Help please with question on buying an existing French Business

[theodore b]

Hello

Please could you somebody help me with some basic advice from a complete novice

When buying and existing business e.g A boulangerie with housing ( Logement) in France is it usually leasehold or can you buy freehold businesses where you own it outright including the accomodation etc ?

I have done some research on the net and although my French is reasonable I have not been able to ascertain whether a lot of the existing businesses I have seen for sale are only leasehold or not -It is difficult even from the asking price to gauge whether they are leasehold or not and if they are leasehold then many of the businesses I ve been looking at are priced very high

Can you own or run or buy a buinesses such as a Boulangerie on a freehold or equivalent basis ---if not is the only solution to start up a business from scratch and perhaps convert an existing dwelling or a deserted shop that is part of a larger house that has been bought outright freehold

Sorry for all the questions---any comments or help appreciated here

[Lambkin]

Since you say your french is reasonable, rather than struggle on in the dark why not get free help and proper advice on how to go about buying an existing business from these guys:

http://www.creer.fr/createurs-repreneurs/reussir-sa-reprise-d-entreprise-avec-creer-boutiques-de-gestion.html

[suein56]

[quote user="theodore b"]... although my French is reasonable I have not been able to ascertain whether a lot of the existing businesses I have seen for sale are only leasehold or not -It is difficult even from the asking price to gauge whether they are leasehold or not [/quote]

IIRC then the actual business is labelled 'fonds de commerce' and the building the 'murs de commerce'. So if an advert says just 'f de c' then it is just the business for sale and the property premises are probably leased. If the phrase used is 'murs et fonds de commerce' then it is probably the business and the buildings together which are for sale.