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Planning Retirement Online


Buying a house in France (Maybe) 

by Helen Franks

 

                                                                            

 

The ‘maybe’ aspect is fast becoming ‘maybe not’.   Friends and family have been closely questioning us on our intentions and motivations.  Are we buying for ourselves or for large family gatherings in the hope that our children, their partners and the grandchildren will join us for long and lovely stretches in the French countryside?

Our older daughter points out that her three school age children aren’t eligible during term time  ‘Better buy something smaller and more manageable, and then we can rent nearby when it suits us,’ she suggests. Our younger daughter, mother of an 18month old, is more enthusiastic for obvious reasons.

 

A friend warns of people she knows who bought the big place to house three generations but now grandma grumbles because she spends her entire time shopping, cooking and catering. Is that what I really want?

Well yes, sometimes, but also no.

And then there is the vexed question of how often we will use a place in France.  Having decided to focus on the south, around Avignon, we’re talking a six-hour train journey, not to mention the bits to add on at this end and more at the other.

We would use such a place one week every month? My husband already looks wistful, thinking of how much golf he will miss. Yes, he could play golf there, but I’m not sure I fancy so many hours of absenteeism in a place where I have no roots, though that could change…

One week every two months then? A big effort and outlay for 6 weeks a year, plus the odd couple of weeks in the spring and summer.  We’re definitely not the kind of people to hole up down south for months on end, whatever the weather. The truth is, we like our lives at home too much.

I record all this because they are the essential ruminations for anyone contemplating buying a second home anywhere.

Meanwhile, for those further along the path, or just beginning, it’s worth getting hold of French Property News which offers lots of practical advice and insights into buying and running a home in France. The website is http://www.french-property-news.com, and once you are on the mailing list, you get the monthly issues free.   Another must-have for the south is the first edition of the English Yellow Pages, a free 240-page book listing French and international companies in the Riviera and surrounding areas.  Email: englishyellowpages@yahoo.com.

 


 

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