Looking at buying in Antibes, South of France - any advice?

[philcray]

I am not getting any younger and, after a couple of weeks down in the South of France, I fancy more of the dolce vita French style and am considering buying an apartment in Antibes. Flexible to a certain extent but key criteria will ideally be - within about 10 minutes walk of old town, good sized balcony, private parking, small modern block and a pool. Budget c€350k and plan is to rent out using a management agency when not using. We stayed in an Airbnb which was very nice and would be ideal if for sale (although quite probably out of our budget).

Just wondered if anyone had any experience/advice for buying in France, particular hurdles to overcome, challenges with estate agents, leasehold, service charges etc. Re borrowing money, is this best done in the UK or can you borrow via a French lender? I have an EU passport (Irish) which may or may not help I guess.

I have bought and sold a few properties in the UK but am a total rookie in the world of international property so any advice appreciated.

Cheers

Phil

[Kerniki]

We lived down there for a while, cant give advise on flats much tbh, just thought id mention their new tax on maison secondaire, which i’ve been told is quite steep, though a flat shouldnt be too bad…

[paulwirral]

philcray said:

I am not getting any younger and, after a couple of weeks down in the South of France, I fancy more of the dolce vita French style and am considering buying an apartment in Antibes. Flexible to a certain extent but key criteria will ideally be - within about 10 minutes walk of old town, good sized balcony, private parking, small modern block and a pool. Budget c€350k and plan is to rent out using a management agency when not using. We stayed in an Airbnb which was very nice and would be ideal if for sale (although quite probably out of our budget).

Just wondered if anyone had any experience/advice for buying in France, particular hurdles to overcome, challenges with estate agents, leasehold, service charges etc. Re borrowing money, is this best done in the UK or can you borrow via a French lender? I have an EU passport (Irish) which may or may not help I guess.

I have bought and sold a few properties in the UK but am a total rookie in the world of international property so any advice appreciated.

Cheers

Phil

It’s been a few years since I sold my last property in France but when I did the buyer pays the agents fees , and the notaries fees can be quite steep , so don’t be scared to buy privately , the mayors office where I was used to have a list of sellers and were happy to put you touch .
I actually sold my last house privately without an agent and it went fine .
Make sure you know exactly how much your paying to who as the agents themselves will usually negotiate on their fees as well as the seller .

Edited by paulwirral on Friday 28th July 18:31