Ski apartment/ Little house in France or UK buy-to-let - which would YOU choose?

[quandry]

DH and I have recently been fortunate and have come into some family money (although for sad reasons ).

We're beginning to discuss what to do with it, as we want to invest it for the benefit of our children in the future.

So far we've discussed the following options:

Ski apartment: We both like skiing, and the kids have been skiing for the last 3 years and enjoy it. We could probably buy a 4-6 person ski apartment which we could use for skiing in winter, and possibly a summer break too, if it was up in the mountains etc.
As the children get older we like the idea of having somewhere they could invite their friends (although it would likely be an apartment, not a chalet with a garden...)

A small house in France: unlikely to be South of France (too expensive), possibly a couple of hours inland. Perhaps something with a bit of land to do up over time?
I worry a bit about the time this might take to 'do up' and also whether we'd use it enough?

UK buy-to-let flat. DH is quite keen on this option, and feels that although buy-to-lets are getting bad press at the moment that there's still potential capital growth in the market, and this could provide the best return in the long run.

Personally I favour one of the first two, and DH the latter. I just feel that it would be nice to have a 'family place' where we could spend happy times together, which would provide lasting memories for our family (and IN MEMORY of our relatives who made it possible IYSWIM?)

I just wondered if anyone had experience of any of these and had any thoughts?

A little house in South West France (near me!) would be an investment/money earner if you rented it out for one month and then holidayed in it for the second, and an little inland would not be too expensive and have advantages of winter and summer use.

Ditto ski apartment (they can be eyewateringly pricey, as can the service charges).

Know nothing about buy to let....

Approximately which area are you in GGG? Are there 'up and coming' areas which still have 'do-able-up-able' place left?

Where will be the 'next Cote d'Azur' (but inland) please

Part of the problem is we wouldn't know where to start, and we don't want to get fleeced by the 'Property Abroad' companies...

I am in Bordeaux. The Charente is still reasonable as are areas near me. Bordeaux is about forty minutes from the sea. Furhter down, le Gers is up and coming as are parts of les Landes. I would give the Dordogne a miss as it is very popular and the markets are often braying (sweeping generalisation).

I would definitely go for the ski apartment. We bought one in Serre Chevalier a couple of years ago and love it. We let it out to cover costs and also use it ourselves. It has been no problem letting it during the ski season (more of a challenge getting time for ourselves). It is only an hour and a half from Turin airport or 2 hours from Grenoble.

The area is much cheaper than many resorts that are better known in the UK and has risen in value in the last two years, we think it will continue to do so, arguably more than the UK market at present. The skiing is fantastic and we hope that having it will save us a fortune when we are tied to skiing during school hols (DS only 2 at the moment).

What has really amazed us though is the summer holidays we have had. We feel as if we have discovered a brilliantly kept French secret. The weather and landscape is amazing, it is so peaceful and you can do any activity you like (or not) - swimming, rock climbing, horse riding, mountain biking, ww rafting, picnics, sunbathing, road biking, walking. We love it there so much we got all our friends out for a weekend to celebrate our wedding in August and they fell in love with it too. It is heaven for kids as well as adults.

Ooh Lou - sounds fab! Any links to a website or anything?

Although we are going skiing with a ski company this year, we're really interested in finding self-catering accommodation for the odd extra week!

I think if you have money, why not enjoy it? Buy to lets can make money but they do create headaches and there isn't really much pleasure in them apart from seeing money grow - which isn't looking very likely for forseeable future. With a ski chalet or holiday cottage, you may well see your money grow anyway (at least as likely as if you were to buy an investment property in UK) and you would have some great memories of family trips there as well.

Sod it, have fun. I am sure that whoever left you the money, would be pleased that you used it for something that made you happy.

I would steer clear of buy to let atm, unless you are very sure that it will be easy to let and are planning to hold onto it for at least 10 years. I don't think there's going to be much capital growth for the next few years, and the identikit one and two bed appartments that are the usual buy to let type are probably going to have the lowest capital growth as there are so many of them around. As lalalonglegs has already said they can be a pain in the neck if you get bad/non-paying tenants.

The ski apartment sounds like a better bet, especially if you like skiing anyway, and it ought to be easy to let to cover some costs if it's in a good location.

The trouble with buying a house with land is that if you're not there for long periods of time you might need to pay a caretaker to look after it for you, which wouldn't be an issue with a ski apartment.

I hope you get great enjoyment out of whatever you choose.

Hi - yes you can check out the apartment on www.serrechevalier.org/2007/09/13/serre-chevalier-apartment-sleeps-6-2/. It is called La Claire Fontaine. You can contact me (Adam Driscoll is my husband)via that website if you have any more specific questions about the apartment, Serre-Che or the whole process we went through.

YOur ski chalet sounds a good option - we had a summer cottage growing up and spent all summers there and we still go there now with our own children!

Hiya, we bought a small holiday home in Cap D'Agde, South West France this year. It's not a fancy place - it's on a purpose built holiday complex with a pool onsite, but it sleeps up to 6 and we haven't had any problems renting out over the summer (had bookings from May to October).

My dad lives in the same town so it's meant that we can easily go and visit him, and the rental money will go towards paying the mortgage.

Going through the French house-buying system was a bit of trial - my dad did most of the work for us but it still took some time. Apart from that minor issue I would definitely recommend buying abroad rather than in the UK: if it's in the right place you'll always be able to let it, and also get enjoyment for you and your family too.