area, including hall, kitchenette, and salle de bains?

[Ladoix]

A salle de bains is a bathroom and a salle d'eau is a shower room.  50m2 includes everything except where the ceiling is lower than 1.8m high.

[visvaldis]

[quote user="Ladoix"]A salle de bains is a bathroom and a salle d'eau is a shower room.  50m2 includes everything except where the ceiling is lower than 1.8m high.

[/quote]

Thanks for the info! It sure helps. Perviously, I assumed that the square meter area included everything. But some ads that mentioned halls made me wonder if my assumptions were correct.