It’s a small world Sheila. I grew up in Blackrock and our place in Dublin is in Mount Merrion. Well done on making the break. Life’s to short not to have adventures.
The Var is the “county” we live in Elaine. I feel it’s a bit like a sunny West Cork but with an even stronger accent.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Var_(department)
A number of things actually, John. We both grew up in Dublin (me - Mt. Merrion, Henry - Sandymount), and started to come here on holidays about 20 years ago. We have visited quite a few areas in France, and initially looked at Aix-en-Provence. We did three stints in a language school there over the last couple of years. Then did a week on Canal du Midi in a traditional longboat, and Languedoc just worked its charms on us. We landed in Lagrasse which we love, purely thanks to SFN! I joined over 18 months ago, and put up a post saying we were looking for a 3 months rent. A member replied to say she knew of a place, and here we are, 15 months later having survived the winter!
Add to that I worked as a Legal Executive for a law firm in Dublin, doing lots of conveyancing, and that dried up. I was down to a 4 day week, then 2 days and finally took full redundancy. That was when we said "right, let's go". Sorry for rambling on.
Hi Elaine. All I can add is by renting out in Ireland and renting here, you get the best of both worlds. Our current rent for a lovely furnished house with 3 bedrooms (2 with en suite and one with toiled and whb) and a little roof terrace is €450 pm. Tax d'habitation is not included and we have not been asked for it yet, so don't know how much it will come to. Prices are stagnant in the Aude and in the last couple of weeks, have seen houses reduce their prices. One reason why I recommend renting is that France is not for everyone - you need to live here for the four full seasons. Winter is short here (very short compared to Ireland) but this year it was severe. It snowed here in Lagrasse for the first time in god knows how many years - it even made the news! We survived and now feel that subject to earning a living, we can now consider buying at some point.
Hi John - 2 good points, and it would make economic sense here presently. Not much happening at the moment as the austerity and insolvency issues have everyone running for the hills. However, we cannot buy until we sell, and we don't really want to rent as a preference.
Plus storage is very expensive here if we had to do that. Is property in the Aude areas stagnant? After coming down or going up? And what does future look like for property prices in the area?
Another point we would need to research about renting here is it would mean if we bought in France, it would essentially be a second property - not sure how that would be treated over there.
We plan to move lock, stock and barrel but I take the points made on the thread on selling being costly in France (here too)
Oh yes, what or where is the Var?
Good for you Sheila. We’ve still got the “family home” in SCD with our daughter in residence. We bought a place in the Var eight years ago and we’re permanently resident here these days. I worked in Grenoble thirty years ago and my wife and I decided then that we’d end up in France whenever career permitted and we’ve reached that happy stage now. What prompted you to decamp to France?
John, I believe we were lucky to find a buyer who could get a mortgage, and we were selling in what is considered to be a desirable area in south County Dublin. Had we been in a position to sell two years earlier, well I think we could have got almost twice the price! But that's not what happened, and I am happy that we got a good price, and am happy to rent. We are here in our little village 15 months now and we still love the life we have here - yes it is different from living in the "leafy suburbs" of Dublin but we have a great social life here, and are making friends. Have a couple of bookings coming in, so at the moment, all is good.
Good plan Sheila. The actual cost of buying here is high and the market is at best flat so if you make a mistake and need to move it costs. Selling in Ireland in 2010 was smart because prices have tumbled since, that is if one can find a buyer. There does seem to be a bit of movement in some areas there but of course at the right price. The next budget is going to be very bad news and that could further impact confidence though the news last week was good (thank you Mario Monti).
the best bet is to rent for a year as summer and winter weather is very different too. Limoux/Quillan isn't a bad bet though ;-)
Good point John. We got a sale back in September 2010 but prices had already dropped. However, we are renting here for the moment, and are happy to do so for the next year or longer. Highly recommend renting as you get to know the area, and know if it is right for you. We found someone who was prepared to rent to us for 3 months, then we found someone else who was happy to do a winter letting from September to April. We are now in our third rented house - exhausting but worth it. They were/are all furnished so no need for expensive shipping of furniture until we find THE place and have to buy it!
Two quick points Elaine. It looks as if house prices in Ireland in certain areas are rising so would you not rent out your house there and then rent here to make sure you liked the area etc before buying? Secondly, why not the Var. loads of sun and lovely countryside.
Hi Elaine- you are more than welcome. We live in Lagrasse - if you Google Map it, you will find that it is somewhat north of Quillan, in the Corbieres. Wonderful garrigues, not to mention the wine, great roads for motor-bikers. Near to us are other lovely villages and towns - our nearest supermarket is in Lezignan-Corbieres, about 20 minutes drive, and is also the nearest access to the motorway, and has a train station. So, although there's no public transport to speak of servicing Lagrasse and the other villages and small towns, we manage fine. As I say, contact me anytime if you have questions.
Hi Barbara,
I look forward to the "new friends" bit. Although we are looking to immerse ourselves in the culture as much as possible, and learn the language, we will appreciate english language conversations also. Esp as our families are spread out between Germany and Ireland (and far far beyond).
Andrew,
Those links are very useful thank you. Looks like we need to be careful and not position ourselves in any "corridors" which is good, as the plains near Carcassonne didn't really interest us, so we will probably seek further south, nestled into the foothills of Pyrenees.
It seems tho the Med coast offers windier days, and further inland offers more rain. Oh the choices!!
The offer is always there. But do let us know where you decide to build your nest (with a second, smaller nest, to keep the bikes warm in winter).
LOL Sheila :)
I have joined a few groups - still no idea how they work so will just browse and see what's happening. I told my husband your last comment and he had a big beam on his face :)
Thanks for very kind offer of answering Qs and the meetup - I appreciate that.
Thank you for the lovely welcome Valerie, much appreciated.
Winter 09-10 in Ireland saw -17 degrees and huge snow - the country was at a stand still for weeks. So we appreciate adverse weather happens everywhere. And we also know you need rain for lush and green, this is partly why we chose France over Spain.
We are motorbikers and are sick of the rain and cold. Also having to spend 24 hours and lots of money just to get off the island of Ireland!
Ireland has just seen it's worst rain for June, there is really only so much green we can be!!! Thanks for the offer of tea :)
Brian,
Thank you kindly for the lovely welcome, and the heads up!
We too would prefer to immerse ourselves in frenchness, even if only for the wine and croissants. We have both lost 10kgs just to accommodate our new breakfasts :)
Adverse weather happens everywhere,we know that. It's just in Ireland it seems never ending (as you can appreciate) Rightly or wrongly we feel the Cathar area appeals to us most, it's finding out now about local weather patterns, different villages etc is the next task in hand.
Thanks for connecting!
And on that basis Barbara, I will be myself.
Thank you all so much for the lovely welcome, and great tips.
Both our 2009 and 2010 June trips were a disaster weather wise. 2009 we travelled down on our motorbike from 32 degrees in Germany, to meet 10 degrees in the Lot department. we were not impressed. Last year also in June we explored Midi Pyrenees and parts of Languedoc-Roussillon again with temps getting down to 12-14 degrees. At least this time we had a car.
Despite that we are thinking east Ariege west Aude and Pyrenees Orientales.
We are most interested in areas east of Foix up to Mirepoix over to Limoux and the Corbieres. I think Quillan is about as far south / hilly as we would like. Anyone living in these areas?
SF IS A forum where you can be yourself
Possibly find new friends.