Nos devoirs

September 2010-February 2011
Serious homework. Six months of it.

G and I returned home on a mission. There ensued weeks of poring over maps of France, trying to decide on an area in which to concentrate our search for a property. At the same time, we were searching online the many websites of French Immobiliers who were advertising properties in our price range. A price range which variously includes piles of stone rubble far from any sniff of electricity or water, to small houses currently occupied via barns of different sizes, from the cathedral to the une-vache miniscule.

We became more and more familiar with the terminology of the real estate industry in France; better at assessing the value of places; thoroughly obsessive about looking at just...one...more. The next property  always held the promise of being The One.

Slowly we narrowed the search to the Limousin, where, it became clear, one could get better value for money amid still unspoiled French countryside. To us, it seemed as if the Dordogne was overrun by the British and was very expensive; the Lot was going that way too. Further north - too cold; further east - ditto. Much further south we felt would be harder to access from Paris...GoogleEarth helped us gain a topographical perspective.

Trying to get les Immobiliers to take us seriously was a challenge. Numerous online enquiries went unanswered. Some agencies responded with a 'contact us when you are in the area' standard line.

So we booked our flights.  We chose to go in February, since we would see the countryside and properties at their worst and, we hoped, our sincerity would be without question: we would not be mistaken for the usual summertime time-wasters (or tyre-kickers, as the Aussies call them). Once we had our dates, we could start to discuss possible meetings and visits to properties, and with that, the tide turned and we were on a roll.

The following agencies and their proprietors/staff were extremely helpful. I'm sure they won't mind if I mention them by name:

Paul Holt of www.holtimmo.eu  -  La Souterraine
Kim Layton of Maupuy Immobilier  - Dun-le-Palestel
Richard Copeland of Grandchamp Immobilier - Excideuil
Véronique Baudry of Bourse L'Immobilier www.bourse-immobilier.fr - Objat
Brigitte Le Goff of Selection Habitat - Nuces
Laetitia Bonnard of Bourse L'Immobilier - Uzerche
Tanya Bright of www.LimousinPropertyAgents.com - Coussac Bonneval
Nigel of Agence de Piegut-Pluviers - Piegut-Pluviers

Slowly, slowly, we started to gather a list of interesting properties. By Christmas, we had a short list.
G spent hours organising appointments to see agents and specific properties. Then he had to go away on business, leaving me with the next phase to deal with... and a house full of guests. Trying to juggle household routines, work, guests and our Magnum Opus became increasingly difficult.

After everyone had gone to bed at night, I began to pull together the itinerary, which involved finding accommodation within striking distance of a morning appointment; not too far from the last in a full day's appointments. I made a folder containing info on each of the dozen or so properties on our list, together with their Google directions from the nearest town or hotel, the contact details of the agent and a photo of the property. The folder was arranged in date order, so that the relevant documents (tickets/booking references/contact details/appointments) and info for any given day were filed together. It was a masterpiece of organisation, though I say so myself.