We’re retired sisters and live on $44K a year in France — buying a house abroad was cheaper than the US

wan🅰ted to retire, but they quickly realized they cou♔ldn’t afford it.

“We saw that living on our combined Social Security benefits would not allow us ౠto have a decent quality of life,” says M♔cAfee. “We still had a mortgage and no savings or investments.”

At that time in 2020, McGuire, 72, was working as a catal🅺oger at an auction house, while McAfee, 69, was on disability. As such, their funds were limited.

The mortgage on their four-bedroom house in&nbs♉p;, was $1,500 per month.

McGuire🀅 spent an extra $475 monthly to commute to her job on Long Island, and they also coughedꦐ up $600 a month to heat their poorly insulated house each winter.

So they🐎 decided to move somewhere cheap🌳er—yet, like many Americans, realized that their options were limited.

“We saw that we could not af𝕴ford a decent home in any areas of the U.S. that we would enjoy living in,” says McAfee.

While parts of the South seemed afford🔯able, the sisters didn’t feel this would be a good 🎉cultural or political fit for them.

That’s when they began looking into living abroad—and ended up across the ocean in Dordogne, France. There, th🙈e pair liv♌e comfortably on a combined $44,000 annual income—far less than they would need in most areas of the US.

Now, they’re sharing how they pulled it off, along with ♕the lessons they learned along the way. I🃏t’s information they want to share with others who hope to follow in their footsteps.

Lesson No. 1: Cast a wide net on potential areas

Before ending up in France, the sisters researched🗹 the more popular countries where Americans retire—Mexico, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Spain, and Portugal. But none captured their hearts. They even looked into buying a $1 fixer-upper they’d seen for sale in Ital𝓡y.

“We realized trying t💃o do renovations would be a nightmare,” says McAfee.

Eventually, McGuire remembered🐈 Dordogne, an area she had visite♚d years before.

She had pleasant memories of its many castles, spectacular scenery, rustic stone houses, and polite꧋ locals. Situated between the Loire Valley and Pyrenees mountains, the area is famous for itsꦑ Roman ruins, medieval towns, and prehistoric cave paintings in the Vézère Valley.

Additionally, these home shoppers noticed while perusing real estate listings online that they could buy🌺 a large home more cheaply there than in a lot of other places.

They learned that persuading a bank to give foreign buyers a mortgage could be challenging. Luckily, though, they had no trouble offloading their New York house, which sol𓂃d a mere two weeks after it was listed for $315,000—$171,000 more than they paid for it in 2013.

This netted them a෴ profit of $97,000 (or 90,000 euros) to fund a home purchase in France without needing outside financing.

Lesson No. 2: Find a real estate agent you trust

After looking at hundreds of houses online, McGuire ran across a beautiful, Perigord-stone house with a terra cotta-tiled roof. It had two big bedrooms, a split-le🌄vel living room, an eat-in kitchen, a utility roomꦜ, two half-baths, a shower and powder room, a garage, and a large garden.

The house was thought to be at least 150 years old. It looked to be in perfect condition and,♈ even better, it came fully furnished. (To save on shipping costs, the sisters hoped to sell all of their large possessions before moving.)

The proper🐬ty’s Irish-born listing agent, Emer Kelly, of Leggett Immobilier—a British-owned real estate company— immediately returned the 🌼sisters’ email.

The house was listed for 89,000 euros, which was near the top ofꦫ McAffee and McGuire’s budget. Plus, in France, the sale price includes a “notaire”—a government-appoinꦡted lawyer who takes 10%.

The sisters also decided to hire a local British surveyor who would check out 🍰the c♓ondition of the house.

The cost was approximately $972, but “worth it for our peace of mind,” says McAfee. They would not be able to visit the house in person du�ﷺ�e to the pandemic.

After the surveyor didn’t unco𓆉ver anything terribl🍰e, they made an offer of 82,000 euros (approximately $88,000) and an extra 2,500 euros for the furnishings.

Offer accepted.

Lesson No. 3: Study a country’s residency requirements

In 2022—the year the sisters moved abroad—12,220 other Americans moved to France, according toꦦ immigration numbers crunched by relocation expert  making it the third most popular country for American expats, behind the United Kingdom and Mexico.

Yet moving abroad involves a myriad of practical matters which the sisters had to deal with before leaving tꦑhe US: getting visas and figuring out how to move their seven cats.

The first stop was applying for one-year “Carte de Sejour Temporaire” visas. The sisters had to prove they had enough money to reside in🥂 the country without working, which they were able to do with their social security benefits.

The visas need to be renewed every year f𒉰or five years. After that, they can apply for a residency card. They also had to show they had a place to live and private health 💞insurance.

To facilitate the process, which took about three months, th♕ey hired a visa service.

“There was a lot of paperwork to organize,ꦚ but you just have tꦺo go through the checklist and be patient,” says McGuire.

They kept their US bank accounts for their Social Security payments but opened a French 🥂bank account virtually while they still lived in New York. Their real estate agent hooked them up with an English-speaking banker at Credit Agricole, a major French bank.

Even so, their patience with opening a꧑ foreign bank acc🃏ount was sorely tested.

Their banker was often on vacation or out to lunch, two things that are “sacred” in France, says McGuire, noting that ✨they often “got up at 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. to telephone people before th𒀰ey went to lunch.”

They also worked to get the home’s water and electricity in theཧir names and set up Internet and landline service.

And while the sisters didn’t speak French beyond♔ what they learned from a high school class, they started taking weekly Fre✅nch lessons.

Lesson No. 4: Moving pets abroad is possible—with help

Then, there was the not-so-small matter of their seven felines.🥃 After considering many options, they hired the pet-relocation service The Ark at JFK, which handled all the paperwork, required vet visits, flights, and liaisons with a pet-moving company in France. The cost was $10,000 but worth every penny.

“It would have b🐠een impossible for us to do aꦚll this ourselves,” says McGuire.

When their flight was delayed, the sisters panicked after they realized their fur babies would arrive at the house before they did. Fortunately, an employee of the liaison cꦜompany in Fra𝓡nce located the house key hidden in the garage and was able to bring the cats into their new home.

Given the amount of moving parts in this adventure, McGuire admits they were nervous: “It was terrifying!”

Lesson No. 5: Prepare for some surprises—and challenges

Fifteeౠn months after the sisters put in an offer on their new house, they saw the place✅ in person for the first time.

To their delight, the house looked j⭕ust as it did in the extensive v✤ideos their real estate agent had sent them.

“If anything, it felt much bigger than I expected,” says McGuire. “There was a lot more stuff than I realized, like closets full ꧋of tools, hardware, and cleaning supplies.”

As f🌊or the neighborhood, the residents were welcoming.

“It was lovely and quiet,” says McGuire.

Their agent had🐓 even made sure 𓄧the water was turned on and had let in the cable and phone installers.

“Without a real estate agent like Emer, we would have had a very different e♏xperience,” McGuire says.

But a major snag was getting a driver’s lice♍nse. It took McAfee five months to pass the written portion of the test (in French). If you’re thinking about moving to France, the pair recommend getting a driver’s license in a  with the country. Many states do, but New York was not one of them.

Yet overall, the sisters were pleased t🃏o discover that many things in France are cheaper than in the US.

Health and veterinary care in France, for instance, aไre “ඣridiculously cheap,” says McGuire.

The pair use private health insurance, which costs $600 a month for both of them. Even withou꧂t it, doctor visits are only 25 euros.

They found that most things in France are cheaper, from houses to h𝓰aircuts. But groceries are about the same, and gas is more expensive. One thing that is not only cheaper but better? Wine, of course!

“So long as you drink a lot and d💧ꦇon’t drive, you will be fine,” McGuire jokes.

A huge move later in life isn’t for everyone; but for the sisters, it was a great fit. They each h🤡ave a freewheeling sense of adventure, a high tolerance for risk, and each other to lean on.

“We have a lot of faith in each other’s෴ ideas, and we support each other completely,” s🀅ays McGuire. “That does give you courage that you would not have if you were trying to do something like this by yourself.”

While McAfee has two adult children and🔴 no grandchildren, M🍷cGuire has neither. She says that made the decision easier for them.

“I know peopl🦩e who would never move so far from their grandchildren,” 🔥McGuire says.

But she warns tha🎐t an international move isn’t for🦄 everyone, especially those who require routine or feeling in control.

“Learning a ✤new language well enough to not get frustrated༒ at sounding like a child is a big task for people our age,” McGuire says. “You have to accept a different culture and expect that everything will be different from what you’re used to.”

Two ജyears in, France feels more like home for the sisters. They have no plans to ever return to the US permanentl⛎y, though they might move somewhere else.

“Where we live is the most beautiful place in the world,” McGuire muses. “It is clean, green, medieval, and sparsely populated.꧙ The area is called the Land of a Thousand Castles.✤ We love castles. So what better place for us to live?”