Just moved from Finstère after 30 years there so know it very well indeed. Coastal property is at a premium currently as I found out when I sold the family home recently and got a very good price
You’re not alone - we all do crazy things! We bought a large ‘property’ with 2 lovely on site gites with no intention of going back to the UK, but errrm Mr Clever Cloggs thought we could get our visas in France!
Quick trip back to the UK and 72 hours later our 12 month visas sorted for now.
We live in Charente 16480 - if it gets crazy, we could let you have the pool house, plenty of room for one person + a big heated pool ! But we have family & friends staying most of June/July so can’t help unless it’s August onwards
4 Likes
Thanks for the offer…
Still not at all sure when I’m going to be out of here.. always in denial. They might yet carry me out in a box.
It struck me more than once that for the initial 12 months until I have a renewed residence card in my hand I could in principle live anywhere.. though I struggle with driving long distances and if I am going to live where I want to in Finistère I ought to aim to be near there… though since it’s a holiday area the airbnbs are very expensive… and normal rentals in short supply Brest might be a decent option though I think the prefecture is Châteaulin.
In particularly crazy moments I have mused that though I dream of a house and a big garden by the seaside that after the pain of this house I might develop a taste for travelling light and rent for a long time…
Brest is a sous-prefecture of Quimper, the capital of Finistère. Châteaulin is just an inland town on the Aulne, not very large and my son’s father in-law was the head of the conservatoire de musique there for many years. There are lots of rentals in the Brest region although depends on what you want as it’s a uni city and both my children rented privately when they studied there. If you go further out to say Guipavas, Guilers,Milizac,Plouzané etc you might find cheaper rentals but on the whole it’s pretty expensive. I used to go into the city regularly especially to IKEA and Coat ar Gueven to do shopping for clothes, shoes etc . The cheapest part of the city is around Bellevue and Quatre Moulins. Good luck with finding somewhere suitable
3 Likes
Just so long as it isn’t too expensive.
In Bristol it’s likely to cost me £1000 a month unless my little brother rents me a room cheaper…
Though for me it will be my first holiday since 2009 so what’s that worth.
Being in a city would be handy in case I can sign up for language and civics classes…though thankfully at the moment I am exempt … but it would be good to have the DELF B2 under my belt..
My dream destination is Crozon or somewhere near…
If you’ve not already done so, take a look at rentals on leboncoin.fr for the areas you’re interested in.
I’m afraid I don’t know that area at all, but further down the coast here in 17 that sort of money would get you a decent size house (approx 100m²) in the town centre. The further out of the town centre you go, the larger the house. Until recently we were renting and paid 1,200€ (or £1,050) pcm for a 125m² house with a 800m² garden that was a 10 minute walk from the town centre.
3 Likes
Thanks 
At my age an actual small house in a quiet area would suit me better than a flat - though living in town has a lot of advantages and Brest has many things that would make the transition easier.
Presumably I would have to go for an AirBNB from the UK and then try to persuade someone to rent to me once established with a French bank account ?
I haven’t ruled out using the sort of agency Americans use to make the move … certainly once in France I am likely to need an accountant to look after my multiple bank accounts containing savings plus house sale proceeds…
It’s all a big challenge for someone who has only lived in one shared house and only ever bought one house - 42 years ago.
Another challenge once I have replaced my 15 year old glasses is to buy a car and work out how to drive again - I taught myself in half an hour in 1984 in a 3 wheeler on a motorcycle licence and took my test in 1991 in a 2CV - but I am going to need help this time even starting a modern car after 15 years with a bicycle as my only vehicle (last car was a Peugeot 405).
Hopefully before I move to France and drive on the wrong side of the road I will do some online training .
1 Like
If you live in town you may not need a car. Our local town (10k population) has a lot of elderly cyclists.
2 Likes
Yes, the electric bikes and trikes seem to be hugely popular amongst a certain age range. I fancy a trike myself.
3 Likes
That’s how I live at the moment in Bristol, and fully plan to continue as mostly pedestrian and cyclist - but I have to somehow get from here to there with a few changes of clothes and my computer and once there will eventually need to buy things I need and view homes…
Amazingly you can apparently rent a small house in Camaret Sur Mer for about £400 a month … living in Bristol that’s mind-blowing…
1 Like
This all sounds promising. How about hiring a man with a van for your stuff? Bristol to northern France may not be too bad and if your a part load that too should keep the price down.
2 Likes
Well, somebody can. Whether that somebody is you depends on a lot of things, one of which is how tolerant a landlord will be about your foreign income.
1 Like
Given my realisation that I am now keeping nothing - apart from CDs and backup hard drives at my brother’s house, it would only need to be a” man with an estate car”… I could perhaps even pay my brother-in-law…
It would certainly save the hassle and expense of getting a RHD car, fixing the headlights and then getting it back to the UK to sell, but buying a car in France is going to be almost as scary as buying a house…
Far too many things to think about at the moment..
Yes I wonder how others managed to get a rental ? Establish a relationship in advance with an immobilier ?
I like your courage.
Good for you.
I would echo the advice of others get yourself here, take your time, rent and look around thoroughly and through at least one lot of the year’s whole seasons before you buy.
If finances would stretch to a small tiny backup in the UK I would strongly recommend. You can put it in the hands of an agent if you have to. Not to make money, just to keep pace for a while until you’re absolutely sure where you want to die.
You’ll change more than you think once you get here. A lot of your words I’ve been through too.
2 Likes
Prepare a solid dossier, and consider using guarantme or similar.
4 Likes
We did it from the UK initially. To be honest, it’s not easy at the best of times and it’s even harder when you’re not in the town, the region or even the country!
My partner is French so the language wasn’t the problem. It was a combination of other things. Firstly, properties would go so quickly that we didn’t have time to do visits and landlords didn’t have to take a risk with a foreigner. Secondly, we didn’t have an avis d’imposition (basically last year’s tax bill) which many landlords needed for their insurance. Thirdly, I think letting agents don’t make a huge amount per property so they didn’t seem motivated to help us.
In the end we just booked some easyJet flights and a hotel, and my missus came over for a few days. She then arranged house visits whilst she was in the country. It was a risky strategy but it paid off in the end. One agent from Century 21 could see that we were genuine and it was not just some pipe dream after watching too many episodes of Emily in Paris, and was helpful.
One other thing to add is that we quickly learned that estate agents in France are awful at communicating via email. You need to either call or see them in person. I know some people are uncomfortable speaking in French on the phone, but you’ll get used to it.
We’ve since moved again and did it ourselves by scouring adverts on le boncoin. It’s still not pleasant but so much easier than it was when doing it from abroad.
2 Likes
Third estate agent has just come up with an interesting figure that a developer might pay - not sure who to believe - but the focus is now on getting out of this house…
What’s wrong with it?
The house is only half finished and is not mortgageable ( I had pencilled-in 30k for specialist trades which is what made me pause the work ) and the prices he is suggesting for cash buyers are in the region of what people are paying for mortgageable houses in the street. Plus he suggested a crazy price for what I could get for it “finished” after our amateur efforts…
Typical serious makeovers in my street add a lot to the price so the best I would acknowledge is that having no kitchen is somewhat academic because it would be ripped out anyway see also no internal doors… but if the things that we have done already at least recouped what we spent that makes me feel better…
After 42 years here I don’t know how I will feel when the cash buyers start visiting… the past 2 1/2 years have been very painful at times.
Anyway my priority now is to empty the place which has always been as big a problem as the house itself and I have had to accept the unthinkable and need to dispose of the few things that had held dear because storing and shipping them would be so much expense and trouble.