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A couple of comments on French Alps south of Geneva - if you are going to buy, you need to do your homework as its not as easy / quick to sell if you have to get your money back, there are FX risks to think about, and if you want to rent out there are hot spots were there is short supply (but prices are high) and plenty of other places were rental is pretty slow.. so do your homework on that. Tax and fees also an issue on rentals and buying / selling.
Riding in Samoens is nice, plenty of big days out type riding around there and some great lift assisted downhill singletrack in summer. PDS a short drive away or ride up the Col du Joux Plan if you are feeling fit, gets you straight over to Les Gets. A quiet place though. Annecy also a nice place and busy.
Traffic can be bad at peak times but nowhere near as bad as S.E. UK on a day to day basis I find.
I made the move 5 years ago. No regrets.
cheers ddmonkey. I'm aware of the tax and fees involved in buying property i think the process seems pretty easy as all taxes and fees are paid as a % of the property. Is there anywhere you would recommend? Ive recently been over to les arcs area and was impressed with the riding and the surrounding area.
Sorry to hijack - what are the major alpine resorts like betwix seasons?
I was chatting to the guy who owned the chalet we were staying in Morzine a couple of years ago, he painted a pretty grim picture of a ghost town covered in slush in spring and cold drizzle in autumn, most of the shops and all of the bars and restaurants closed for weeks or months.
He was a miserable bugger though, skiers were overly demanding spoiled brats, snowboarders were 'frat boys' who threw up in his garden, mountain bikers couldn't read signs asking to strip before entering the building and got the place muddy. I think he just wanted to live, ride and Ski on his own and his guests were an unfortunate byproduct ha ha.
Morzine can be a bit quiet inter season. Many take their hols in October. May can be odd depending on the late snow but the walking can be great and the lifts open the last two weekends of the month at Les gets for a laugh.
But compared to primarily ski resorts morzine us alive for much more of the year. That's certainly one of the main reasons we bought a little place out here. Even in the interseason I'm happy to come out for a few days walking, xc riding and chilling.
People live here, it never grinds to a complete standstill.
@gfrew property our has costs inc taxes will be about 10% in France, an incentive to be sure you're buying the right place. Alps property prices are quite soft at the moment, which you might see as a buying opportunity, some premium properties in Chamonix are supposedly down 50% from the peak.
bigjim » gfrew88, please tell me what your job is so I can do it too!
Professional Day-Dreamer is my guess.
Rough night @mooman ?
For example friend of a friend who moved to Le Chable below Verbier does most of his work remotely, he spent many years getting his career organised so he could do that. He's been living there for 15 years now. I have another friend who runs an import/distribution business who needs to be in Paris less than 6 months a year and spends the other 6 months as a "guest coach" for Club Med, so he teaches water skiing and snow boarding in return for free board and lodging. Most of the people I know in Verbier are "early retired", made enough money to have a place to live and work part time for "pocket money". Many different ways to run your life.
He's definitely ignoring the questions about his job 😉
mooman - Member
bigjim » gfrew88, please tell me what your job is so I can do it too!
Professional Day-Dreamer is my guess.
Nope, i have an inkling we are in the same game 🙂
Renting out can be complicated. The last time anyone was up to date with the rent on our flat was 2000. The law is stacked heavily in favour of the tenant.
The northern Alps are dismal most of the year. If you are only going to ski that's great but... . Briançon - Gap area is a better bet year round.
IMO the best bits of France are close to the Alps or Pyrenees without being in them, and having a second home up the hill for skiing and escaping the Summer heat.
I suggest renting and living for periods in a variety of places and only buying when you have a better feel for the country, its people and the property market. Regional differences are just as marked as in the UK.
Places I like:
St Jean de Luz (if you don't need a car in Summer)
Gap
Nancy
Pau
La Rochelle
Dijon
Places I'm not keen on:
Anywhere in PACA for more than a week
The north
The Alps except for holidays
its classified
Sorry to hijack - what are the major alpine resorts like betwix seasons?
Your chalet owner wasn't too far off the mark. Even the big resorts are very, very dead between seasons and can be pretty grim. Very small permanent populations, everything [everything!] shut between seasons. The "real towns" with lifts are a bit better, the valley towns (Bourg Saint Maurice, Saint Gervais, etc.) are MUCH better.
These can actually be really nice times to chill and ride your bike (weather is often great) but forget a social life or facilities.
Interesting (and VERY tempting) thread.
I'm in a similar situation, commute to work once every 4 weeks, 2wks at work then back.
I'd be looking for excellent skiing/boarding in winter and biking in summer. It's a shame Canada is so far as Whistler ticks the boxes for me but is too far/expensive to fly to every month.
Chamonix looks good, amazing skiing and lots of nice touring but not sold on the biking aspect, I want epic singletrack but also uplifted DH jump trails and tech... Not asking too much!!!!! Also Cham is super expensive 🙁
gfrew88 - Member
its classified
You sell yourself... Man whore?
the Austria/Ljubljana suggestion above looked tempting
I think some of you might be assuming that commuting once a month means 29 days at home, then one day at work...instead of 30 days at home, 30 days at work...
I'm very tempted by Samoens,Saint Gervais or Bourg. I'm travelling over next month on the motorbike for a nosey at some property
I used to live in Bourg (well technically Seez) it's a great place and Gva is only a bastard to get to if you have to travel on a Saturday or Sunday in the winter season. Apart from that it's actually quite an easy drive and handy for some better supermarkets and real shops on your way back up. I moved back a few years ago now but still have a lot of friends in that valley so if you have any specific questions drop me a line.
As with Konabunny - Austria is a good shout.
Many Austrian town councils have very strict rules for property. Lots of property must be lived in as a first residence, the reason for this is that they want towns to be 12 months a year towns and not just for the holiday seasons. Therefore many towns are generally working towns. It also helps to stabilise property prices as they're not bought as holiday homes.
You can get some really good riding and skiing about an hours drive of Salzburg airport (2 hours from Innsbruck/Ljubjana airport). You also generally don't have to drive over mountain passes/switchbacks to get to some uplift.
cheers luffy, i might take you up on that offer. how did you find living in Bourg during the off seasons? I've visited before and it seems a nice town but i visited in the summer when it was busy.
No one suggested Swindon yet?.
Molini.... You can also come and help build trails..
liking the look of this place......
Sorry, missed this. Like most of the area the interseason is a lot quieter but at least it still functions and everything is still open. Go any higher and it's a much different story where the place effectively shuts down for 6 weeks. Bourg still operates because all the resort inhabitants come down to shop etc...
Personally I loved interseasons as it was time to catch up with your mates and have fun before we all went back to crazy hours and hard work. The weather can be a bit of a bummer though.