Assessing costs of renovation

[just john]

Would that it could be so Sweet, unfortunately you discover after the decor starts to jar, the wiring and plumbing reveal problems and during the course of remedying you discover the nightmare of someone else's shortcuts (Dave's floor immediately springs to mind[:-))])

At least when you know what work you have had done yourself you have a chance to pop the cork and feel suitably satisfied with life!

True in France, renovations can take a while, the nature of the country is that people and property are spread out, so it can be difficult to source skilled affordable labour and materials; but some renovations leave a lot to desired, and in my experience, demolished. This forum is full of peoples disbelief as to how awful (if not downright dangerous) some work can be.

Hence there is a good argument for buying sensibly and supervising  'renovation' work, if you can do this, not everyone can, despite thinking it's easy. This means you need to do your homework and your sums, a post on the forum doesn't do it, whilst it might point you in the right direction and others will share experiences, it's no replacement for knowing what not to buy and what work costs might be.

[zarathustra]

Maybe I got lucky, but I've just bought an old stone house in Charente Limousine, and following the reports (they also check electrics now, and the only fault they found was a wire hanging slightly loose on one of the ceiling lights), and the agent and notaire said it was the best conditioned house they'd seen in a long time. Plumbing's good, electrics are relatively recent (8 years old), roof is in great condition, insulation is excellent etc.etc.whilst the house retains lots of period features. The owners promised to leave all the fixtures and fittings, including the fuel for heating. There's absolutely nothing we need to do, unless we want to extend the house further into the adjoining barn, but that can wait a decade.

As I'm not skilled in DIY, had I bought a house at half the price (and what I paid was very reasonable), I think it would have cost me a lot more to have all the work done, not to mention all the stress and problems that come along with that.

That's just me though. I think it's good people are buying up ruins and renovating them - adds to the old-worldly charm of France. Better than having to demolish something and have a new build spring up in its place.

[canard]

Hi Martin, I had similar questions to you a while back and I detailed some of the quote here (http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/ShowPost.aspx?PostID=1818212).

Our renovation is in full swing now, taking longer than expected and going over budget but the replies I received on that thread were very helpful. (You'll find the same knowledgable posters on my thread as yours).

I think 1500 euros per square metre is a very good yardstick (though I'm still hoping ours will be closer to 1000!)

Good Luck and let me know if I can help in any way.