Bordeaux is among the most captivating cities in France—rich in history, culture, and elegance. It was once affordable. That’s no longer the case.
Yet just beyond the city limits, you’ll find a different rhythm—charming towns steeped in tradition, where the classic French lifestyle is still attainable. These are places where vineyard views, stone villages, and quiet cafés come together—and where Bordeaux’s world-class amenities remain within easy reach.
Last week, I asked one of my scouts, Alan Gorevan, to get his boots on the ground and see if there were any real estate opportunities…
The highlight?
A medieval jewel with cobbled streets, golden limestone walls, and more than 800 wine producers. It’s a UNESCO World Heritage site that draws over a million visitors a year…
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. Alan’s trip was the first of a host of scouting trips my team and I are heading out on in the coming weeks. We’re hunting for opportunities in Greece, Panama City, northern Portugal, Baja California and more. Boots on the ground reports coming soon…
Own a Home in Bordeaux Wine Country: $1,275 per Month
By Alan Gorevan
I arrived into the medieval town of Saint-Emilion on a flawless June morning. The sky was cloudless and cobalt blue. The rolling hills were swathed in grape vines and the walk from the train station was picturesque and leisurely, past a few of the 800 wine producers based here.
Saint-Emilion lies about an hour’s drive east of Bordeaux in the southwest of France and the two places are connected by a direct train line.
As I drew to the top of a rise Saint-Emilion appeared ahead, its honey-colored stone buildings rising like a mirage from the landscape. It felt less like a real place and more like a painting brought to life. The center of Saint-Emilion is stunningly beautiful and full of narrow, winding streets and lanes and steep little roads.
The buildings here are mostly made of limestone, taken from nearby quarries. This stone gives the village its warm, golden appearance and distinctive architectural charm.
There are restaurants, wine shops and wine bars at every turn. And innumerable wine-tasting classes to take. Saint-Emilion also has an art gallery and an upmarket vibe.
Saint-Emilion glows in soft hues of gold and ochre, its buildings crafted from limestone hewn from nearby quarries.
One of the restaurants with outdoor seating had fans hooked up to a water feed, creating a gentle mist that cooled diners while they ate.
The glace shop was doing good business. Its shaded outdoor area at the side of the shop was the perfect place to cool down.
Everywhere you look in Saint-Emilion, there are wine shops and bars. Even when cooling off at the glace shop…
I met up with English-born broker Carol Young, co-founder of Beyond Immobilier. Carol settled in France over two decades ago and has made it her home. Her team of 20 were all out at showings when I called in to her office.
Over coffee, we chatted about the local property market. Carol says living a little outside of the town itself is the ideal here. With over a million visitors a year, Saint Emilion’s center is an easy place to find wine, but a lack of grocery stores means it’s harder to get a carton of milk.
But go a little outside town, and you’d still have the beautiful old town on your doorstep…you’d still be surrounded by vineyards…and still have Bordeaux only an hour away, connected by good roads and direct train. (And, of course, you’d have access to Bordeaux’s international airport, just west of the city itself.)
Bordeaux boasts 362 protected historic monuments, second only to Paris in France.
It’s the kind of place where you could spend long summers sipping chilled white on your terrace, or wandering into town for an evening concert in a cloister. But it’s also where your home could earn its keep.
You can rent out your property in Saint-Emilion short-term—and many owners do. The rental market here is highly seasonal and almost entirely driven by tourism, particularly wine tourism. I was unable to book a stay within walking distance of Saint-Emilion and ended up passing the night in nearby Libourne instead. (Libourne also lies along the train line to Bordeaux.)
Golden limestone glows in the afternoon sun as Saint-Emilion rises gently from the vine-covered hills of southwest France—a view unchanged for centuries.
The medieval village, designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1999, attracts more than one million visitors each year. In summer 2024, French tourists made up about 60% of arrivals, with strong numbers also coming from Spain, the UK, the U.S., Germany, and Belgium.
High season runs from May through October, with peak activity between June and September.
Winding cobbled lanes, medieval towers, and terracotta rooftops—Saint-Emilion looks like a place time forgot, yet it hums with the quiet luxury of wine, art, and escape.
This period aligns with vineyard tours, long sunny days, and a series of key events, including the Ban des Vendanges—the grape harvest festival held each September.
It’s also the prime travel window for European and North American tourists. As a result, properties in Saint-Emilion often generate the bulk of their annual rental income in just three to five months.
I came across this listing for a four-bed, four-bath house outside Saint-Emilion. This beautifully renovated 18th-century country house dates from 1790. With approximately 3,230 square feet of habitable space, the home retains many original features such as exposed beams, stone walls, Girondine tiles, and a striking central stone staircase.
The layout is spacious and well-organized across three floors, offering four large bedrooms, four bathrooms, and generous reception areas including a 430-square-foot sitting room, a 410-square-foot dining room, and a 365-square-foot kitchen. The interiors reflect the rustic elegance of the region while offering practical modern amenities.
Set on a 0.75-acre plot, the property includes a large lawn, mature plantings, and a walled swimming pool area. A 485-square-foot wooden terrace was installed in 2022. There are also two adjoining stone outbuildings. Local shops are just five minutes away, while the towns of Branne and Saint-Emilion are a 15- to 20-minute drive. This property is on the market for €450,000. (If you’re interested in this listing you should hire an attorney and do your own due diligence. We haven’t done any due diligence on it.)
Stone walls, terraced gardens, and a pool for warm summer days—just minutes from Saint-Emilion. Listing here.
A play here might be to rent out a house like this for the summer months and keep it for personal use eight months of the year.
It seems that’s what some others are doing…
For example, this four-bed Airbnb rents for €295 per night and is only available during peak season. I reckon the above house that’s for sale could be rented out for the same price.
This stone house lies halfway between Saint-Emilion and Bergerac and is renting on Airbnb for €295 per night.
Assuming you rent the house out for 10 weeks in the peak summer months, and nothing else, you could make €20,650 in rental income. Assuming you pay €450,000 for the property, that’s a gross rental yield of 4.6%.
Not bad.
Especially when you factor in leverage…
The typical French mortgage currently allows a buyer to borrow between 70% to 80% LTV, though some French mortgage brokers have a limit of only 50% for non-European Union buyers. U.K. and other E.U. residents/taxpayers may be able to borrow up to 85%.
For example, with a 25-year mortgage of 50% at 3.26% interest, that’s only around €1,098 ($1,275) per month or €13,176 ($15,300) per year. Your rental income of €20,650 would handily cover it.
With a play like this, a house could pay for itself…
And you can still use it for most of the year. A base in the south of France. Surrounded by vineyards. Just outside the country’s most beautiful wine town.
RONAN SAYS: Nice, this whole place…the towns, the vineyard, Bordeaux is just dripping in French charm. And you could cover the mortgage just by renting in those peak summer months. This touches on something important. More than two decades as an international real estate scout and investor have taught me lots of valuable lessons.
Here’s one of the biggest…one that’s reshaped my life.
We’re trained to believe that adding to your lifestyle costs you money. That if you want to own and spend time in a place like the south of France, that you need to pay for it.
But the reality is that if you buy right, it can make you money. Buy right (like the way we do in Real Estate Trend Alert) and you will enjoy strong capital appreciation and income if you choose to rent when you aren’t using your place.
This is a fact that I’ve built my whole life around.
