Having been involved in property renovation in Britain for many years now and building up a business that was making a good profit each year I thought it was the time for expansion. Seemingly the time was ripe for it on the continent and especially in Germany. I had seen that the German government was paying subsidies of as much as thirty and forty percent for the renovation of its castles and manor houses.



There were a ready number of these manor houses and castles that had fallen into disrepair during the East German communist period and now the government wanted them restored to their previous splendour. An added bonus was that they also gave the VAT back on building supplies making this a business opportunity that could not be passed up. I decided to fly to Germany and use a car hire service to gain transport so I could visit a few potential properties.

Picking up the vehicle from the car hire company could not have been easier; it was really true what they said about German efficiency. Naturally the car was a huge saloon car with so much technical wizardry that it made my head spin, I expected no less in Germany.

The autobahns were a fun distraction as I sped through the countryside of Southern Germany on the way to meet my estate agent, he had prepared a selection of dilapidated manor houses for me to look at and despite sending me the pictures over the internet I felt I had to see them in person to gain a real idea of the work involved in restoring them.

As I pulled up to the estate agents office he was waiting and asked where I had hired the car from, on telling him he advised using a more reputable car hire firm on my next trip as he had heard nightmare stories from this particular company.

As we toured the picturesque towns of Germany and viewed many houses it was greatly impressed on me how much of a good business opportunity this was. It looked as if I would be using car hire services on a regular basis. There were many British businessmen who would love to have a second home in the heart of Bavaria, not to mention the domestic market to those rich car company executives.

A seventeenth century manor house named Castle Lauterbach was how I would start this business, although not a castle in the classic sense it had real character, a balcony hanging over the grand entrance and with a little work my team could restore its interior to the standard of three centuries earlier. I was beginning to become increasingly excited about this business venture as it would surely be a good earner and guarantee me frequent trips to Germany.

After a few more days sampling the delights that Germany had to offer, I headed back to the airport and returned the saloon. At the car hire desk they offered me a frequent user package, ignoring my estate agents advice I signed up. After all his business was selling houses, choosing a car was something I could do myself and I had had no problems with this car hire company so why change it.

I would be using the service regularly as I saw this being a good venture. With the help that the German government were offering I could restore properties at a fraction of what it would cost in Britain, I do not think anyone with a sense of business savvy could ignore such an opportunity. These castles in Germany would make me a rich man.