To renovate or not to renovate, that is the question. This is one of the biggest questions that you, a buyer, will have to face. And you have, in essence, three choices:
i: Buy a property already renovated
Here are the hard facts of the matter. If you buy a property which is already renovated, you think you will have less work to do. Well, that may be true. Or it may turn out NOT to be true. All too often a property that is sold as "fully renovated" - especially, it has to be said, if done by the French - still needs an awful lot of work doing.
Our advice would always be: do not buy a property that is fully renovated unless you are 100% sure that the job has been well done. In the long run, it will be cheaper, better, less stressful and more profitable to renovate the property yourself.
ii: Buy a property which needs a 'bit of work'
The same story as above. Think twice. Or even three times!
iii: Buy a property which is, "a total renovation job"
Don't listen to anyone else. This IS the best thing to do. Although prices have risen often unreasonably high on such totally neglected properties in recent years, if you buy and do a total renovation you WILL be doing the best by yourself and by your bank.
And the more of the work you do, the happier will be the bank.
OK? So how to renovate.
