Gites - a popular buy

The current dream of many of our clients is to own a home of their own to retire to plus a gîte to generate a stream of income. As a consequence of this desire, this sector is probably the most active sector of properties that we have, making it harder and harder to find suitable properties.

We have a few properties not yet up and running, but easily convertible, below 100,000, but something already trading will cost something in excess of 100,000. Our first such property is a pair of cottages recently renovated in the Vendee area, consisting of two 2 bedroomed cottages on a plot of an acre, for 160,000 Euros. In the Gatine area we have a renovated open plan house (3 bedrooms), plus a gîte to finish (3 bedrooms) for 176,000 Euros, on an acre. We have just taken on a 3 bed farmhouse having a 4 bed gîte, barns for conversion and an above ground swimming pool, situated on the Charente / Deux Sevres borders. This one is priced at 195,425 Euros. Beyond that the sky is the limit really : we have a mill and gîte at Chef Boutonne, 320,143 Euros, an old farmhouse with 3 gîte near Challans in the Vendee for 370,918 Euros, through to a 5 gîte complex in the Dordogne for 538,500 Euros.

If you want an alternative to gîte, why not consider operating a Chambre d'Hote? We have some super stone built houses including Logis, Priories, Chateaux and Manor Houses, with prices starting at 192,071 Euros for a Maison Bourgeoise property, up to 670,775 for a Charentaise Chateau of the highest order.

Send us an e-mail if you want further details, specifying your requirements and price range. Please note that if you are planning a visit during the busy season (i.e. now to mid September), many gîte are already fully booked. For this reason we have removed our link to the recommended gîte from the newsletter as our selected gîte cannot accommodate you during these weeks.

Sunshine

People often ask, what attracted us to the Poitou-Charentes as an area. Apart from the excellent communications : 200 miles to a ferry port, 2 local airports within an hour's drive with discount flights to London, and a TGV / Eurostar link via Lille or Paris, the answer has to include the sunshine.
Over 2,250 hours compared to less than 1,750 hours on the Cherbourg peninsula, a difference of about 30%. This area does have a true micro-climate and is so easily accessible than the south of France, plus of course considerably better value for money.

Route Planning through France

France is one big country, as you soon appreciate when you start to drive from the northern coast to the centre of France. If you are driving down to the Poitou-Charentes in the next few weeks what is your best route to the land of sunshine and sunflowers?

Below we have detailed 3 routes from different locations and there are also links within the newsletter to webpages offering routeplanning and map services. We have used Niort as a target point for your journey.

St Malo - Niort St Malo >N137 Rennes >N137 Nantes >A83 Niort
(200 miles)

Caen - Niort Caen >N158/N138 LeMans >A11/A85 Samur > D938 Niort
(240 miles)

Calais - Niort Calais > A26 > A1 Paris (follow Bordeaux) A10 Tours > Poitiers > N11 Niort
(430 miles)

Please remember to take regular breaks to avoid tiredness. If you are late for an overnight accommodation stop, have their telephone number handy in the car. (The same applies for viewing bookings with Immobiliers) !

Investments

If you are planning to move to France on a permanent basis, one aspect that you will need to pay special attention to is your investments. Making them as tax efficient, is even more important than in the UK.
So, what can you do? Well, one of the easiest strategies is to place the money into an international investment plan. This will mean that your money is treated offshore for both UK & French means. Luxembourg is the favoured location as they offer very good plans and still offer complete investor confidentiality, unlike other centres such as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man. At the end of 2000 the net assets of investments held in the Duchy were 817.3$ (US) billion - a truly outstanding amount.
It is important to plan ahead of your move, as to move money around afterwards will attract the attention of the taxman on both sides of the Channel. It is even possible to arrange the investments in special Trusts to maximise the potential gains for your assets. Details are available via Peter Elias (see contact link in the margin).