What type of visa can we apply for France?

We are currently selling our house in England and are hoping to be able to come to France to renovate a house in the Charente region, which is currently owned by my husband’s Mother, but is being gifted to him soon.

Our pre-Brexit plan was to live in the house until it was renovated to a good standard, then to rent it out, and travel around France to find a property to purchase with a couple of gites or a Chambres D’hote.

We were originally going to apply for auto entrepreneur visas, however, we’re now concerned after we have read that we need to earn 23k annually to be able to register as a business.

Initially, we were hoping to live on savings from selling our house in England and earnings from a property we’ll be renting out in England until we can purchase a property and get help to start a business. Does this mean we won’t be able to apply for auto entrepreneur visas?
If so, is there a long term visa could we apply for to be able to stay, and are we able to then apply for a work visa at a later date?
If we came in on an Retiree/Economically inactive visa, can this be changed at a later date?

Apologies if this is basic, we’ve been trawling through all sorts of information and not getting very far.

Many thanks.
Dena and Dan