We’re Derek and Kate Arkwright and we have 2 lovely twin daughters, who are 3. At the beginning of 2007 we set about buying a gite in Brittany to have somewhere for us to go on our family holidays and to rent out to cover any costs. So, having nearly completed our first season as gite owners we thought it was about time we started a blog.
This is mainly because people have been getting in touch with us who want to do the same as us and asking us what the process is of finding, buying and then running a gite while living in the UK.
So while those heady days of: house hunting on the Internet, arranging viewings, driving around the wonderful Brittany countryside at breakneck speed looking at lot’s of properties, paperwork being shuttled across the Channel, and finally the excitement of going out for the signing are still relatively fresh we thought we’d get it down on paper, so to speak, to help anyone else who is thinking about doing the same thing.
Obviously, having done this only once, we are not the worlds leading experts, far from it! So far we have had no problems and buying in France has been very straight forward, especially compared to the UK, and everyone who has been involved in the process has been incredibly helpful. So all we can do is tell you what we did, what the process for us was and then, having bought the gite, how to setup and run a gite business from across the water while still making sure everybody who stays at our gite has a wonderful holiday.
So if you’re thinking about buying somewhere in France for your holidays or for renting out or both, hopefully this blog will give you an idea of the process and some handy hints to make the process a little smoother on finding, buying and then running a gite. If you want to stay in touch with this blog subscribe to our 
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2 Bedroom Cottage / Gite near Dinan in Brittany, France
©Derek Arkwright 2007
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