B&B, chambres d'hotes in Burgundy

You are looking for a B&B, Chambres d'hotes or gite business in Burgundy? Buying an established business is not the only way to proceed for such a venture, the greater percentage of people entering the B&B business in France do so by creating their own business within a residential property, farmhouse, etc, there are many properties available at the present time that could easily be converted over from residential only to residential plus income.
What is the type of property that suits being a B&B or Chambre d'hotes......
1.It must have more bedrooms than are neccessary for the persons who are living there permanently, any number up to 5 bedrooms can be allocated for B&B business in France.
New rules have been introduced this year regarding the running of B&B business, before this they were only guidelines, these guidelines have now become legal requirements. Check out an established business meets these requirements.
Setting up your own business within the property where you would also like to live in is very important, remember there are alot fewer B&B/chambres d'hotes to choose from than there are private properties for sale, so there is much greater choice and value in buying a property you can convert over for use as a B&B..
B&B's in France are used mainly as stopovers for 1 or 2 nights, alot of business is also created through the local community, I know for a fact that local weddings create alot of customers as family and friends stay locally, other family events also create such business.
Over the years B&B in France attracted passing trade, the internet and GPS has changed this, the internet has become a very important source of clients of B&B owners, many clients choose their destination by internet rather than taking pot luck, they also seem to prefer village or town location, that way it is easier for them to walk to a restaurant in the evening, that is if the B&B owner does not offer table d'hote/evening meal. Again I know for a fact this year 2008 clients for local B&B have been predominantly French and other, Brits have been seen less this year, it is very important to base the business around these facts. A good website well publicised is important. Very few B&B rely on return business, clients always like to try new places to stay if they revisit an area unless as stated previously accomodation is sought for a local event or function.
We at Simplyburgundy have much experience in advising people looking to purchase an existing B&B or a house to convert over to such a business, ( we have clients who are currently opearating their own B&B's in Burgundy) our site has many properties that would easily suit the B&B business. Do not hesitate to contact us for any advice relating to operating your own B&B.

Holiday rentals in Burgundy

We may have seen a slow down this year in the interest by Brits to buy property in France, however Gites (country holiday rentals) in Burgundy continue to be in demand. In the region of the Brionnais and Charolais where simplyburgundy specialises in the sale of country properties most Gite owners are experiencing a very good year for rentals. The region has so much to offer for couples, groups of friends and families, in general, prices are very competitive compared to other regions of France. It makes very good sense to do your homework and check out a number of websites, look for feed back, check to make sure you are not paying well over the top for a basic Gite when a similar gite can be rented for much less with the same quality of presentation. Recently I read in one of the French property publications that a French Gite owner increased their occupancy rate just by putting the price up to match the price set by a local British Gite owner and likewise aimed his marketing in a more efficient manner. A very good site for cost comparison is the site Gite de France, this association has been around a long time and normally has a regular advertising clientele, if prices are set sensibly a good return can be had by most gite owners, the numbers visiting France and requiring rental accommodation is forever increasing, it is not only Brits that look for such accommodation, they come as far a field as Australia and Japan. When clients make contact with us regarding the purchase of a property, they often look to stay in the region for a week, they very often ask us to recommend a local Gite which we are more than pleased to arrange for them. We are considering adding Gite and Chambres d'hote recommendations to our site, hopefully we will have progressed sufficiently with this that by the end of the year when we will have a selection on our site to choose from.
Property in Burgundy still offers good value, prices have adjusted downwards in reaction to the market and further negotiation is possible on certain properties, I believe the French property market has corrected very quickly and this is shown in the number of Europeans still interested in buying, especially those who have adopted the Euro, unfortunatly the Brits are burdened with a weak pound sterling at the moment, hopefully that will correct in the near future, maybe the good rental income as a gite could make the investment a sound one, even with a weak pound.

Prices in France

Questions about the possibility of negotiating the price of a French property are becoming more and more common these days from prospective UK buyers of French Property especially those selling in the UK. The most recent call I had was from a couple who visited just over 2 months ago, fell in love with our region of Burgundy and were more than happy with the prices for the type of property they were looking for, their intention was to return to UK, put their own property immediately on the market and get back to us when they had a positive buyer, up to the present moment they have not had a viewing. The question they asked me was. " As we are having no luck in attracting buyers at the moment, if we were to significantly drop our asking price here in the UK can we expect to do the same over there in Burgundy for the property we expect to purchase", my answer to that was " yes, the market here in France is experiencing the same downturn as the UK and the houses being sold are those where the owners are willing to negotiate"
Most of our clients are those looking to live permanenetly in France and are normally coming up to retirement or already retired, they are not looking to wait too long to before they make their move. Market conditions are not exactly favourable for those selling a property in the UK before they buy in France, couple that with the bad exchange rate between the pound and the euro and it makes the job of finding a property within a budget quite difficult, however I can assure clients that not only here in Burgundy but all over France property prices are negotiable, sometimes more than would be reasonably expected, so do not give up that dream it just needs a little more resolve and strong negotiating. Allen Walkey (simplyburgundy)

Brionnais, Charolais and Chalonais.

These regions are found in the department of Saone et Loire which is located in the southern section of Burgundy and offer rolling countryside with hill top villages not to mention the wine yards, canals and popular market towns. If you want to experience the true history, culture and pleasures of France then Burgundy must be your destination.