Why did you decide to come to the limousin?

We'd been coming to France for 12 years in a camper van, but since getting our two Dalmation dogs the camper van seemed less practical!
We heard about the Limousin from our friends Kath and Tim who had bought a house through Alice a few years ago, and started to look around. We loved the area for the beautiful forests and lakes. The transport links are great too, it's an easy drive and friends and family can fly in from various locations. It's far enough south to be warm but not to be unbearably hot.

When you started looking at houses, how did you find the house you eventually bought?

The first house we looked at had a lot of land but we realized we'd be staying in a tent for 5 years while we did the work! For this house, we had less land but it was much more livable, it needed work but was basically very solid and we've been able to adapt it to our personal taste.   We were very attracted to the village we bought in, La Croisille sur Briance, because it had a lovely boulangerie and lots going on. It's funny, because we started off with a wish list and ended up with something completely different. We thought we wanted to be very isolated, but having stayed right out in the country for a week was enough to convince us we'd rather be near a boulangerie and a cafe. We'd recommend renting a gite in different locations when you visit the area to see what you prefer.

How did you find the buying process in France?

So simple it was unbelievable. It went through very smoothly. All the information we were given in the buyers pack was very helpful. Even opening out bank account was fine, we dealt with one person in the local branch. Having Alice in the agency who speaks English made things 50,000 times easier, and Antoine was very helpful getting a builder out to another house we were interested in.

Any tips for people buying houses in France?

Don't be afraid to make contact with people, we went out of our way to introduce ourselves to the mayor and the neighbours and to go the local bar for a drink and we've already met some great and very helpful people. Try to make email contact with someone on the council in the local village. We've been to every village fete and activity this summer, and we try to say hello to passers by, even though you might feel reserved.
If you don't drive, make sure you buy somewhere with a train station!
Rent a gite in your potential location.
Get used to things being shut over lunch!
Try to speak as much French as you can, even if you have to apologize for your accent.