Coming out swinging

Whilst we were taken aback by the news that our current french dream was a non starter, we had been here before. This time however it was different, we came out fighting! We had been given a straightforward explanation about why we couldn’t buy the chateau. We couldn’t borrow the amount of money we had asked for. It was as simple as that!

With this in mind we decided to set up a meeting with our french mortgage advisor to discuss how we could move forward. From the very first meeting we found our advisor to be incredibly helpful. He talked us through the french mortgage process in great detail. He helped us understand what we could potentially borrow and all the costs associated with the sale. He not only helped us understand the actual mortgage but was a mine of information about the whole buying process.

We were now equipped with a plan and more importantly, a realistic budget. It was time to start searching again. Out came the trusty spreadsheet and once again the hunt was on!

Before we knew it the spreadsheet was brimming with potential properties. We contacted various agencies and started to plan another trip. The trip was arranged for late November and we had just four days to see twelve houses. The experience of planning these trips previously has taught us so much so we approached this one a little differently to maximise the amount of properties we could view in the short time we had. We will be producing a guide post to help with this in the future.

With no time to waste we headed for our first appointment straight from Toulouse Airport. Back in the beautiful Gers once again we headed to Masseube. 25k south of Auch we were in familiar territory. The day was grim, grey and cold, a far cry from the glorious summer we had the pleasure of on our last visit and still the countryside was incredibly beautiful. With each passing kilometre we felt more relaxed. We were greeted by a lovely agent who we followed through the misty countryside to the property.

As we arrived outside I have to admit I was not wowed by the place. It seemed kind of exposed, out on a limb almost but as always we continued with an open mind and had a good look round the place. It was a house of two halves. It was set up for living accommodation on one side and rental on the other. If you were planning to offer gite accommodation this would be a great option but it just didn’t work as a family home.

It was late afternoon and having travelled from the UK early that morning, we were flagging. After the disappointment of the first viewing we were tempted to just head to the hotel for the evening but there was the small matter of our second appointment of the day so we put our big boy pants on and pressed on. This time we were headed for Saint-Gaudens, a small town overlooking the Garonne valley. We had never been to this area before and were keen to see as much as possible on the journey. As usual we met the agent in town and attempted to follow him up hills and round snaky bends until we arrived at the house. We pulled up outside an imposing stone farmhouse. It was late afternoon as we entered the driveway and we were losing the light as the rain came down and the fog rolled in. We were greeted by the owner and welcomed into a vast kitchen that opened onto a cosy living space. The log burner and aga were fired up and I could imagine the whole family here enjoying this fantastic space.

The rest of the house did not disappoint, great sized rooms, stunning cast iron radiators and beautifully restored original features everywhere you looked. Whilst most of the property had been renovated, there was a large attached drying barn that had been partially converted and needed finishing. It was a huge space with potential to knock through into the upstairs of the farmhouse. We were excited!

The garden was a fair size with various outbuildings that needed some attention. The garden itself also needed some thinking about making space for the installation of the pool. The views over the countryside were beautiful, even on a day like this.

We both really liked the house but there were two areas of concern. One of the outbuildings was attached to a neighbouring property and were looking for solitude. The other issue was the majority of the land that came with this property was a very large field located over the road and not attached to the property. The agent told us that a local farmer currently looked after the land but we could take back control after the sale went through. Did we really need all that land? What would we use it for? As we headed back to our hotel, we had a lot to process.

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