Each day I try to taste a different cheese and wine on www.FrUK.eu
Today the wine and cheese was creamy- and above my usual budget.
I was invited to celebrate and event and we had Champagne from a special small producer and a cheese to match the soft velevet bubbles.
So not a meal today, just an opener on the banks of the Seine before dinner in a good resto on Isle St Louis
champagne, cheese and wine, coast and country, Diary, twiku
I am a simple soul, I still find it amazing that I can casually hop on a train after lunch and be in Paris in just over three hours - not only that I am travelling at nearly 200 miles per hour and can plug my laptop in, work on the phone and wander down to the bar for a fesh coffee.
The French rail system is good, clean cheap and reliable - except when they are on strike, but they are always polite.
I am Paris to develop some new Fractional Ownership and Rentals opportunities - for nearly two years I have been researching the legal and finanacial implications of shared property ownership in France - the complexities of Ineheritance, wealth and property taxes combined with the tax authorities understanding of the tax application to a business as opposed to a private not commercial individual are racky waters and I believe many people may be sailing too close to a lee shore. But carefully structured, Fractional Ownerhsip is a brilliant way to own a pied a terre in Paris.
I know that owning shares in a propery and sharing the use of it with a few other like minded people is a brilliant way of using and even investing in real estate - but - it is a luxury purchase, it should not be considered an investment to give you income, you have maintainence costs and service charges and in France it is very unwise to have other paid rentals in the property. It is more like collecting fine wines or luxury classic cars, you get a great deal of pleasure and possibly very good capital appreciation, but you will not earn from them unless you sell them.
I have a very nice apartment to offer in Fractional Ownership - I will try to get details online later today - but contact me quickly if you are looking, this one is going to sell out fast
Discover France, Fractional Ownership, French life, living in france, Paris, Personal, Real Estate, Rentals
The south coastline of France runs from Spain to Italy, with Monaco interrupting this near the Italian border.
Today I was in Cerbere, right on the Spanish border and I thought I would write an occasional article about each coastal town as I visit them - Cerbere to Collouire, like the other end of France, Nice to Menton, is an area where the mountains scrabble down into the Mediterranean with dramatic bays, peninsulars and super scenery - real postcard stuff.
Today the sea was azur blue and the sky like a pigeons egg - then it rained (it is January)
Cerbere was closed - one dingy cafe was open, the streets were empty and the parking meters covered over - it would be a great place to retire to, like if you really plan to do nothing, ever, in winter.
There were no boats, this is because there is a submarine pen or something military underwater around the bay, so boats bigger than a matchbox are banned it seems.
Houses cling to the rocks like seagulls nests and construction of many more apartments and terraced houses seems to be the only activity - I can see why, it is a spectacular setting, great position, good communications, close to Spain for cheap ciggys, booze and fuel - as well as tapas and headache wine.
Property prices are the lowest on this corniche which makes them the lowest in France for this sort of location - but the new cote d’Azure it ain’t - not yet - so if you like a quiet life with great stuff only twenty minutes away, Cerbere is the best buy, with fantastic views - but until the submarines go, it will lack the same energy all the other ports have along the coast.
cerbere, Discover France, fruk, Investment, Languedoc, living in france, Personal, Real Estate
For two years I have been working hard on putting together information on Fractional Ownership in France - it has taken a lot longer than I first thought as sorting through the hurdles and pitfalls of French legislation, the tax and legal systems is not simple.
During the next week I plan to re-launch our specialist site http://HarmonyOwnership.com and to publish more papers and information on Fractional Ownership in France.
At present there seem to be two market “presences” - it is like the old days of VHS and Betamax - or today HD/DVD and blu-ray - in Fractional Ownership it seems to be “luxury” and “commercial”. I believe that, in France, the Fractional Ownership of a property is a luxury decision and that to involve anything to do with rental incomes or large property premiums will cause long term problems for buyers.
Buying a share in real-estate in Fractional Ownership is not an investment for income- it is a lifestyle decision - but also it should be a viable return on the use of your money. A quarter share of a villa or apartment with a market value of one million euro will have a higher value for Fractional ownership - the quality of finish will be higher and there will be a high standard of furnishings and fittings - the property will be ready for occupation and fully equipped - but this premium is usually in the region of 15 to 20 percent of the property value - higher and it can have other implications.
This is one of the aspects we are considering for the way we are putting together our community sites and a very god reason why you should keep reading this blog.
Business in France, Fractional Ownership, fruk, Personal, Real Estate
St Nazaire de Ladarez In the foothills above Beziers, in a charming village with shops, cafe and restaurant
A rare opportunity to create your dream home. All structural work is done, new roof, floors, doors and windows - you can make almost anything from this property which has a garage and ten large rooms plus a terrace - hard to describe so look at the photos and video. Asking price of 149,000 euro
Photos with a wide angle lens and no flash
Contact me for more information or to view this property
Beziers, coast country france, Languedoc, Languedoc housing, living in france, mediterranean, Personal, Real Estate, st nazaire de ladarez
How much should a builder charge me? What is the right price for repairing the roof? Is 200 euro a sqare meter a fair price for tiling?
I get many questions like this and all I can usually suggest is to get two or more quotes from recommened people or consult “Batitel”.
Batitel is a reference site for the costs of all building trades in France (like Spons A and B in the UK), the only problem is that to get access to the recommended “rate for the job” you have to subscribe 90 euro a year for their service. I am look at a way for me to pay one fee and then be able to offer a single question service to you from my sites for a few pennies, meanwhile you can check with their search engine (inFrench only) if the trade or building jobs you want to do some costing on are listed - use this seach service here.
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Please let me know if you think this service will be useful
Building in France, Business in France, coast country france, French life, Investment, Languedoc, living in france, Paris, Personal, Real Estate
A popular question I get is “where is the best place to buy property in France” - there is of course no simple answer apart from “wherever you like and whatever makes you happy”.
With predictions of falling property prices in the UK and USA, looming recession and a credit crunch (whatever that is) - investing in property in France looks to me to be an even better place to invest and live.
I am sure the problems which other countries are having will have some effect, but I believe that France will be one of the best places to buy property for a while. Why do I say that?
Buying a property in France has up-front legal costs and taxes so a quick speculation is not so attractive, there has to be a 10 to 15 percent margin just to cover these costs. This has helped to keep prices” realistic” for many years and deterred “grab abd run” speculation.
Capital gains taxes are fixed for the first five years, so again a quick profit is reduced.
Borrowing money for investment is usually a maximum of 70 percent of the price and, importantly, this is not advanced against the property value, but secured against proven income, so risky speculation and loans are not possible. “Sub Prime” is not visible in France.
Unlike most “developed” countries, the population of France is growing and demand for property is constantly increasing, this is not an increase due to immigration, but completely home grown.
There are family and lifestyle values in France that have been lost or eroded elsewhere, this basically means if you are a “politically correct”, vegan, anti-hunt, non-smoking social worker dealing with health and safety in the home counties, you may not feel comfortable in France. But for most of us it is a good place to live with family values and a polite social warmth.
Great weather and lots of sunshine.
Great wine and food.
Advising a specific location, region or town depends so much on personal preferences that I need to meet and talk to somone looking wanting this sort of advice, but two areas are head and shoulders above the rest - Paris and Languedoc.
The Paris of interest is in a relatively small area confined inside the inner peripherique road - restrict this further to about half of the 20 arrondissments in this area and this is a finite resource in a similar way to Manhatten and central London. Prices are still low for the fantastic services and features this magical town offers so it is a good place to buy.
Languedoc is many ways is the opposite - one of the largest and lowest populated regions of France, yet is has the best climate and conditions and a good lifestyle - the first humans in Europe lived in this area and it is obvious why.
On the main route from Spain to Italy, just about every invading army for the last four thousand years has pillaged (an stayed) in this region - some of the first cultivated vines and the first teaching hospital and university in Europe were in Languedoc - Languedoc is the region of the advanced culture of the “courts of love” and troubadours of the 13th century.
More recently Languedoc has had a massive investment for transport and communications, road rail and air links are the best in France and Languedoc Roussillon is designated for a strong population growth, even doubled this will still be a low population region of space and beauty. Combine this with the longest Mediterranean coastline and under developed tourism and you get a formula for growth and success.
I will soon be relaunching another website dealing with property opportunities in Languedoc and Paris.
One interesting town in Languedoc to look out for is Cerbere, I got this mail today…
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Hi Tony,
I am thinking of buying a flat at Cerbere, do you know that area, near the Spanish border?
I hope it is a good investment but not sure…
Enjoy your newsletters..
regards
Steve
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Hi Steve
Yes I know Cerbere well, it is very busy in summer, if you are buying to let then rentals in the summer are in big demand if the property is nice - prices are higher than most of the area and return on investment is usually about 3 to 4 percent before tax - take the returns and letting figures given by agents with a pinch of salt.
Let me know more detail if you wish, we have property for sale in that area.
Tony
Building in France, Business in France, Discover France, Fractional Ownership, fruk, Investment, Languedoc, living in france, New Ideas, Paris, Personal, Real Estate
We have had three days of rain, not really heavy and nothing unpleasant, but walking the dogs yesterday it brought home the fact that a lot of area in the South of France are classified as “flood areas”.
The river past our village is called the Boyne - most of the time it is not much of a river, in fact sometime the trickle is not enough even to play Pooh sticks, my stick always gets stuck at the first pebble. But a couple of days of rain can make this into a raging torrent. A lot of the coutry walks yesterday were impassable. I have seen water levels rise over 5 meters in some places when we had really heavy rain a few years ago. People were swept away and drowned in flash floods near beziers in 1996.
If you are buying property here one of the legal requirements is for you to be shown a plan of the areas of “inondation” - think carefuly about this, as what is a parched field on a hot summers day can be a meter underwater in January.
I must look carefuly on our next walk along the bank of the river Boyne to see if anyone has planted orange trees.
Beziers, boyne, Building in France, Discover France, flash floods, flood areas, French life, fruk, heavy rain, Languedoc, living in france, Personal, Real Estate, south of france
I have been working with some video and animation techniques to find the best way to present properties online - many websites offer expensive slide animation with music but I found a simple and free system that I will use - this presentation took me less than ten minutes and cost absolutely nothing, even the soundtrack is copyright free.
Please let me know what you think.
Here are links to more details of our home for sale and a map of the area.
You can see the Mediterranean from the Kitchen and terrace.
We are keen to sell, so if it is interesting, make us an offer.
If you would like to see an animation like this of your photos on your own site and are not confident enough to do it - contact me and I will try to do something for you - no charge, all part of the service.
French life, fruk, Languedoc, living in france, New Ideas, Personal, Real Estate, Techie Stuff
I often write about the “cultural” differences between France and most English speaking countries. By this I mean the different ways the French deal with administration, their attitude to authority and their ways of dealing with this. Make no mistake, there are big differences and it is not for me to say which is right - but come to France thinking things will be dealt with in the same way as they would be in Sydney, Sausalito or Solihull and you could be in for an expensive and uncomfortable ride. There is absolutely no point in saying after you get a big bill that, ” this is not the way we do it in England”, because it is the way they do it in France and that is what counts.
The cultural thing is that a French person tends not to make the same errors as they have been brought up to “know” the rules and regulation and they simply cannot understand that other countries will have a different way of doing things. The important thing is to get the right advice at the beginning, therein lies the problem. Who do you know what to ask if you don’t know there is a potential problem in the first place? The other side of that coin is that the people you may ask will assume you know the problem and therefore most of the answer anyway, so they are not likely to help you with the questions that you should have asked them in the first place (I think that makes sense).
In my blogs and newsletters I mention some of the issues which do need care - creating a business, working, buying and selling property, letting accommodation etc etc - all these are controlled to a greater or lesser extent than in most countries and to ignore the rules can leave you exposed to fines and/or taxes.
Here is another mail exchange I had last month about Inheritance tax in France.
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Hi
I’ve been enjoying your newsletters for sometime time now and finally taken the plunge in buying property in France. We have just signed the contract for a new build - and I know I should have addressed earlier that nagging problem at the back of my mind about French Inheritance laws.I guess it’s case of better late than never….
can you advise or point us in the right direction for advice please! (I really didn’t fancy explaining our family details to the local notaire…)
regards
Sarah
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Hello Sarah,
If you have any complications about inheritance, previous marriage, other children or family problems - you must make sure the purchase of a property in France is structured correctly before the final Acte is signed. Very little can be done after this, it must be done before.
A Notaire is (theoretically) the best person to do this, but in my experience they rarely volunteer information or advice, it is assumed that you already know the options and will instruct them.
It is a matter of knowing which questions to ask and if you know the question than you. A search on Google for something like - Property Inheritance France - will yield a lot of websites and masses of advice, but my advice is to discuss your own personal position clearly and precisely with a Notaire or an independent advisor - the advice from a Notaire will be free.
It really is a minefield and unless your family situation is simple (no other relationships, no Kids, no Parents, no Relatives etc) you need professional advice. Do not just read a lot of Internet pages and find one that agrees with what you think you would like to know.
An independent advisor must have adequate legal insurance to cover them in the event of the advice causing a problem in the future, many advisors do not have this and you must ask.
Hope this helps
Best wishes
Tony
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Dear Tony Yes that does help - thanks very much for the advice!
Best wishes
Sarah
Business in France, buying property in france, French life, fruk, inheritance tax, living in france, Personal, Real Estate, tax in france
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