Property in France
Discussion
DSLiverpool said:
Been in Limoges a few days now and I can see why it's full of Brits - big real estate for circa 30% uk or less if older.
Buyer beware. Speaking as someone who sold recently (after 7 years), unless you're relocating be prepared for punitive taxation, lots of red tape, maintenance and expensive trades etc.etc.Are you thinking of emigrating or as a holiday home?
Older properties are cheap because they're far more costly to upkeep (lack of insulation, double glazing etc.).
The locals tend to want ultra modern rabbit hutches that are cheap to run, so little market for them.
French property market has fallen through the floor for rural properties (we should know, we would be selling ours' if I had the time to go out there to set it up!).
We have a lovely house, 4 bedrooms, but split between upstairs and downstairs. Fantastic layout for holidays, rubbish to live in. Nobody will buy it as a primary house, so our market is 'niche'.
We have a lovely house, 4 bedrooms, but split between upstairs and downstairs. Fantastic layout for holidays, rubbish to live in. Nobody will buy it as a primary house, so our market is 'niche'.
DSLiverpool said:
Been in Limoges a few days now and I can see why it's full of Brits - big real estate for circa 30% uk or less if older.
That's the market value , there's plenty of Brits sat in huge houses in France because they stood and looked at them and thought " imagine what this would be worth in England " .I nearly made the same mistake but common sense took over and I bought a 2 bed holiday rabbit hutch and separate building plot , extended the house , sold it and built another next door , it's a small 3 bed . I've been asked twice if I want to sell it by French people as its well insulated , cheap to run and easy to look after and its 5 mins from sarlat .
That big real estate can quickly become a real big headache , think very carefully before you commit .
We've got a one bed apartment in Port Grimaud. Had it for 10 years. Good thing I'm not trying to ell. 10 apartments in the development have been looking for buyers for two years. Also, 30 per cent capital gains tax plus notaire and estate agent fees tend to remove the stars from your eyes.
Until the Socialists get booted out the French property market is about as vibrant as John Cleese's Norwegian Blue.
We have a small place between Bergerac and Bordeaux. 1800 sq ft, 4 bedrooms, half an acre of garden and a barn we could convert to a gite. It's a period property so probably only of interest as a holiday home.
We didn't want something so big that we felt we had to rent it out or get stung with the need to hire gardeners and a maintenance man just to keep ticking over.
We didn't want something so big that we felt we had to rent it out or get stung with the need to hire gardeners and a maintenance man just to keep ticking over.
The biggest mistake Brits seem to make is buying the biggest house they can with as much land as possible just because they can afford it. We deliberately avoided the "land trap" having owned a couple of acres in UK before moving over here.Unless it's just grass land that needs a mow with a ride on every now and then, it can be a real burden to maintain. Like wise, as has been said, large period properties should be viewed with extreme caution.We rented over here for a year and searched relentlessly till we found a decent one, having viewed literally dozens of money pits that the agents tried to offload as great Chambre d'hote/Gite opportunities. Falling into the self restoration trap is another one to be aware of.These big old places can often be like an onion and as you peel away the layers it begins to dawn on you that you've bitten off more than you can chew. However, if you take your time and buy wisely, you can still find places that just need a good decorate and the kitchen and bathrooms replacing etc, which is well within the remit of anyone with a bit of DIY about them. My advice to anyone would be to rent for a year and search tirelessly unless you just want a holiday place, in which case buy modern.
Russwhitehouse said:
The biggest mistake Brits seem to make is buying the biggest house they can with as much land as possible just because they can afford it. We deliberately avoided the "land trap" having owned a couple of acres in UK before moving over here.Unless it's just grass land that needs a mow with a ride on every now and then, it can be a real burden to maintain. Like wise, as has been said, large period properties should be viewed with extreme caution.We rented over here for a year and searched relentlessly till we found a decent one, having viewed literally dozens of money pits that the agents tried to offload as great Chambre d'hote/Gite opportunities. Falling into the self restoration trap is another one to be aware of.These big old places can often be like an onion and as you peel away the layers it begins to dawn on you that you've bitten off more than you can chew. However, if you take your time and buy wisely, you can still find places that just need a good decorate and the kitchen and bathrooms replacing etc, which is well within the remit of anyone with a bit of DIY about them. My advice to anyone would be to rent for a year and search tirelessly unless you just want a holiday place, in which case buy modern.
What he says...Paul and Russ are right, many Brits buy properties based on how much they would cost in the UK.
The taxes on selling are not as simple or as punitive as mentioned. There is no "CGT" charged on your primary reseidence. As in the UK "CGT" is charged on the gain on the sale of a second home. The main difference between the two countries is that in the UK one has a (total) CGT allowance per year per person currently £11K, whereas in France the amount payable deminishes according to length of ownership. The overall headline rate is only 2% different.
In France selling a second property after ten years would mean paying about 50% (which falls to zero at 21 years) of the tax charge and 66% (which falls to zero at 31 years) of the social charge, however in theory the social charge should not apply to someone who does noy benefit from the french ss system.
That's assuming there's a gain after genuine builders' charges are taken into account.
Steve
The taxes on selling are not as simple or as punitive as mentioned. There is no "CGT" charged on your primary reseidence. As in the UK "CGT" is charged on the gain on the sale of a second home. The main difference between the two countries is that in the UK one has a (total) CGT allowance per year per person currently £11K, whereas in France the amount payable deminishes according to length of ownership. The overall headline rate is only 2% different.
In France selling a second property after ten years would mean paying about 50% (which falls to zero at 21 years) of the tax charge and 66% (which falls to zero at 31 years) of the social charge, however in theory the social charge should not apply to someone who does noy benefit from the french ss system.
That's assuming there's a gain after genuine builders' charges are taken into account.
Steve
smifffymoto said:
Our lifestyle is nothing like it was in the UK.There is no way on earth we are going back to that.I would rather move somewhere else than return "home".
Seeing as this thread has already turned a little from the original, Can you quantity what you mean by that? What is so good there (and where are you?) that is so bad in the UK?
And is it just "France" that has achieved that for you, or have you had/ made significant change from.what you did in the UK?
It is the little things that make it more pleasurable,weather,less traffic,grass verges regularley cut.
We could have the same lifestyle in the UK but it would cost a hell of a lot more and the sun wouldn't be on my back most of the time.I didn't realise how important the weather was to the general feeling of wellbeing until I moved too Dordogne.
We could have the same lifestyle in the UK but it would cost a hell of a lot more and the sun wouldn't be on my back most of the time.I didn't realise how important the weather was to the general feeling of wellbeing until I moved too Dordogne.
smifffymoto said:
It is the little things that make it more pleasurable,weather,less traffic,grass verges regularley cut.
We could have the same lifestyle in the UK but it would cost a hell of a lot more and the sun wouldn't be on my back most of the time.I didn't realise how important the weather was to the general feeling of wellbeing until I moved too Dordogne.
It is very relaxing down there , I wasn't ready for how laid back it is so we sold up and came back , however I did keep a scratty piece of land next door to where I lived and I've since built my holiday house there , I'm just packing the car now to come down for 6 weeks or so , looking forward to some sun on my back and peace and quiet next week .We could have the same lifestyle in the UK but it would cost a hell of a lot more and the sun wouldn't be on my back most of the time.I didn't realise how important the weather was to the general feeling of wellbeing until I moved too Dordogne.
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