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We believe it makes a lot more sense to share. Holiday homes, in particular are only used on average for 35 days per year. So why pay 100% of your holiday home when you're not using it 100% of the time? Let alone the cost and stress of home maintenance!

Our latest British family, Jane and Ian, are familiar with the co-ownership concept and have co-owned yachts in the past. Still, if it weren't for a friendly recommendation, the idea of holiday home co-ownership wouldn't have even crossed their minds.
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Discover their August journey below:

Welcome Ian, can you tell us about your August journey?

Our friend, who is a fellow co-owner in a separate collection, Johnathan gets the credit for the introduction, and we wouldn’t have thought of joining or thinking about a home co-ownership if it wasn’t for a recommendation. My wife Jane has always wanted to buy a second home abroad, mainly in France or Spain, but we found it difficult to choose between locations as they’re our favourite destinations. In respect to this, we’ve been renting holiday homes for the past 20 years, until a recent conversation with our friend, who introduced us to August.

We have been looking around at owning abroad, but with Brexit and many factors, this has hindered our search, and it's a time-consuming process to come to a decision and search for the right holiday home. In addition to this, we also don’t like to spend a lot of time in one place and like to be on the water.

As we’ve owned boats instead of homes, we understand the patience and effort it takes to maintain before sailing away, such as showing up to the boat, and working on it a few days, all before you can put the sails up. The idea of being able to turn up to our professionally managed August homes in the best spots was a really easy decision to make.

The concept of August didn’t seem unfamiliar as I have a history of selling boat ownership concepts, such as owning an asset that is used by multiple people. Jane and I are habitual house renters, so over the years, we have spent a lot of money renting, living in different places and living on a boat, or two weeks in a house. The flexibility of renting holiday homes is great but we've always considered owning our own but the commitment seemed huge, along with the hassles that could come with it. The idea of committing to something and then changing our minds on where we wanted to go prevented us buying anything. So the fact we have five destinations to choose from is great, and we won’t get cold feet with one location!

Do holidays play a big part of your lifestyle?

We were recently in Antigua, and we realised how much time it took to plan, expressing that “wouldn’t it be great if we had somewhere just to go”! Little did we know, we’ve now become co-owners of five homes in five destinations across Europe! 

Jane and I are also planning for the future too, with high hopes of grandchildren, it’ll be great to have family homes in Europe where we can get together and enjoy our holidays in a familiar environment. It’s great to know that our future holidays will be something we know where we’re going, what to do when we get there and pick up what we left off from the previous holiday at our own home.

As a family, we have visited Mallorca, especially the west coast, the South of France and Tuscany many times, so it’s great to see the locations we have visited regularly are the collections destinations! Although we aren’t huge skiers, other family members and friends are, so the idea of a home in the Alps is huge for them and for us. We’re still going to all of the places we enjoy holidaying in, we’re now minimising the stress that it takes to plan such as 2 weeks in advance, and stressing on the aeroplane. The idea of changing the way we holiday makes us more organised, which is similar to our friend Jonathan's family. It's also the perfect excuse to go on more holidays, which we really like the sound of.

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What do you look for in a holiday home?

How the homes have been interior designed is something we wouldn’t have been able to create, in terms of the ambience and the atmosphere the homes look to deliver. It's the essence of having calmness at home. Our priorities have changed with the way we holiday in terms of the criteria we seek, a good standard of comfort and atmosphere and in general, peace and quiet.

We understand the effort, patience and time it takes to renovate and rebuild properties. Living in a periodic cottage myself and realising that's a nightmare to manage and the expectations we set for ourselves. The home looks great and and we know when a job has been done well, and when a property has been transformed.  

Do you have a destination you're most looking forward to?

The South of France is a destination we like very much, as it’s challenging to find suitable properties to rent in that particular province, it’s a relaxing environment and being near the coast is excellent for us as then we’re able to sail here and there. So we’re keen to see the South of France villa and excited to see what will come off the home and soon see the renovation getting started, especially being part of the journey. I'm a keen golfer and always pack my golf shoes with me when we travel and know there are six golf courses near the other August collection South of France home in Valbonne, one just 10 mins away from the home so that's really great.

We've actually already booked two weeks at the end of September so it’s nice to have something to look forward to already!

How will you be using your homes?

I can see us being there and entertaining small groups; knowing exactly what our homes are like and in what condition they are in every time we visit is part of the appeal for us. We're thrilled to be a part of the August family, and we're looking forward to seeing the homes!

To discover more about how you can own holiday homes with August, join our next information webinar or book a call to speak with our sale agents today.