Life is better in Brittany and Normandy

Not quite Autumn (officially that is) but the Swallows are fewer and those that are still around are beginning to think about the long flight South and the Virginia Creeper is turning red a sure sign that the weather is about to turn. The Maize field that surrounds the 12th Century, La Commanderie at Yvignac is beginning to look as though it should already be harvested… It's honey coloured now, but the Bretons (probably the French everywhere) use it only as animal feed and so it lingers, extending the golden look in the fields until maybe mid October. The crops, here surrounding the house’s own 1,525 square metres garden, alternate each season with Maize, Wheat, Oil Seed Rape… brilliantly yellow at its most vibrant. That’s the one that best probably sets the house off against its surroundings. It’s vibrant and lush. A fully renovated 4 Bedroomed stone house amidst open countryside for 340,000€... Amazing? It is! In a house hunt when the world is your oyster ther

http://www.ahouseinnormandy.com/component/ezrealty/ezrealty/28-detached/1605-ahib-sif-00916 Above: Nr Mortain, Lower Normandy, 4 Bedroomed Farmhouse and outbuildings with about 2.5 acres no neighbours. 106,000€ + Notaire's Fees. I have been told by the Ads team at Facebook that sponsored/boosted posts, where the photographs carry text on them, are less successful than no text at all. That's just blown a 35 year career in advertising out of the water... but then 'hey', this is 'new media' where video's of kittens are viewed by millions so, what do I know? Actually I can't even link my iphone, ipad and laptop together successfully, so obviously... not much. But, the way things are shaping up, even though these Brexit jitters have upset the Foreign Currency Exchange rate market the reduction in property prices has created a buyer's market which balances out the cost of buying Brittany and Normandy and moving to or buying a holiday inves

Home and Income at Half what such a property might cost in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset etc., Click to take a closer look on our website I wonder how many of you have already clicked off to have a look at that one?!  The Phenomenon of 'The Half Price House*' (or less)   •  It's quite something isn't it to be able to say - that just two hundred miles to the south of our shores; the UK's southern shores, where property is regarded as the most expensive in our own country... that there should be beautiful and interesting countryside, and that in or around intriguing and heritage steeped towns and villages, where properties are available   for half the price (like for like - if such a thing should be found) of what our domestic market offers us   and often quite a lot lower than half for comparable properties... (OK, OK... I know we have some international visitors... but I'm sure there are many points of recognition for you too). Scroll down for some more 

NORMANDY   Tessy-sur-Vire • 6 Bedroomed property 2 Gites nr 14,000m2  Price  WAS  360,400 € +Notaire's Fees • Price  NOW  299,000 € +Notaire's Fees http://www.ahouseinnormandy.com/search-properties/28-detached/1456-ahin-kr-1882-tessy-sur-vire-50420 Sorry about the alliteration... But what's happening just now is worthy of a tabloid style headline! As we trawl our website and those of our agents and associates purging those properties that have sold and adjusting the prices of those recently reduced it's obvious that there is the atmosphere of a 'bargain basement'. This phenomenon occurs when there is a situation of political movement... buyers are more nervous and cautious and vendors begin to wonder just when they are likely to sell and move on with their lives. So, there are price drops of properties that launched on to the market at the prices that vendors originally valued them at (often it's too high for the state of the market) and, by stea

Now that I'm almost two... they are letting me get involved! At last... I have a legitimate reason for writing a (dog) blog:- one that's more about me and my own needs (and my species) rather than just 'the management' here and what THEY get up to - the uprights! ... One of the team that I 'work' with (and I use the term loosely) suggested that we should put out some information about the ins and outs of ferrying (literally in my case) your pets backwards and forwards across the channel to France. It's only fair to tell you how it applies to me and our own travel habits... But I will also provide links (at the bottom of this page) to other places that may be of further help. I've been to and fro between Sussex and the Cotes d'Armor around 8 times in the last 15 months so I think I qualify... n'est-ce pas? So here goes... Rudy Slade... A House in Brittany Near Loudeac, the Cotes d'Armor... We almost always travel to France with Bri

We've watched  a load of 'Do Up' TV programmes (who, buying 'here' in Brittany hasn't?) but we have never seen that what we have been up to in Brittany is anything like any of these shows - with or without an audience... But, after a few 'mooching' trips we found this little beauty and paid just £12,000 for it. What many people would have regarded as, pretty much a ruin - perhaps,  but rather than being able to compact our work on the house into just a few months in an intensive way... or a year or two, perhaps more realistically, we have chugged our way through 17 years of ownership meandering through bite sized pieces of renovation with a few intense phases that have involved a few other trades along the way.  In the beginning we were flabbergasted; couldn't believe...that a couple of Brits could, with the greatest luck, just breeze in and pick up an 18th Century farmhouse with three barns a well, a bread oven and the three quarters of a

Our House in Brittany • Summer 2016 It's 17 years now since we stumbled across our house in Brittany. In retrospect it was a gift, of course, at such a seemingly very silly price of just £12,000 plus Notaire's Fees and then a commission to the agent who introduced us to the property. Needless to say we were happy to pay a fee for him opening our eyes to what seemed like such a rare find. Back in 2000 the system of buying in France was somewhat haphazard and, fortunately, things have formalised to make it as simple as buying in the UK (simpler in fact). Although, the reality that you may be buying in another country, where one might imagine difficulties; where you are unfamiliar with customs that full timers over there take for granted - but for you there may be a language barrier for a start - and unfamiliar procedures and systems etc., it's wise to rely on advice from those who have trodden the path before you and who can help to clear up any potential pitfalls. Our