Limoges

[Bayleaf]

I knew a lovely French couple, when we ran our Pépinière, who needed to deck out their whole garden as it was a new build. We're on the NE border of Dordogne, touching Haute Vienne, halfway between Périgueux and Limoges. They'd wanted Dordogne, but were priced out of it, when just over the border (Ladignac-le-Long) they were able to buy a patch of land for their construction at a much cheaper rate. Don't know if that applies to already-built houses, but they seemed to imply that Haute-Vienne was cheaper than Dordogne.

Nowhere near the coast, but a lovely area. Lots of lakes, woodland and Limoges is supposed to have the highest rainfall in France (well, it used to have!), so generally stays greener. Although climate change may affect that ...

[Spectrum]

I would not be put off by the papermill, it only happens a few times a year when they flush the sediment lakes, it a rotten cabbage smell, not nice but certainly should not put you off looking, but look a few miles away.

[suein56]

Dave W. mentioned it being a buyer’s market just now. I mentioned to a friend that we were just beginning to think about selling our apartment sometime in the future.

A couple of days later an email arrived from a complete stranger wanting to know the dimensions of our apartment and the approximate price. Granted it seems that the woman wants to live in our building as she apparently has a friend living there and visits, swims in our pool etc, but it seemed rather odd and rather pushy. Quite a shock too, as we’d only vaguely started thinking and it suddenly seemed to have become real.

It's a Seller's market Polly .. which is why prices are high. Some sellers are asking silly prices for their properties.
The woman enquiring about your flat seems to be aware of this and doesn't want to let a possible purchase slip through her fingers.
Especially if she really wants to live in your block.
French women (most others too) can have a steely determination in order to achieve their aims.

[Lori]

Plenty of tennis clubs/courts in the Haute Vienne (& other Limousin departments).
I play twice a week at a thriving club 10 minutes away.

Thank you. That is good to know.

[Lori]

Also, a £300,000 budget would buy you a lot of house.

I think if I were buying again I would look at the area west of the A20 in the Perigord-Limousin national park, or as you mentioned Lori, the Millevache area is beautiful.

ps very happy with where we are so no plans to move

Thank you for the information. I'll have a look. Do you not think Millevache is remote/isolated? Since I don't really know the region well, it looked like it could be a long drive from a hospital, commerce, etc.

[Blaze]

French women (most others too) can have a steely determination in order to achieve their aims.

Absolutely ! I worked for a French estate agent friend in the early 2000s when Brits were coming over to France in droves. A French woman wishing to sell her house told me that she wanted to sell to "les anglais" for the highest price possible. I took great pleasure in telling her that we were not an auction house and that she would have to find another estate agent (at that time there were far fewer about).

[Lori]

Limoges is supposed to have the highest rainfall in France (well, it used to have!), so generally stays greener. Although climate change may affect that ...

Yes, that concerns us. Being in the Vaucluse, we don't get much rain. Which has become a major problem here. However, I worry that we would have a hard time adjusting to a heavily rainy climate. Our research came up with 123 days of rain for Pau and 122 for Tarbes and 135 for Limoges. These figures are a couple of years old, so I guess things may have changed. In what direction? I do not know.

[Bayleaf]

Limoges is supposed to have the highest rainfall in France (well, it used to have!), so generally stays greener. Although climate change may affect that ...

Yes, that concerns us. Being in the Vaucluse, we don't get much rain. Which has become a major problem here. However, I worry that we would have a hard time adjusting to a heavily rainy climate. Our research came up with 123 days of rain for Pau and 122 for Tarbes and 135 for Limoges. These figures are a couple of years old, so I guess things may have changed. In what direction? I do not know.

I'd rather more rain than less - especially if current trends continue... It's still plenty hot here for pools etc.

[Hotrodder]

French women (most others too) can have a steely determination in order to achieve their aims.

Absolutely ! I worked for a French estate agent friend in the early 2000s when Brits were coming over to France in droves. A French woman wishing to sell her house told me that she wanted to sell to "les anglais" for the highest price possible. I took great pleasure in telling her that we were not an auction house and that she would have to find another estate agent (at that time there were far fewer about).

I remember those days well. It was like a shark feeding frenzy here in 22 with Brits desperate to buy (almost anything) cheap before they missed the opportunity. I used to drive people around to view properties they had short listed for a bit of survival money.
Sadly, the real gems near the coast had been gobbled up by the Dutch and Germans a decade earlier. Most were content to buy barely habitable projects with far too much land. As far as I have seen, most of them sold up and went back licking their wounds and losing money on the deal.

[Lori]

Does anyone know the difference in a Fosse and a Fosse toutes eaux? Is there a difference?

Thank you.