Hi,
I'm keen to hear positive or negative experiences from anyone who has purchased property in France. Prices seem a lot lower there than in Aus, even allowing for the exchange rate.Hi
I too am keen to invest in property in France or Italy. My dream is to actually live over there part of the year each year and then let it out as a holiday rental in their high season.
My accountant has property in Italy and I will be discussing this in the new year with him.
Let me know what else you find out.
I agree you can get good properties ready to rent out for similar in price to here.
CheersFrench property prices have gone up a lot in the last decade especially in the popular tourist/retirement areas (largely due to UK buyers). I've just come back from a month in France (Midi-Pyrenees and Provence) and still find the prices quite steep in many areas. There is a huge amount of holiday homes for rent and the peak summer months offer great rates and good occupancy, but in the low season the demand really dwindles fast leading to much lower rents and very low occupancy.
If the UK property market gets hit hard – which is not unlikely – this may push prices in rural/tourist areas down or at least provide some opportunities for good buying as overleveraged owners need to exit.
What might be worth a look as an alternative is the so-called lease back scheme which many developers now use and it provides very attractive tax breaks if you hold a (tourist designated) property long term e.g. I saw some interesting offers in the past in the Alps and other tourist areas. Financing should not be a problem, low interest, yields not too exciting though and in many places I would suspect limited capital growth. You need to buy right … or just have the cash for a lifestyle investment …
Hi,
If you are interested about buying in France you can contact my company, we help you to find the property and to buy it. We just make your life easier. Check the website http://www.ecaconnection.com
It s a free service and we deal in all parts of France. Don t hesitate to contact me, i m cyril , i m french based in Paris and London.Hello, I am from Sydney with a French wife. We moved to France last June and plan to do stay for the next few years. We purchased a property on arrival, a place I could renovate until my french improves.The banking systems are quite different here and investor intelegence is much greater in Australia. Currently there are plenty of great investment opportunities with healthy returns. The government is slowly introducing new banking laws to stimulate investments. There are a few quirky differences to be aware of.
I would be glad to to chat to anyone intersested a or provide feedback from within France…..
cheers………… phil
What areas would you suggest Phil. I heard that the South is quite expensive. Can you just buy old farm houses and renovate and then use as a holiday home. Do you need to speak the language to get by?
Yes it is right the South of France is quite expensive but we are talking about the "cote d azur" it means the South East as Cannes, Nice, St tropez etc….. But if you like to be near by the mideterranean sea there is some places where it is still possible to find some very good deals and some properties which are still possible to renovate. Montpellier in Languedoc-Roussillon is very nice and good for investment. this is a region where you are not going to find the same kind of population than in Cannes or Nice. It s far less expensive and you can find many activities for the kids. It s only 3 hours away from Barcelona by car and 3 hours from Paris by Train.
If you don t mind about the mediterranean sea you can find near Bordeaux amazing deals with many properties to renovate.
If you want more informations check my website http://www.ecaconnection.com
I m french and i help people who would like to acquire properties in France.
You don t have to speak the language to stay in France but obviously it is easier if you could. There are many english people who lives a bit everywhere in the country and more and more french can speak English so it is not a problem.The south has had a lot of attention from holiday home buyers ever since the European Union relaxed the borders. British, Germans, Hollanders, Belgians, every country within driving distance has people with holiday homes in this area. This has raised the prices quite considerably. My French family have a holiday home in the area and it has nearly tripled in price in the last 8 years.
Plenty of old farm houses around you could renovate. Just be wary that houses here can be a lot older than in Australia and you can find unusual problems if renovating. A lot of great small villages around too which have pretty houses popular for holiday homes.
Check out the Languedoc region, a mountainous wine area full of beautiful, small villages and friendly locals, one hour from the sea, local markets with amazing wine and food and the world's best looking baker's wife working at one of the bakeries. I spent some time there last summer and thought it a treat. R.L Stevenson wrote about his journey through there in Travels with a Donkey.
You can get by without the language but as anywhere it is better if you can communicate. If you blatanly refuse to speak French then it is considered rude but if you make an effort or try, even if your French is extremely limited than people are always receptive.
Other regions to consider are the Aude and the Ariege which are more inland, but offer beautiful country side, great small villages and easy access to Carcassone famous for its walled city (and an airport serviced by budget airline Ryan Air) and Toulouse which is France's 4th biggest city with an international airport. From this region Barcelona is still about 3 yrs away. You would also be very close to the Pyrenees which offer great mountain hiking in summer and decent skiiing in winter.
Renovated an old farmhouse is wrought with potential pitfulls, as Phil says, these can be very old! I've looked at farmhouses which were 400 yrs old or more and yes they provide great atmosphere but to get modern day plumbing, electricity etc can cost an arm and a leg.
Another good webiste to look at is http://www.bluehomes.com/french/property/france/F/en/country.html which is a company I have talked with and even inspected some of their properties. They seem reliable and trustworthy, but I have not bought anything from them and I am in no way connected to them. They have a lot of stock although their properties are a bit too far to the west from the area I'm interested in. But it gives you a good idea of what you can find and the site is in English which is always useful !
Thanks Erik great research to be done then. Would you not be worried if you had a holiday home in France and you lived in Australia or another country. What if squatters lived in your house you have problems getting them out?
Insurance for anything??
So far I've only held investment properties which are on permanent let as I can't yet afford the luxury of a holiday house, well at least not without endangering my longer term plans…. but it hasn't stopped me from researching and keeping an eye on the market, just in case a great deal pops up
I think chances of squatters in rural France are pretty low, but the best way to overcome this is to actually live in the proeprty for a while, get to know the area and the people and then simply pay someone to keep an eye on the property and e.g. maintain the garden/grounds, collect and forward the mail etc. If you don't have the time for this then simply consider letting it out as a holiday property when you're not using it, that will bring in some extra cash and ensure a property manager keeps an eye on the property.I'm not too familiar with insurance aspects in France but you'd obviously need building and contents insurance and if you rent it out some sort of landlord insurance.
Insurance is less expensive than in Australia but a tennant has more rights in France. An obvious point that comes to mind is that you cannot evict a bad tennat in winter, regardless of circumstances. Holiday rentals would overcome this problem. Plenty of agencies around to help manage your property and most areas have a few that accomodate english spaekers.
I thought you have to live in France in order to be able to pruchase real estate. Did this change? If so when?
No need to live in France, real estate can be bought by anybody, at least since 2000 onwards…
Hi,
As i indicate in another post, i am French living in Spain.
Buying in France brings a lot of taxes. No use for rentability.
if it is for rent, the law doesn't allow you to evict someone in winter
unless you rent with furniture. Their is only 1 or 2 good renting sectors.Sincerely
Hello All.
I hope that this post helps you guys.
My wife and I purchased a property in Cannes in the South of France in November 2007.
At this time t
he interest rate was 4.1%.
Purchasing was relatively pain free, as we had a few bi lingual people helping us along the way. Our Noterie ( lawyer) also was fluent in English, as all the documents must be "officially" translated and witnessed by a justice of the Peace.
You will have to be present to sign the papers, or have a llegally certifed POA.Australians can purchase in France.
However when selling you will be charged a much higer rate of CGT. This I believ is around the 30% range.
We hold a EU passport. Not only does this keep the property off the Aussie Radar, when we sell we will be charged only about 12%.We had our finance organised through a financial advisor who we have used for a few years. He is based in the South of France. ( hes and english expat)
The bank we haveour mortgage with is UCB and all the liason is in english. ( this may only be in the south of france)
To purchase- we had to put down a 22.5% deposit. This is becuase we were not French residents. and had to get a loan.
basically- the bank want to see you have at least 10% deposit. plus an extra 5% ( who knows what for) then the Noterie fee of 7.5%)From start to finish the whole process takes about 3 months. Dealing with the froggies can be very daunting.
Some things to keep in mind-
The French Property market especially in the South of France.
A- Is generally alot more expensive than the rest of France, especailly Cannes. there are some great little towns near bye called Juan Les Pins, Antibes, Biot, Golfe Juan.Cannes is a vibearnt year round desination, fuels by the many congresses, lush mansiions, ritzy hotels. the Canes film festival is a big one.
If you have the right selected property in Cannes, you can often lease them short term.
Last year we achieved aprox 9 weeks of income.
The income for this nine weeks was 17,000.00 euro.(Mipim the worlds property congress- 14th-17th March 5,500 euro)Our purchase price was in the mid 400Ks for a 3 bmr bel epoch style apartment.
I know that the Eu/AUS exchange rate is significantly changing so you really must do you home work.
The interest rate is still very low in France, the local French don't earn very much.
I know that 2brm apartments can be purchased for around the 220k mark. (euro)ISorry for the randomness of the order with the post I hope you get something out of it.
you can check out my website – cannescongressrental.com. we made it our self and advertise on the web.
for research- on rentals.
check out http://www.holidaylettings.co.uk
http://www.primaryrentals.compleae feel free to get intouch, I can try help some more.
Jase
http://www.cannescongressrental.com
I meant….
J
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