House-hunting out of season

Autumn in the foothills - Betchat, Ariège

Traditionally late November is the start of the low-season in the property world; summer and autumn house hunters have usually found the home of their dreams or, if not, have decided to wait and try again in the New Year and somehow our thoughts turn to hibernation and home comforts rather than new horizons and starting over.

In this part of France however, late autumn and winter is a beautiful time of year with lots of sunshine during the day, followed by chilly evenings that provide the perfect excuse for hot chocolate in front of the fire. It is also an ideal time of the year to visit the region and discover it laid bare; no roses around the door, wisteria over the pergola and shimmering swimming pools to distract from the actual property and your list of must-have criteria which can all go out of the window on a perfect summer’s day.

The lovely thing about this area is that there are many thriving, all-year-round communities unlike so many places in France which literally shut up shop in the winter months. Before arriving here, we spent a winter living in an area that went into complete hibernation from November–March; every house was shuttered and abandoned, every restaurant closed and the few locals who remained barely ventured out. Hence it was a relief to find a region that does not rely just on summer trade and tourists, where people actually live and work all year long. Here of course we are only an hour from numerous ski resorts which means that the winter ski season is about to begin (it is beautiful weather down here but I am looking at fresh snow on the mountains). We are also only an hour from Toulouse which, like any city, has something going on at all times of year and whatever the weather.

The property market has been very busy here since the Spring and there are still a great selection of properties for sale at all budget levels, as well as some good deals to be had with sellers keen to accept an offer before Christmas so that they can move on in the New Year.

Finally, here is a list of the Top 20 property blogs which I discovered quite by accident – and as I am on the list (albeit at the very bottom!) I thought it would be a shame not to pass it on: Top 20 property blogs:

Sunshine and snow

November was one of my least favourite months when we lived in the UK but here, despite Autumn being well and truly upon us, we have just enjoyed lunch outside in the sunshine and now I am almost  too hot sitting at my desk with the sun blazing through the window. Even better, I can’t resist peaking out of the window every few minutes because over the weekend we had the first substantial snow fall on top of the mountains and they are now sparkling white against the blue sky. We have been here for eight years and yet I still find this sight quite magical.

Autumn colours and fresh snow

I am often asked what it is we like about living here and why we chose this region and I always struggle to answer that question as there are so many things and so many reasons but certainly waking up to the ever-changing view of the mountains is one of the most special aspects about living here – even though it wasn’t one of our criteria when searching for a property.

It is only in retrospect I realize that we probably fell for this house because of the mountain views and I am very thankful that we did. A view of the mountains is something that it is very hard to put a value on in property terms but, for me, it is priceless.