thinking about buying a property in France

mgaw

Thoughts please

guitarfishbay

Get a time machine and buy pre-Brexit?

Stevepage

A friend of the family is thinking of doing the same thing in the south of france. His idea was to wait a see what happens next year and not rush what with brexit and elections coming up in France.

mgaw

guitarfishbay said:

Get a time machine and buy pre-Brexit?

glad i didnt do that as prices will tumble just wanting opinions on any changes due to our forthcoming exit

BigMonka

How much time are you planning on spending there each year? Post-brexit we don't know what the terms of visits will be (i.e. you can only spend months a year in the US) so you may not be able to get as much use as you plan.

octatonic

Bad time to do it.

Evilmags

Three events in the horizon (German banking crisis, Italian banking crisis and Greek bailout round 4) suggest euro denominated assets will become cheaper by next year. I'd also look at northern Spain as it's a lot cheaper amd just as nice. 

Budgie

Has there ever been a worse time to buy a house in France (apart from a few wars of course)? We were planning on doing similar but to live there permanently. Brexit has put paid to that for the foreseeable future, if not for good... ffs!

Evilmags

Prior to the EU getting a permanent visa to Spain or France was not difficult. Basically if you have a job or money, your in. 

CabbageCat

I've looked into it before. If you're going for somewhere in a lovely little French village then I was told you need to get permission from the local "council" (or the village elders or whatnot) so would need to learn the language in advance. Even at the place I looked at which was in a fairly run-down Burgundian town (Nolay) where you would have thought some foreign money would be really useful the lady we stayed with was a bit reticent - and I believe she was on said council.

Still, it is cheap. Even with the exchange rate it's cheap. Especially if you go for somewhere central like Bourgogne or Limousin.

Evilmags

Cheap is a 6 bed with pool for 100,000. 

Fretwired

Evilmags said:

Three events in the horizon (German banking crisis, Italian banking crisis and Greek bailout round 4) suggest euro denominated assets will become cheaper by next year. I'd also look at northern Spain as it's a lot cheaper amd just as nice. 

^^
This.

And beware that if the UK has a hard Brexit the rights of British nationals in France may be up in the air. For example, access to the French health service. And in rural areas of France Brits may not be popular if French farmers lose access to the lucrative British market.

Evilmags

Fretwired said:

Evilmags said:

Three events in the horizon (German banking crisis, Italian banking crisis and Greek bailout round 4) suggest euro denominated assets will become cheaper by next year. I'd also look at northern Spain as it's a lot cheaper amd just as nice. 

^^
This.

And beware that if the UK has a hard Brexit the rights of British nationals in France may be up in the air. For example, access to the French health service. And in rural areas of France Brits may not be popular if French farmers lose access to the lucrative British market.

In Spain, depending where you are, it is wise to have health insurance as they will use every burocratic trick to not treat you. 

CabbageCat

Evilmags said:

Cheap is a 6 bed with pool for 100,000. 

I nearly bought a 5 bed medieval townhouse on the central square for £80k. Would have cost another £50k for "modernisation" though and I wasn't interested in getting a mortgage.

octatonic

Cheap is relative.

This clearly isn't best time to take pounds out of Britain- but there are scenarios where it might be advantageous.
You'll get bugger all keeping it in the bank and depending on the sum involved you might not have enough to put it into a lovely incoming generating London property. 
So I could see a case for it- but it would have to be the right property in the right place generating the right income.

I'd suggest using a broker for such a deal- they usually charge 2% but the theory is they negotiate a cheaper price for you, get cheap finance deals (they get a kick back from the finance company and the agents as well).
We've used them successfully in London- I imagine having the language assistance would be an advantage as well.
French property law is notoriously opaque.

Snap

Buying a property in a foreign country is not something I would even comtemplate, without using an expert 3rd party. Doing it on your own is like walking naked with a basket full of cash, into a dark room full of theives in infra red goggles.

boogieman

Fretwired said:

Evilmags said:

Three events in the horizon (German banking crisis, Italian banking crisis and Greek bailout round 4) suggest euro denominated assets will become cheaper by next year. I'd also look at northern Spain as it's a lot cheaper amd just as nice. 

^^
This.

And beware that if the UK has a hard Brexit the rights of British nationals in France may be up in the air. For example, access to the French health service. And in rural areas of France Brits may not be popular if French farmers lose access to the lucrative British market.

A mate of mine and his wife have lived over in France for a number of years. Access to health treatment was one of his biggest concerns when they first moved out there. The French govt were running a scheme where they were giving permanent access to their health service to foreign nationals if they did a new business start up. No idea if it's still running though. He's got a mickey mouse company that sells prints made from old postcards: his turnover last year was only about £30 but he's never had his books checked over. 

Property is still cheap round where he lives (near Limoges) and you get a lot for your money out in the sticks but the cost of living is surprisingly high..food prices are much more than here for instance. 

CabbageCat

boogieman said:

Property is still cheap round where he lives (near Limoges) and you get a lot for your money out in the sticks but the cost of living is surprisingly high..food prices are much more than here for instance. 

Land in Limousin is so cheap that you can happily buy somewhere with enough land to grow stuff on. That will reduce food prices. You can get a fixer-upper with a couple of hectares for five figures. Plant a vineyard.

Fretwired

CabbageCat said:

Plant a vineyard.

Buy one as a going concern ... surprisingly not that expensive and the tax is low. Lots of advice on this website concerning property in France.

https://www.frenchentree.com/living-in-france/real-life-stories/we-bought-a-vineyard/

Richardj

Well we've been living down in the very rural South West for nearly seven years now.  It is a very different culture here but if you thoroughly do your homework it isn't so bad.  

Be aware that everything, apart from wine and diesel, has been more expensive than the UK for a long time and the crumbling pound is making that worse.

If you have the means to support yourself and can cope with the often frustratingly different ways of trying to get things done it is a better lifestyle than being in the UK for sure.  

An an awful lot of people we know have set up businesses here and have ended up closing them down or returning to the UK as the beaurocracy has been impossible to deal with.

dogload

Richardj said:

Well we've been living down in the very rural South West for nearly seven years now.  It is a very different culture here but if you thoroughly do your homework it isn't so bad.  

Be aware that everything, apart from wine and diesel, has been more expensive than the UK for a long time and the crumbling pound is making that worse.

If you have the means to support yourself and can cope with the often frustratingly different ways of trying to get things done it is a better lifestyle than being in the UK for sure.  

An an awful lot of people we know have set up businesses here and have ended up closing them down or returning to the UK as the beaurocracy has been impossible to deal with.

Oh, whereabouts? My other half is from just outside Angouleme.

I've been visiting the in-laws there for the last 15 years or so, and have really started to see the cost of living rise in the last five or so years.

I always used to check out the property prices in the local paper, and remember looking at genuine chateaux for not much more than the cost of a decent house in the UK - certainly less than we paid for our current house ten years ago - and town houses could be had in Angouleme for less than I got for my maisonette in Wallsend when I sold it! 

Since the 'financial crisis' i think France has reached a parity with the UK (although diesel and wine are indeed much better value!). The difference I find is that the food you can buy may well be the same price, but it's usually better quality. However, there's no way I'd ever consider buying a guitar there. Way pricey!