Renovating. Design. Build. Buy. Create. Sell. Dream. Imagine. House. Property. Home. France, Italy.
All of my favorite things. Restoration, painting, carpentry, electrics, plumbing, gardens, stone walls, stone paths, fireplaces, kitchens, bathrooms, landscaping, masonry, waterworks, fountains, lighting, horticulture. I do these works with my own hands and with the help of skilled, trusted tradespeople. I especially love discretely adapting new, modern technology into these wonderful ancient properties.
Successfully buying & selling my own properties in Los Angeles, I built up a +150% profits track record, usually turning over properties within a couple years. I was not a flipper; my renovations breathe real life back into property, with sympathetic & practical restoration designed for the long term.
My favorite part is renovating wrecks and turning them into treasures on a realistic budget. With a great eye for economy, efficiency, practicality, technical & code aspects, details, and understanding the psychology of real estate sales (yes, it’s a thing) I always sold my properties off to literally the first buyers that walked in the doors.
I then moved to Europe and do this here, mostly in France, for others. I’ve bought, sold, managed & renovated properties for clients in France, Italy & Belgium; in Paris, Normandy to Brussells, to St. Tropez & Mougins. The best thing a client can ever say to me is ‘It’s JUST what I wanted‘. That’s gratification for a job well done.
One of my best assets is shopping. Now, I don’t need to own everything I see, at all. I live frugally & economically, but I do live well. I decide what I want, define the parameters & budget, then I go hunting. It doesn’t matter if it’s my grocery list or a multi-million dollar apartment in the 8eme of Paris for a HNW client, or the furnishings & technical needs of a low end budget home, house or property. My ‘window shopping’ skills lead me down many rabbit holes on the internet, which is where we are now.
One day a friend said to me “Why not turn your love of property hunting into a modestly profitable website where (you) can share the budget treasures (you) find with others who are hunting for the same things?” Yeah, I paraphrased that, but in essence, it’s what she said. “You should build a website” is what she really said.
So here we are. I spend some time every day curating the coolest properties, houses and ruins I can find in Italy & France for up to €50k. These are the ones that I feel are worth investing in, renovating and restoring. I’m pretty good at this sort of thing.
Full disclosure: I use affiliate marketing tools, adwords, keywords and ad campaigns to finance the website, and you get to benefit from the treasures I find. (hey, I get .25c every time you click on an ad link, I’m not ashamed!) I get no commission from linking to the real estate adverts I find, I just send you there to make up your own mind.
As the site develops and I continue to learn, I hope you’ll follow along! Please share and enjoy and follow this site on Facebook please! Thanks!