Invest in France?

[stevieclaire]

Hello,

I am considering to invest in property in france, perhaps gites. Any places in france you would recommend me look?

Also, I dont want to do this until we see 80 pence to the euro. Do you think we will see this anytime soon?

 

[sextant]

Our currency partner (Moneycorp) doesn't think that we will get back to previous levels such as 1.5 or 1.4
It will be more 1.2 and if we are lucky 1.3 in a few years.
To avoid being too much affected by the currency it is better to take a large French mortgage so that you can use your euro rental income to pay it back.
I don't believe that gites are good as a pure investment. It is more a lifestyle business. ie if you are retired you move to France, set up 1 or 2 gites, meet tourists, enjoy dinners with them and get a small income.

 

[Journals009]

French Property Investment

I went through Sextant's comments what he mentioned here is people should have luck when it is 1.2 or 1.3. But i want to know how much is the luck percentage

 

[erikko]

I admit that there are many great properties in France but it made me think twice to invest there because the cost of living is high so I might not afford to live there.

 

[thetravelbug]

Cost of living is fairly high, no worse than UK. I have just bought in the French Alps. Not as expensive for property here as many think. Few good deals around on projects that would be good investments.

 

[Dillinger]

Cost of living? If wine is your thing then it should go lower than UK. Food is so mauch better that you cannot compare.

I would take a look at Loire valley. Gorgeous place and fantastic quality wines. Sancerre, Saumur, Pouilly-Fumé. Aah I wish I was there.

 

[sextant]

Cost of living

The currency rate is now 1.21, so this is the best time to make a reservation and secure a transfer.

You can see live rates here: www.xe.com

 

[Pete62]

Anyone has seen the very suspicious offer for Cap Med with 5% cash back, notaire fees paid, 100% finance etc?
It looks to good to be true especially when all serious developers in France don't give discount any more because they are selling fast with French investors (with Scellier tax incentive).

 

[PureFX]

The euro isn't exactly in a strong position at the moment, but neither is sterling. Perhaps the situation gets worse in Portugal and Spain the euro will weaken sufficiently to 80 pence? Of course that's pure speculation.

 

[dave88]

Why do you think that is going to be a good investment?

dave,

 

[PureFX]

I don't necessarily! I was just thinking about weakness in the euro. : )

 

[Damian George]

Strangely regardless of euro exchange rates, we are seeing movement in french mortgages; therefore property is starting to change hands and that can only be a good thing for french property prices and the market in general. So maybe it is time to wade back into this market - Cannes is still a place i would invest in the future

In spain we are seeing sales of property for cash buyers only still - so further tough times ahead

 

[Carrébleu-Immobilier]

Hello,

I am considering to invest in property in france, perhaps gites. Any places in france you would recommend me look?

Also, I dont want to do this until we see 80 pence to the euro. Do you think we will see this anytime soon?

Hi Stevie and Claire,

I would agree with you that this might be the right time to invest in France. The property prices in most places have come down and they have levelled out now and are ready to stay put for a while or start climbing. Dependant on what area you are interested in will determine if the property value will go up.

I would agree with others in this post that you could be waiting a very long time till the currency situation becomes favourable. I would also agree that it might be a better idea to take a larger mortgage in Euros. There are now a number of banks in france that will give 100% and in some cases even more!

In answering your original question look at Antibes for very good reasons. There is a huge demand for seasonal rentals in the area and more importantly there are plenty of people that will rent your property during the off peak season. There is a good strong demand for property in this area and it has one of Europes largest pleasure boat marinas (which they are talking about expanding). Which is important since there is a whole industry attached to it for which there are plenty of people looking to rent in the off peak season. Also Antibes is close to Sophia Antipolis which is Frances answer to Silicon Valley which brings in plenty of people to rent property in and around the Antibes area.

I personally have been investing in this area and I know what I am talking about from first hand experience. I have had no issues renting out my properties and I generally get 9 to 12.5% rental yields per annum. However to acheive these figures you need to work hard on getting your property rented out.

Anyway good luck with your property quest.

 

[Arcachon]

La Teste de Buch 33260, I have been staying here for the past 4 years.

 

[Penny Cooper]

Penny Cooper

France is a beautiful place and there are many good properties too, but I think investing in France is not a good one because; the cost of living is very high and you can live luxuriously in any other place with the same amount.