In this week’s Your Overseas Dream Home Digest…
- Live Among the Vines in France’s Most Beautiful Wine Town
- Own an Island Golf Course on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way
- Spain’s Answer to Caminha—Buy Big for Less
- Own a French Chateau Home for $163,700
- Your Questions Answered on House Swapping
Imagine owning a grand stone house just outside Saint-Émilion, one of France’s most captivating wine towns.
Here, in the rolling countryside of Bordeaux, golden limestone villages rise from vine-covered hills. The medieval town of Saint-Émilion is a UNESCO World Heritage site, home to more than 800 wine producers and over a million visitors each year.
Vineyards unfurl across the rolling hills of Saint-Émilion, where centuries-old winemaking traditions thrive in the golden light of southwest France.
Just last week, one of my scouts, Alan Gorevan, was on the ground in Bordeaux’s wine country to see if there were any real estate opportunities…
In Saint-Émilion—a highlight of his trip—he uncovered a rare gem: a four-bedroom home with a pool and vineyard views, listed at €450,000 ($527,300).
With peak-season rentals fetching high rates in this UNESCO-listed village, a smart purchase here could pay for itself. You could generate income during the busy summer months… then return to enjoy it at your leisure the rest of the year.
Own an Island Golf Course on Ireland’s Wild Atlantic Way
From French vineyards to Irish fairways…
In Galway Bay, there’s a rugged nine-hole golf course for sale—spread across a chain of connected islands. It’s called Connemara Isles Golf Club, and it’s like no course you’ve seen before.
This 56-acre site features weathered greens, Atlantic views, and a clubhouse built around a thatched cottage dating from 1850.
The course was built in 1993 and designed by the same team behind The European Club in Co. Wicklow.
The rugged nine-hole course is set across several connected islands.
The site, containing the clubhouse and golf course, was listed in February after the retirement of the course’s owners. It’s priced at €1.25 million. (That’s $1.45 million. The median sales price of a house in San Francisco was $1.6 million in May 2025, according to Realtor.com.)
It offers a wild and unique opportunity. Golfers are increasingly seeking out raw, untamed courses like this.
Read more on Connemara Isles Golf Club here.
Spain’s Answer to Caminha—Buy Big for Less
Twelve months ago, Portugal’s border town of Caminha was one of Europe’s best-kept secrets. Stunning mansions, sea views, and storybook medieval charm—all at jaw-droppingly low prices. I even bought one myself—a 5,000-square-foot historic mansion for just €410,000.
But the secret’s well and truly out.
Today, the buyers are here. The window is narrowing. And even seasoned scouts are finding it harder to source value there.
So where’s the next frontier?
This is the view from the entrance to my new 5,000-square-foot home in the town of Caminha. I paid €410,000 for my home here in northern Portugal. Just across the water is Spain…and the new listing I found.
Look just across the River Minho to Galicia, Spain…
Here, hidden in plain sight, is a riverside mansion that recalls the glory days of Caminha…a sprawling 5,970-square-foot property with period features, historic grandeur, and panoramic views across the water to Portugal.
The asking price? Just €535,000. That’s around $623,420—or around $104 per square foot.
Own a French Chateau Home for $163,700
Set on 21 acres of manicured parkland in western France, Château Les Forges looks like something from a storybook. Tall dormer windows, steep pitched roofs, and sweeping symmetry give this former hotel the feel of a grand estate—because it is one.
Château Les Forges rises from the French countryside like a fairytale—its tall dormer windows and sweeping lawns paint a picture of timeless French grandeur.
But behind the ornate façade lies a surprise: you can own a two-bed, two-bath apartment here, complete with wood panelling, marble fireplaces, and views of the château grounds, for just $163,700.
And ownership includes access to the on-site 27-hole golf course, two tennis courts, and a pool soon to be upgraded.
This is part of a growing trend in rural France—historic château conversions that offer luxury, lifestyle, and affordability in one elegant package.
Read more about this incredible chateau.
Your Questions Answered
Have a comment for me or my team? A question about owning overseas? Share it here. I’d love to hear from you. Here’s a question I got from a reader recently…
Stephane L. asks: Hi Ronan. Have you ever thought of doing a RETA swap program? Cheers!
Ronan says: Hi Stephane and thanks for your question! I’ve had an incredible response to my recent piece about house swapping. (You can read it here.)
I have thought of doing a Real Estate Trend Alert (RETA) swap program. But I have come to the conclusion that we will do better by putting our RETA properties on the big house swapping platforms.
Firstly, they have invested millions in tech. We aren’t in a position to replicate that.
But more importantly they already have an inventory of hundreds of thousands of properties in thousands of locations. Swapping in the broader community will offer so many more options for us.
Plus, the chance to trade time for points, and cash in points at a later date.
At RETA we focus on where we bring an edge to the table… research, group buying power, due diligence. We’ll leave the creation of a swapping platform to the best at doing that…
Wishing you good real estate investing,
P.S. If you have a question about buying real estate overseas or have suggestions for destinations my team and I should put on our scouting list, drop me a line here.
