The first thing Heather and Phil Barber used to see when they pulled back their bedroom curtains was an extensive landscape of red brick semi-detached houses and back gardens. Now they are lulled to sleep by the sound of the River Charente as it runs just feet from their front door, and awake to a stunning view across a valley to a picturesque village with a fairytale chateau at its centre. Three years after escaping to Verteuil sur Charente, nestled between the Loire and Dordogne in France, Heather, 48, and Phil, 58, say they couldn't be happier. And with their bed and breakfast business already reaping rich rewards in its first season of opening, the couple have no intention of returning to the UK. Heather, originally from Lynemouth, Northumberland, and Phil, from Nottingham, are living the life they always dreamed of. It was in 2002 that the couple - who have two daughters, Jacqui, 22, and Nicola, 20 - decided it was time to build themselves a new life abroad. They sold their house for £140,000 and began looking for a property in France after falling in love with the country after visiting Brittany. Following a disastrous bid on a hotel in Parthenay [OK] near Poitiers which the Barbers had to hastily extricate themselves from in the seven-day cooling-off period, they settled on the Charente area and made appointments with about six immobilliers - estate agents - and re-started the search for their ideal home. It came in the shape of a tumble down farmstead with half an acre of land and a private courtyard which they bought for £58,000. It would not have been to everyone's taste. "We thought it would make an ideal bed and breakfast," explains Heather, "but it was totally run down and primitive. There was no water and the loo emptied straight out into the river. "It had been owned by an old man who had died and his grand-daughter was selling it. But we saw the potential and three months later we moved in. We spent our first few months planning how to tackle the mammoth task ahead." The Barbers' cannily didn't immediately sever their links with the UK and bought a cheap terraced house in Nottingham as a base which they only sold six months down the line. They have also endeared themselves to their new neighbours by not only learning their language, but making sure they only employed French architects and workmen, boosting the local economy. Three years on and the couple now have a thriving B&B, Les Bruyeres, French for `heather,' with three ensuite bedrooms in a self-contained converted barn. And this October they plan to open a bistro in their adopted village in partnership with Consett-born now Verteuil sur Charente-based estate agent Claire Dockar, [OK] and Heather's sister Caroline Houghton from North Wales. "Many of our customers are house-hunters from England, so we point them in the direction of Claire and she does the same for us with anyone who is looking for somewhere to stay," says Heather. "We are very happy and have no qualms about leaving the UK. The way of life here is so easy, and unlike England, here you create your own stress. We really are living our dream." Millions of Britons would love to buy into the Barbers' enviable lifestyle. Around 190,000 people left the UK for good in 2003, an all-time high, according to the latest Social Trends survey from National Statistics, while another 18,500 people swapped Ireland for life overseas. Researcher shows more than 500,000 Britons own property in Spain while four in 10 overseas buyers in France are said to be from the UK. The British are also the key foreign buyers in Bulgaria and other Eastern European countries. And they account for a large proportion of overseas property investors in Cyprus, Dubai, Australia, America and South Africa. Lower costs of living and better weather are among the attractions, combined with improved healthcare on the Continent and a rising fear of crime in Britain. But while your holiday may have left you hankering after a whitewashed villa overlooking the Mediterranean or a rustic farmhouse in the heart of Provence, don't let your heart rule your head, as the Barbers initially did. "We got sucked into the `fantastic thing,' says Heather. "We bought the hotel there and then. Thank God for the seven-day cooling off period. "Within hours of signing we looked at each other and thought, `what have we done?' We immediately sent off a registered letter and backed out of the deal legally, so we didn't lose anything. But that was a lesson to us that you can't let yourselves get carried away." Anthony Kerrigan, international property expert and Executive Committee member at the National Association of Estate Agents, believes the most important thing is not to burn your bridges without good reason. "A person emigrating to Australia on the basis of one good holiday should seriously consider holding on to a home they own in the UK because if they sell their property but then decide to come home after 12-18 months, they may find they are unable to get back on to the property ladder if property prices continue to perform as they have over the past few years." You also need to be careful in other ways. Taxes and conveyancing don't end at Dover, so the first challenge should be to seek as much independent professional advice as possible. "Too many people go it alone when they buy abroad," says Simon Conn, founder of long-established overseas mortgage broker Conti Financial Services based in Hove, East Sussex. "Rising house prices in Britain mean you can remortgage your home here, take the lump sum of money raised and make your overseas purchase as a cash buyer. That can seem quick and efficient, but it means you are solely responsible for doing all the checks on your new property and it is easy to cut corners. If you take out a mortgage specifically for your new purchase, then your lender will demand that proper legal checks and surveys are carried out. "In the long term, it will always pay to have this done and to pull out and look for a different property if any potential problems arise." Two of the most common problems are `inheriting' a debt and buying a property on which no building licences have been granted. In Spain, for instance, if there are debts - and they can be unpaid town hall tax, which is like our council tax - and they are not declared, then you will be responsible for them. Sales have also been made of homes where no planning permission has been granted or the property developer has gone bust and has no guarantees in place, meaning the purchaser can find themselves liable to pay the bank any outstanding credit. Fortunately, a growing number of UK lenders now offer mortgages and advice on property abroad. These include Norwich & Peterborough Building Society, Leeds & Holbeck, Lloyds TSB, Abbey, which is one of the biggest UK lenders in France, Barclays and Halifax through its Spanish arm, Banco Halifax Hispania (BHH). Brokers such as Conti can find loans for other countries. Whether or not buying abroad is a good investment is a moot point. But N&P Building Society says 67% of buyers don't intend to sell homes abroad, hoping to pass them on to their children when they die. Mike Sketch, N&P's head of retail operations says: "Buying abroad isn't something you should do to try and make some quick or easy money. "Instead you should do it to own a home in the sun that you love." * Anyone wishing to stay at the Barbers' bed and breakfast can either email heather.barber@wanadoo.fr, call 0033-545 890 365 or 0044 (0)781 676-8139, or go to www.visitfrance.co.uk/bruyeres Top tips for buying abroad * Buy with your head and not your heart. * Speak to other British people who have bought in your area - they may be able to offer invaluable advice that you simply won't find in the guidebooks. * Make friends with the locals before you buy, learn the language and get to know the area - you need to feel welcome and like the surroundings before you commit. * Visit your chosen area at different times of the year - a remote hamlet in a shady valley may be idyllic in summer but cold in winter. * Never sign a contract that you do not understand (for example, if it is in a foreign language). * Always ensure that you seek specialist advice from independent solicitors, architects and surveyors before considering a purchase overseas. They should be proficient in your chosen country's laws and processes and also know the specifics involved in buying a property there. * Ensure you do not inherit a debt on the property before you purchase, for example, if the developer has borrowed money to build the development and this amount has been allocated against each plot as additional security to the developer's bank. A solicitor will be able to check this. * Always give yourself a "cooling off" period if you see a must-have property and are tempted to put down a deposit there and then. * If you are arranging finance on the property, ensure that this is stated in any contract and you have an "opt-out clause" if the loan is not agreed (which will ensure any deposit paid is refunded). * Try to arrange your mortgage finance "in principle", before agreeing to purchase the property, or before signing any contracts and paying over a deposit. * Arrange your mortgage in the currency that you earn where possible, unless you are going to receive rental income from that property in the local currency and then this may be a possible alternative option, dependent on the lender's criteria. * Think about combining your cash with friends or family: it could bring a villa with pool within your financial reach, rather than simply an apartment. * Check with the estate agent or vendor that you are aware of the costs charged by the legal and government authorities for buying a property in your chosen country. * Open a bank account in your chosen country and ensure you get a Certificate of Importation for the money you bring in from the UK. * Set up standing orders in a local bank account to meet bills and taxes. Failure to pay your taxes in some countries, such as France, Portugal and Spain, could lead to court action and possible seizure of your property. * Remember that bills do not end at the asking price. Lawyer's fees, taxes, insurance etc must all be met in your host country and can often be more expensive. | 
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