I've described the two houses that we loved, but haven't mentioned the one's that weren't but in truth it is worth looking at the others as well in order to hopefully give you some ideas/suggestions and information.
We had shortlisted a number of properties which, in theory at least, all fulfilled the brief we were working to but in reality some of them were not what they at first appeared. One house we looked at turned out to be semi-detached, which was not clear in the description at first glance, but once we read the details a second time more closely it was actually mentioned. There was another house that was on a large plot of land, great to grow veg and for the dogs to run around in we thought. In reality there were so many outbuildings that in fact there was only a small garden that would have been suitable for our needs and it was across the road, so that ruled that out. The other lesson we learned from this property was that more is not necessarily better. Another one, although detached was so close to the house next door, which was also slightly lower due to the hill it was built on, that my dogs could have jumped from "our" garden straight into their swimming pool. So we discounted that too. And there was a house that was passable, but the detached derelict barn that came as part of the deal was in danger of falling down and the risk of someone getting injured by falling masonry before we could get to it to fix it up ruled it out too. On our last day the estate agent had arranged to take us back to look at two for second viewings and had also found a mystery house which had only come on the market that day.
All three fitted the brief and all three were definite maybe's. However over the weekend we had spent some time with friends of ours who had moved out to France 11 years ago but live about 3 hours away from where we were looking. Mr B had renovated a derelict barn from scratch almost entirely single handedly, while Mrs B established the small holding. They gave us a lot of really useful advice about what to look for, such as a bulge in a stone wall which is indicative of water ingress between the layers of the wall which would mean major work. When we went back to look at one of the houses, we realised that although the house looked okay, the barn's back wall was in need of some serious renovation. We had missed this first time round. And the house just didn't have that mysterious "feel" that everyone looks for.
The other two houses were very similar. Same amount of land, similar in size, but one was the finished article and one was, how can I put it, not!! Anyway my first thought was the finished article would be so much easier and in the long run, and probably no more expensive. We went back to the hotel to talk it over. The more we talked the more we realised how much we would want to change in the finished house as it wasn't really to our taste - all the beams had been clad with pine cladding for example.
So guess what.... The doer upper it is! It's nearly a hundred years old and the upstairs has never been used! And I don't care because I walked in and just felt at home... And fortunately hubby loved it too!
So the advice for today is.....
Look at the pro's and the con's of each house you see, weigh them up and compare them, trust your instinct and if you fall head over heels in love with something, make absolutely sure it will meet your needs before letting your heart rule your head. OH, and although we were incredibly lucky to find our house first visit to France, it often takes 2 or more visits, so if you don't find it first time, don't settle for something that doesn't really work for you. Keep looking!
No comments:
Post a Comment