What do you all do? Post your links here!

Excellent!

This looks very interesting, I will have a good look. We would have to sell a place in 41400.

Hi Elaine, how does it work ie price, extra photo, how many, any clauses?

Many thanks in advance.

Lsi :)

Hi Patricia...me again...

We have bought most of our mattresses in IKEA (not sure if you know, but they are now sold rolled up, so easy to collect and take home, unless you have a very small car of course) and they are really good + with a long guarantee. We have also bought all the mattress covers and pillow protectors (enough so there's plenty for change-over day for you to wash and get ready for future guests including bedding)...

Most of our bedding has been bought in TK-MAXX in the UK and/or a few in IKEA. TK-MAXX sells the most beautiful Egyptian bedding, as well as their towels are very good, as are IKEA's, all at a very reasonable price.

Both at our apartment and at our B&B we have separate towels (ie more colourful) for the pool, as that is a different tear and wear! I always tumble dry the towels, as they all come our as new and are ready to pack away for future use.

What you were saying about having found out about a lot of things needing to be replaced. Checking the cooker a few month before Christmas, to be sure we could cook our 2 Christmas dinners, we realised we had been sold a cooker (as we paid separately for) did not work (top is gas and works separately and was fine)! People never stop to surprise me, and not always in a good way ie I personally could never sell something that did not work or was not in a good condition, but some people sadlydo and charge extra for these too! :(

We found that we had more bookings from French clients by putting an ad on Le Boncoin. We paid the extra for additional photos.
We more than doubled our weeks rented through his simple advert.

Thank-you all for your very useful comments. I too have a very clear idea of what I want to find in a holiday property e.g. Good cotton bedding, comfortable mattress and tasteful decor.
Sadly , we bought our Gites as is with all this included. As I have had time to evaluate things properly, I realise that most things need replacing or updating. A good mattress is very important to me and I assume to others as the last thing you want on a holiday is little sleep. However, replacing all our mattresses is going to cost a fortune and as I haven’t got any booking yet, this is risky even if I had the money.
What is there is not bad but could do with refreshing and I fear will have to do until our business is up and running.
The other thing that worries me is that I have just received the date for our Classification visit and don’t know how much all this will affect our rating.
It is a big leap of faith to spend thousands (because this is what it would amount to) on this sort of refurbishment without knowing whether or not it is even going to bring you in a living.

I agree, a good mattress needs nothing more than a mattress pad for protection (possibly an encapsulation system for bed bugs but they are expensive)and good linen. Memory foam is warmer but can get a struggling small provider out of trouble for a season or two before spending a lot of money on a good mattress. Unfortunately in most of the rentals I have stayed in in France the mattresses have been terrible. There are some very good toppers not made of memory foam that can help, are not hot and also act as a mattress pad but are an expensive sacrificial layer. The sheets will also have a big effect on warmth especially if any nylon type fibres are included. Catch 22 as nylon will lessen the wrinkle effect, give more turns before , ‘shrinkage’ occurs extending usage depending on turns and fibre content.
Utensils are definitely important. We had a list of minimal items all our owners needed to provide and most owners allowed us to stock the houses via our own provider. I was flabbergasted once when staying at a property near the Aude/Gard border. There were numerous issues but one that stuck in my mind was that despite there being a washing machine there was no line nor clothes pegs to dry the clothes. Something so simple had not been thought about.

Hi Celia,

I haven't heard of celebrants here, but my wife and I were married almost forty years ago in a Restaurant in Moonee Ponds (shades of Dame Edna?) in Australia. It was a great way to get married surrounded by friends, and more real to me as an agnostic.

It has always fascinated lawyers here and in our previous house one asked if he could photocopy and frame our certificate as he had never seen one before.

Do you use the Kahlil Gibran text? I still have our copy from the event.

I should also add (sorry) that I've spent a lot of time in recent years advising on web and online strategy. This includes

  • product packaging for online promotion and sales
  • choice of URL – must be something memorable
  • choice of web hosting platform and provider
  • content – structure, features, words and images

And, by the way, I'm NOT expensive.

All you have to do is ask: ken@welsbywrites.com

Hi Andy, memory foam toppers should not be necessary on a good mattress and moreover make you hot during the night.
We use coolmax bedding and have delighted clients, it can be very hot in summer.
If you are expecting people to cook for themselves then you should provide decent equipment in the kitchen. How many times have I had blunt knives and no way to sharpen them?

Well, ever the shy retiring violet, in case anyone hasn't noticed, I will also avail myself of this offer.

In a nutshell, I produce BOOKS. Although regarded in many quarters an activity that started to die by the end of the Twentieth Century, it is still alive and kicking, albeit with different ways of owning books these days. So in keeping with the times all my books are also Downloadable as well as in printed versions.

I do not write or produce novels or 'intentionally' fiction works, although much of what I include could be considered borderline, as most of the output is about Advertising in general and Old Posters in particular. In the main the books are for those who love old posters where photography is rarely used, and the artists used to get their hands dirty in producing their wonders. These are drawn from my +30,000 reference collection covering almost all market sectors.

I do have a few text books on offer, and some self-illustrated books of wider interest, and I am currently working on three new tomes - 'The Poster in History', 'A History of Propaganda' and (a working title) 'A New View of Old Works - or What Vintage Poster Designers can Teach us' which is a review of how Poster Designers turned Art around.

I was finally persuaded to produce my memoirs of 50 years in the international advertising business and where it took me, and this is also available through Amazon & Kindle - 'The Accidental Ad-man 1940-2015'

The books are on two main sites - Larger volumes on http://mosaicbooks.org (Mosaic Publishing Australia)

The rest can be seen on www.amazon.com (and all amazon sites worldwide under 'Books' ' Norman Clark')

All books can be downloaded to Kindle from the amazon listings.

I also produce a monthly (free) online magazine 'Automobile Posters & Pics' which is downloadable from Cloud links via www.Linkedin.com and www.PreWarCar.com

Last year I helped produce a small exhibition for the WW1 Centennial, and I am flattered to have been asked to help with an Anzac Day Exhibition to be held in Bretenoux (North Lot) between 2nd-5th April (inclusive).

Apart from that I continue to seek out an augment my collection of Classic Jazz music which currently stands at something like 80,000 hours - which shook even me when I did the count. This is a hobby and not a commercial project.

I have a further completed but not promoted endeavour which is a total of 53 Themed MP3 CD's designed for the handicapped or housebound and each carries upwards of 25 hours of radio plays, talks, discussions, music and one full (abridged) professional book reading. Anyone interested in this project 'Sound Moves Direct' is welcome to contact me.

Time for a quite lie-down methinks?

Hi Patricia,
This may be teaching people to suck eggs and not relevent in your case but there are some fundamental issues I have seen in holiday rental advertising and in the properties themselves. I used to be Director of Operations and Housekeeping for two different class leading vacation rental management companies in Florida (not at the same time) where we had 300 properties on our books. Having lived in France and also having stayed many times in holiday rental properties in France and elsewhere I do have significant experience in some areas of the business. I am British by the way.
An area I did not work in directly was websites but from a consumer point of view if I find a site difficult to navigate I go elsewhere. Some sites are better than others.
Pictures tell a thousand words and so do a lack of them. You are fighting in a market over laden with choice. Professional looking pictures taken by a photographer who knows how to, ‘stage’ a house can place your property miles in front of another with the same sort of offerings. A picture with that door in the background, the one with the peeling paint and wood rot you have been meaning to fix for ages just does not cut it. Give the punters pictures of what they want to see both inside and outside. If things are not up to scratch when they get there it’s another story but you need to get them there. Every one of the 600 or so houses I have looked after had advertising pictures taken by an industry professional photographer. The houses looked great in photo.
When I go on holiday the main choice is obviously location, then property specifics. You can only tell so much from pictures but this narrows down the choices.
I like to be able to sleep soundly so I look for a picture of what seems like comfortable beds with clean well made linen, no bedspreads no other items that obviously are not washed on every change over. I was in Housekeeping, I know what happens to items in bedrooms and prefer minimal and clean to un-necessary and potentially contaminated. And it does not take a rocket scientist to make a nice tight good looking bed just someone who has been taught correctly and cares about what they are doing. Nice linen, nice towels, they look great.
You cannot see the mattress in a picture but make sure it is good and relatively new. Memory foam toppers work great and can turn an uncomforable mattress into a good nights sleep. Don’t forget mattress pads and the encapsulation bags do a good job of preventing bed lice. Pillow bags are worthwhile too. But again, you can’t see them in pictures. However, where I used to work we advertised a, ‘clean linen program’ that guaranteed all bed linens you came in contact with had been changed on turn over. Things can be worded to entice.
Apart from the usual stuff you look for in the written blurb such as washing machine, coffee maker
I look for a picture of the couch. In so many properties I see couches that are either obviously uncomfortable or made of a material that is uncomfortable. I love to stretch out on a couch, a proper three seater and relax. On a comfortable three seater both my wife and myself can stretch out, read, watch tv, snooze, cuddle. I’m on holiday, I want to relax. If the couch looks uncomfortable we go straight to the next property. I have yet to find an Ikea or Ikea type couch that is comfortable but see such items in far too many property pictures. Spend some money or spend some time finding a second hand comfortable couch and get two sets of cleanable covers.
If you have managed to get the buyers interest then lead them to your website, one that looks good, is easy to use and sells them on your property, your village, your departement and all the opportunities open to them. Having a website that you know is not up to scratch is worse that not having one. Impressions count. Some people say having the owners stuff around the property and family photos make it feel homely, make guests respect the place more. I have found houses and items get trashed just the same, the more clutter the harder it is to clean and what looks good to you will sometimes not do so to paying clients. Make it tasteful, warm and friendly, not stark but also not jam packed. There may be a short season in many French regions and you and your family may use the property more often than guests but once you make the decision to rent it is now a business and should be treated as such.
Just a little ramble with my ten penneth that hopefully may help.

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What a coincidence! Ive just put my restored farmhouse on the market, containing(apart from the main house where I live myself
, two gites and a chambre d’hîte I might be in the wrong area for you though, in the east, between Lyon and Chambery. Any advice you could give my for a suitable agent would be most welcome. At the moment I am listed with Mercure in Lyon

If you are looking for stock we are closing our second hand shop. We are in a pretty tourist village in St Martin d’Ardeche. 40 mins from Avignon.Montelimar 1.30hr . Visit our bed and breakfast site for details of email. Telephone etc. caroleandstevebb.com.

Hello SFNers, I assumed that "No repeats please" meant that if you'd already posted you couldn't again, but then I figured nobody would spend 30+ minutes trawling (actually quick scanning - reading every post would take infinitely longer, therefore a high chance most people would give up before they got there, like I nearly did)) through to page 30 where my original post was, like I just did, so I'm posting again. If this isn't acceptable, please feel free to delete it, admin. I'm a fully registered and insured (décennale) carpet fitter based in Brittany, supplying and fitting Cormar carpets all over France, subject to a 'frais de déplacement'. Feel free to visit my websites, www.carpet-fitter.eu and www.carpetfrance.com

I'm a fully-qualified (RICS) Chartered Building Surveyor - mostly undertaking pre-purchase surveys for English-speaking buyers of French property, but also advising on structural and building problems of all kinds. I am based in Languedoc but cover almost the whole of the southern half of France, from the west coast to the Rhone, and from the Mediterranean to the upper reaches of Limousin and Auvergne. I sometimes hear people say "nobody has pre-purchase surveys in France" - but I've just celebrated 15 years of doing exactly that and continue to be kept pretty busy ! I love what I do: Every day is different, and I am fortunate in being able to visit so many different parts of the country. www.french-surveys.com

Dear all

We're waiting to sort out a retirement date for Gill (Mrs W) – hoping it will be later this year. That will will trigger a long-awaited move from SE London to Caen.

Meanwhile we put our wordsmith skills to good use. Gill is a linguist (English mother tongue) and I'm a former Fleet Street journalist turned marketing consultant who now mostly writes for and about business. So if you need any help with writing, marketing or promotion – just ask.

  • press releases
  • flyers or leaflets
  • brochures or business reports
  • slideshows or business presentations

We have a complete Mac publishing system – including Adobe Creative Suite – so we can produce online publications or hard-copy print.

And if you want to see some samples, take a look at my personal website, londonsriver.com. It brings together some of the things I have learned about the River Thames over the past 18 years, most of which have been spent living and working on / alongside Britain's greatest waterway. A bit messy just now, as it's in the middle of a complete rework and update – but enough to show you that we know how to string more than a few words together and how to produce good photos.

You can reach me directly at ken@welsbywrites.com or through the site.

I posted the last time this discussion was started (last year?) & hope this doesn't count as a duplicate.

I design & make one-of-a-kind beaded jewelry n my tiny PĂ©zenas home studio, mostly using intricate bead weaving (tissage de perles) techniques. I sell on Etsy & Bonanza ( http://www.bonanza.com/booths/hillcreststudio ) ( https://www.etsy.com/shop/HillcrestStudio ) & have a Facebook page as well ( https://www.facebook.com/HillcrestStudio ). In addition to the items pictured and/or listed for sale, I have additional items & take commissions.

http://www.bonanza.com/booths/hillcreststudio

Hello Everyone,

We run a small family business that operates in the UK as DRD Home Improvements and DRD Architectural Glass

(www.kentglazier.com & www.drdglass.com) and also we operate www.glass2france.com supplying the ex pat

communitys accross all of France with building supplies.

We are based in the UK in Ashford Kent,5 mins from the M20 and in France we have a small depot just outside Saint-Yirex-La-Perche (near Limoges)

our email is info@drdglass.com

thanks

Daniel

We transport shopping, DIY goods, paint, eBay/Argos etc from UK to Aude area.
See www.yorkshire-aude-flyer.co.uk for further details.

Many thanks James for letting us post this information