Evianers Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 We have been having a lively and very interesting discussion with Forum members who contacted us privately about a leaseback project. Has anyone, anywhere in France, ever had one such apartment offered for sale after the statutory 9 year lease has ended, or know of anyone who has bought after the time has elapsed? Viewing Motley Fool investors' guide it would appear that they sink without trace. In our part of France, we have never seen or heard of any apartment being offered for sale, which is curious as there are many apartment blocks with sectional titles - were they originally leaseback projects I wonder? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Would be interested to hear the response to this having just invested in a leaseback property! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrishT Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 PS. I'm not a Newbie - I just had to re-register to get on!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrishT Posted September 1, 2004 Share Posted September 1, 2004 Oh help, I replied to this and then added a PS so it deleted my original post! I have posted on this before as I own an appartment in what was originally a Pierre & Vacances leaseback residence. After the nine years it is all privately owned and many apartments have been sold at a massive profit. Having said that, this is on the Cote D'Azur where leaseback has been around for a long time. I recommend anyone to look at the Pierre & Vacances website which explains the scheme in full. It seems to be popular in Spain now and there are quite a few companies in the Devon/Cornwall area now doing it. The properties all tend to be in holiday complexes that have great potential for letting thus you get the guaranteed income. I personally would recommend the leaseback scheme to anyone wanting a holiday home or for investment. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Winston Posted September 2, 2004 Share Posted September 2, 2004 Hello, I am new to the forum, but have been thinking about buying a leaseback property for a while now. We already have a house in Normandy (which we regard as a second home) but we are now looking purely for an investment property. Are there many of you out there who have bought leaseback properties? I would be grateful for any advice, as there seem to be loads of websites out there offering properties for sale, but I haven't seen many posts on this forum about them. It seems that they can get snapped up fast and you could end up buying one without even seeing it. Did those of you who have bought leasebacks use an international lawyer (my previous experience of them is not good, and I see that one company charges £2000 to do the legal work on a leaseback!) Look forward to hearing from some of you out there, and hopefully now I have posted my first message I will be more confident to post another one!Winston Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Evianers Posted September 3, 2004 Author Share Posted September 3, 2004 We have been monitoring these very questions on the Motley Fool investment forum simply for interest's sake. There is a comprehensive discussion about the pros and cons. We have a property which is not leaseback and in which we intend to live probably from next year, but there are a number of schemes being built very close to where we live, which is why the Forum members contacted us privately in the first place. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kent Posted September 3, 2004 Share Posted September 3, 2004 Hi WinstonWelcome to the forum -we're not scary so just join in.We have bought a leaseback property. We didn't use a solicitor but relied on my (limited) french and a lot of alta vista translation to understand the paperwork. We were lucky that the company we used had someone that could speak good english and she was a great help. If you have any specific questions feel free to email me - I'm no expert but I can tell you our experiences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linnorton Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 Haven't any experience of leaseback myself but a couple I know in the UK bought theirs at least twelve years ago at the end of it's leaseback period. At the time they were very happy with the price (£16K) and said it was reasonable because they vendor had benefited from the tax advantage of leaseback. They still owned it last time I saw them which was some months ago as we have relocated to France now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Barter Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 That's interesting - that they bought it at the end of the initial lease period. Do you know whether they re-negotiated the lease with the management company, or did they keep it for private use, or for letting out themselves? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Linnorton Posted September 10, 2004 Share Posted September 10, 2004 I'm not certain if they ever let it through the management company, I know they did change letting arrangements at some point and were quite happy letting through a French company because "they did what they said they would do." They have never let it out privately, just retained some weeks each year for themselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MousleyCaroline Posted October 13, 2004 Share Posted October 13, 2004 Leaseback certainly seems to be a good scheme, but I have heard that sometimes the management company decide that they want another 9 years to manage it and they are entitled to do this apparently. So if you look into leaseback, make sure that you will be free to sell at the end of the 9 year period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchbuy2let.comwww.frenchbuy2let.com Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 HiI bought a leaseback near st tropez a couple of years ago and set up a company which now offers both leasebacks and managed new build properties for letting. With regards to resell - mainly they are done through local agents and are snapped up. The best thing is to have them as a pension type investment and have a couple of weeks a year visiting them. Glenn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frenchbuy2let.comwww.frenchbuy2let.com Posted October 14, 2004 Share Posted October 14, 2004 btw any questions welcome ill answer honestly and openly - leasebacks arent for all but for many they are a sound investment Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdey Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 There is an article in the current Living France magazine on leaseback with pros and cons and two examples of people who have purchased this way and of their experiences Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Purdey Posted October 15, 2004 Share Posted October 15, 2004 My apologies, the article on leaseback is in French Property News not LF magazine Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marina Posted February 17, 2005 Share Posted February 17, 2005 [quote]Hello, I am new to the forum, but have been thinking about buying a leaseback property for a while now. We already have a house in Normandy (which we regard as a second home) but we are now looking pu...[/quote]This is the quote I am responding to "It seems that they can get snapped up fast and you could end up buying one without even seeing it. Did those of you who have bought leasebacks use an international lawyer (my previous experience of them is not good, and I see that one company charges £2000 to do the legal work on a leaseback!)"Hello Winston,You don't have to pay an international lawyer to do the legal work. If you have concerns about the agreement you can ask an English speaking notaire to represent your interests. The notaires fees are pre-defined. This will cost you no more - the fees will simply be split between your notaire and the notaire who is acting on behalf of the developer. It does add time to the process but you will have more peace of mind at the end.For more information about the process look at my site www.frenchleaseback.net - This is an interactive site which encourages input from users.regardsSeamus McConville Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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