Update, October 2023

I'm just back from 10 days visiting friends who recently moved to Portugal, so it seems like the right time to send out an Autumn update.

A lot has changed for me since my last update. As you may recall, I closed my solo estate agency for family reasons, and moved into providing freelance estate agency services. Over the last few months I've completed a wide range of freelance appointments for a company called Viewber (115 in all!) including viewings, photography, floor plans, 360 tours, tenant check-ins, reports for potential buyers, reports for fast sale companies, open houses for auction companies, key handovers, and more. I loved the variety and challenge of this work, but missed some aspects of estate agency, in particular following through on cases. It was frustrating that I rarely saw the outcome of my efforts.

One of my favourite parts of estate agency was sales progression - the part of the process which takes a property through from 'sale agreed' to completion. I'm rather unusual in liking this part of the process - most estate agents hate it - but there is something about it which seems to align with my personality. Keeping all the juggling balls in the air, and pulling all the jigsaw pieces together, gave me a wonderful sense of achievement and satisfaction.

Throughout my time working for Viewber, I kept an eye open for a sales progression role which might be a good fit for me. I applied for a couple of jobs, but I didn't live close enough, and didn't even get an interview. Eventually I was offered a suitable position, but I was sad to leave Viewber, and sadly the new job didn't work out the way I hoped.

The upshot of all this work and upheaval is that I have had little or no chance to research canalside properties for my website and mail-outs. I'm sure you'll have noticed how quiet I've been. I have also been struggling to see how my 'canalside homes' specialisation will fit into my future. Especially after our holiday.

I will explain...

On and off, we have both dreamed of having a holiday home abroad, and perhaps even living abroad when we retire. Seeing how this works for our friends in Portugal really focussed our minds. Over the past two weeks, our plan has progressed from 'vaguely possible' to 'highly likely'!

I have always loved France. You might recall that occasionally I have added a French property or two to my mail-outs. You may even remember the post about French canal villages which I posted quite some time ago. I'm no stranger to French property, as I owned a house in the Pas de Calais with my first husband. My French is good (A level and 1 year at university level), but it's a bit rusty, so I will be definitely need to brush up on my skills during my spare time.

If French property intrigues you, please stick around - there may well be some posts about buying houses in France. And maybe one day you'll be hearing that our dream has come true!