I'm looking to buy a next holiday home in Belgium (already got one in Italy, but in Belgium it'll be 1st time for me).

I've got a specific vision for this one: place must be somewhere in/near/around the woods/forest and near lake/river/pond. Budget is up to 25K Euros for a 1-2 bedroom bungalow/house/chalet.

I am in desperate need of the name of an area/region that would include all the requirements listed above or name of the Agency/Mediatory that can find something for me. Also, help in finding UK-based property lawyer who specialise in buying property in Belgium would be much appriciated.

Any suggestions, please??

Please reply here or familyhilton@yahoo.co.uk

Start by doubling your budget (taxes will easily add a further 10% to the price tag).


http://www.immoweb.be/NL/Buy.Estate.cfm?Id...ry=&xpage=1

Look around in the Ardennes... (provinces of Luxembourg, Namur, Liège)...

Thanks, I know about taxes - that's why want to buy for up to 25K. These provinces - are they still Belgium or France/Luxembourg? Namur is still Belgium, I think :roll:

Another thing - I found some holiday park up at north - http://www.era.be/website2/common/objectde...erascreensize=b
Do you think it's any good? The yearly service charges should be quite big, innit?

Oh, most important thing: agency must be English speaking!

1) Agencies won't lift a finger unless a fee of around 5K is involved.
2) The agency on that site is likely to have English speaking staff, but it looks pretty posh.
3) Diksmuide is near the westhoek, not too far from the coast... arguably one of the spots in Flanders that are still somewhat palatable
4) Yes, charges will be steep.... it's the usual rip-off

Given the above elements I suggest you either increase your budget substantially or try to buy a chalet on a camping site directly from a individual.

25K won't even get you a plot of land. LOL.

Actually, it's not truth, 25K (and much less) easilly can buy me chalet in holiday park or peice of land in Belgium. I've done my homework. You can even buy a proper townhouse or so (in very s***ty area, obviously). But point is - it's possible!

Also, I went on sort of holiday/euro/inspection trip and saw some properties. Regarding the one I've asked above - triangled chalet/house itself was amazing, but holiday park where the house is was total s**t with absolute low-class hanging about and was not looked after at all. Nearby town of Diksmuide was very nice. I would just move this chalet somewhere - but where?

Somebody was right - agents are soooo slow. Like they don't need the money!

However, I keep my hopes up. I understand that in Holiday park you only own chalet, but not the land and need to pay around 1K Euro per year service charge, but that's ok with me.

So, are there any english-speaking agents around? Or maybe someone can recommend some nice holiday park not too far from Ostende - West Flanders area, where some chalet could be for sale? Need some forest around and some kind of water (pond or similar).

Cheers.

Why are you looking for an English speaking agent ? you obviously struggle with the language yourself.

Great to hear that you've done your homework, by the way Brussels is also in Belgium in case you hadn’t come across this gem of a fact in your detailed research.

A budget of 25K you say, are you sure you're not mixing up Bulgaria with Belgium ? And no Namur isn't in Bulgaria.....