When we were house hunting we came across loads of people who’d bought a lovely place out in the sticks and just couldn’t wait to be rid of it. They were desperate to move nearer to town!

For some it was the isolation. No one to chat to. Yes, there might be a French neighbour, and yes they might be very friendly, but unless you’re up to speed on your French it’s hard work, and made harder by the fact that some of the rural French speak with a strong dialect. We came across one couple where she had lost all confidence and had become virtually housebound. They’d spent a small fortune renovating their house, and it was lovely, but they were desperate to leave.

Then there was the gent living alone in a small village. He hated it with a vengance! He’d spent a couple of years doing the place up, he’d done a fantastic job, but with his project finished he’d become bored. There was just nothing to do, no bar, no shop, just the bread van once a day. Nearest town 40 minutes away.

Yep, that lovely drive down those leafy country lanes with the dappled sunlight playing on your eyes can turn into a nightmare in the winter when you’re cut off with trees down, or snow. No joke! Some friends of ours up in the Creuse were cut off for a week last winter. Not for the first time either.

A recent visitor whose never been to the Limousin before asked me where all the people were. I used to wonder that myself when I first came here, but I’ve become used to a lower population density. “Did you see anyone on your bike ride darling?”….

Now while we cannot claim to be experts, and we’ve only been in France full-time for just over two years, there’s some things we’ve noticed about house hunters here in the Haute Vienne and what they buy.

We think these are basic mistakes. Maybe they aren’t, but give them your consideration. There’s only three of them….

1. Too much
2. Too old
3. Too remote

Let’s take them one at a time, this time…

Too much…
The old farm, with the outbuildings and barn to convert into gites, with lots of land, it’s cheap, seems too good to be true. But, the old farm has been run down over the years before it went on the market. The farmhouse itself needs major renovation work. Do you know how cold those stone houses can be in the winter? Here’s an example – Our neighbour who lives in such a house, gets through more than 30 cubic metres of firewood each winter. Compare this with another neighbour living in a modern house. They burn 6 cubic metres!

A derelict croft with 3 adjoining barns on 0.37 acres (1 500m²) of land. Restoration project Village location. 65,000€” – there’s loads like this!

The outbuildings and barn that could be converted into gites. It’s a reasonable idea, but unless they’re going to be something really special it’s a flawed one. Why? Well, even in the height of the season in August we see really nice gites standing empty. You can take your pick, so you’d pick something pretty special.

Lots of land. It sounds great, but things grow fast here in the Limousin. It’s not really green for no reason. In the growing season grass grows at an alarming rate. I’d swear you can almost see it grow. Certainly people cut their grass once a week. Trying to keep a couple of paddocks, or a large garden in check is a full-time occupation. If you are here all the time you’re in with a chance, but if not, you’ll need to hire someone to do it for you. We’ve seen couples who come out for a fortnight to work on their renovation. They spend most of their time trying to get the garden back to square one, even beat a path to the front door. Problem is, next visit it’ll be just as bad.

Number 2 next time.