Renovation project - There is no shame in walking away

Renovation project - There is no shame in walking away

We arrive in Bourbonne les Bannes the day before we are due to visit the property, the area is amazing, the villages we pass through are beautiful, small and sleepy, very few have shops or a bar and we wonder if this is the place to have a property, will people want to buy with no conveniences
but the stunning scenery and the location make up for the lack of facilitates, we can imagine sitting out for dinner over looking the rolling hills, knowing that we are within easy travel distance of Switzerland, Germany, Italy and the Alsace route.

Yes we would be happy with a house here.

We arrive at the village and see the house immediately it is not quite as it appeared in the photographs, or as the agent described, he had neglected to mention that the front of the building was twisted and pulling itself to pieces, you could see where work had been done too cover some of this.

There was no wall at the back, it was not a case of just putting in windows and doors, this would not have been a problem, the problem was the front of the house, it would have to be taken down and rebuilt.

But the stones which gave it the original attraction could not be taken down by us, we would need a team of builders or a crane these are not lightweight stone, and the façade was not strong enough to hold them.

We have just spent a fortune and what will end up as 6 days on this trip and all the agent had to do was tell us the problem with the front.

At this point I want to go and visit him and tell him what I think of him.

But we have another to view so we go to look at that village it is not as nice and we are so deflated, but we do know that this is not an impossible task to drive to France to renovate and keep a place in Spain.

It has made it a little clearer for me, our hearts are in Spain, but our heads must remain firmly in France.

We are renovating for the love of the property but we also have to make sure that we can make a profit when we come to sell, otherwise we will be left with nothing.

This is the biggest tip that I can give you.

• Do your sums make sure the renovation will not cost more than the property will be worth, especially if you are on a limited budget.

• If you want to resell the property you must not spend more than it will be worth, you hear this horror story over and over again.

• We loved everything about this property and village, but we had no choice but to walk away, it would not work there is no shame in being realistic.