My name is Seamus McConville. I live in Belfast, I am married to Marina and have 2 children, Jamie and Monica - and at the time of writing (January 2005) they are 3 and 1. I have worked in I.T. for almost 20 years.


I have always been passionate about France. My wife and I have visited many times and drove through the north on our honeymoon. I have always dreamed of owning a place in France and have spent countless hours surfing through French property sites. It was over a year ago that I stumbled upon the leaseback scheme and after several months research I decided to buy one.

I own 2 buy-to-let properties in Belfast and planned to sell one to provide capital for the leaseback purchase. Being an enthusiastic skiier I had my eye on a particular development in Valmeinier in the Alps but like many other good leasebacks it had sold out very quickly "off-plan". Nevertheless I put my own property on the market so I would be ready to act should anything suitable become available and something did. So I started the buying process but unfortunately had to withdraw from the process when our own buy-to-let did not sell on time. It was dissappointing but it did give me an insight into the French buying process and into French property laws. And our buy-to-let still has not sold!

My attempt to turn my 2 bed terraced Belfast house

into a detached 4 bed French Chalet

I was generally very happy with the leaseback concept and with the professional and personal service I received from the real estate company Imoinvest (now French Leaseback's parent company). But the one thing I found lacking was detailed information about my prospective property - I wanted to know what the view was like while standing on the balcony, how long it would take to walk to the main ski area, where was the nearest boulangerie etc.

The solution is this site. With my Imoinvest partners I will give you honest and accurate advice and support. And thanks to the dynamic nature of this site I will be able to give you more relevant text and picture information supplied from anyone and anywhere in the world.