Q& A
holiday home in France - and when we’re there we want to spend our time enjoying ourselves, not mowing the lawn or painting the shutters. How could a second home management company help with this?
Flore de Courtivron
FLORE DE COURTIVRON of La Conciergerie de Flore, Normandy, replies (
laconciergeriedeflore.com): When you have a second home, you want to be able to enjoy every single moment you spend there. Our holiday time is precious, and it is important to be able to relax, spend time with loved ones and explore the area. But it’s not uncommon to discover that damage has occurred while you were away and then you spend far too much time dealing with it and finding a solution. In the absence of
an extensive network of local service providers, you don’t always know who to trust. And these service providers are not always available at short notice and while you are there. This can become an obstacle
to maintaining a second home that is far from your main residence. That is where second home management companies have a role to play. They exist so that owners can take advantage of their second home to the full when they are there. These companies can help in different ways, depending on the
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s we’re getting older, we find it harder to keep on top of all the maintenance at our
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HELP WITH OUR HOLIDAY HOME
owners’ needs and the level of involvement they want. It implies, among other
things, scheduled indoor and outdoor inspections to identify potential maintenance issues. This service, in addition to providing a regular presence in the house, allows small problems to be identified and repairs to be arranged before they become big problems! Second home management
companies are often very local (with a radius of up to 50 miles), allowing them to call on their network of trusted providers to intervene quickly. They can handle minor repairs of machinery, chimney sweeping, plumbing or electricity, as well as major renovation project management. Painting, carpentry, roofing, garden redesign… I once managed the renovation of a river for English clients with a fishing house! These companies will source
local artisans, get estimates, communicate owners’ renovation plans, organise
SHOULD I DO THE PACKING MYSELF?
We’re very excited about our move to France in six months but there are so many things to think about, not least the actual moving day. What are the pros and cons of packing our belongings ourselves or using a removal company’s packing service?
ROB BARTUP of GB Liners replies (
gbliners.com): Like everything in life, there are upsides and downsides to carrying out the packing for your move to France yourself. The big pro is, of course, that it makes the
Rob Bartup
move cheaper. However, there is an old adage ‘time is money’, and it might be that your time could be put to better use. Another pro
90 FRENCH PROPERTY NEWS: March/April 2023
is that the move will take less time to pack and load. So, if you are on a tight timescale, packing yourself may appeal. You may know that you won’t want to unpack all the boxes straight away at your new home and so by carrying out the packing yourself, you may be able to separate out the goods that you want to unpack straight away and those that you are content to leave packed. You will need to weigh the
advantages against the cons. Firstly, do you have the time, physical energy and the skills to carry out the packing of a wide
variety of household goods? If you carry out the packing yourself, it will almost inevitably be at your risk and any loss or damage to the box contents will be down to you. The task may also be bigger than it looks; the last thing that either you or the mover wants is for a member of the crew to turn up on the day and find out that you are not fully packed and ready. That may push the schedule out badly and/or lead to friction straight away. Can you lay your hands on all
the materials that are needed to do the job properly? Most
and supervise the work, and provide reports with photos. Owners retain full control over costs. Firstly, because most of them offer a quote tailored to the owners’ needs, with the option to choose between a fixed price or time-based billing system. Secondly, no step in a renovation project is taken without the owner’s approval.
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