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renting or buying


doberkid
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Welcome to the forum.

I'm sure others will be along soon but usually the perceived wisdom is try-before-you-buy.  That is rent somewhere to see if you really like the area you have chosen in all seasons and suits your personal circumstances eg proximity to hospital/schools/shops or whatever you need.

Can I assume from your name that the dogs in question are dobermans?  If so (and again someone will be along soon) I seem to remember some sort of ban or restriction on these but not being a dog person I can't say for sure. I also assume you know all the stuff about jabs for the dogs in order to export (and possibly reimport ) them

 

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In my view if you have to ask the question then you have doubts about buying, if you are doubtful then don't do it and rent instead.

When your doubts have gone then you buy.

My OH and I rented for the first few years here and I am really pleased we did so.

Sue

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Rent. All the problems then belong to someone else, and if they don't fix them, you can walk away and hand the keys back.

The other issue is that I suspect that being out of town, there is less rental demand and probably lower rents - certainly when considering the rental value versus what they would want to sell for.

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Probably no rush to buy as house prices out of town are not rising, and houses are not exactly flying out of the estate agent's doors!

Two things tend to trip pepole up. Firstly they go for something bigger than they need, with perhaps a large plot of land. Secondly they buy something with a lot of expensive work to do.

The combination of these two things can really damage long term finances.

The problem for me was that I hate renting, so we bought somthing that i have just advised against.
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[quote user="doberkid"]i am now 63 dont intend working and wondering if we move to france for 20plus years then decide to return to the uk is it worth buying then selling does anybody know what sort of price we would be looking at to rent?

[/quote]

I'm afraid that my crystal ball is no better than anyone else's but:

My guess would be that house prices in the French countryside will go up by rather less than city prices.

Selling - particularly in the countryside - can take A LOT LONGER than you might think. This has 2 effects:

1) If you decide after a couple of years that you bought the wrong property, or in the wrong place, you're going to be stuck with it for some time (could be years) afterwards until you can find a buyer to take it off your hands.

2) Even if you buy the "right" place, the event that might provoke you to return to the UK is NOT going to happen at a predictable point - which again means that you could be stuck with a property well after the point at which you really needed to be back in the UK.

If you rent the "wrong" place in France (from the point of view of location or just the building), you can extricate yourself VERY easily.

If you plan to go back to the UK, bear in mind that the UK and French housing markets are NOT in synch, and so you might be better retaining a UK property and renting in France.

As a thought, why not offer to rent one of the properties that are standing on the market awaiting buyers?

Rental prices in the countryside - I'm afraid it is a case of "how long is a piece of string"?

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[quote user="Pickles"]

As a thought, why not offer to rent one of the properties that are standing on the market awaiting buyers?

[/quote]

That is a sound idea; and one that is quite common, as some houses can be on the sales market for a long, long time and it is surely better to receive rent whilst waiting for that elusive purchaser.

[quote user="Pickles"]Rental prices in the countryside - I'm afraid it is a case of "how long is a piece of string"?[/quote]

Often more reasonable than you might think for the reason given above.

Sue

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Are you considering a furnished or unfurnished rental? How long for? Rents vary considerably. Out in the sticks rents tend to be lower than in, or on the outskirts of, towns. Anything from €400 monthly for a small unfurnished house out in the sticks, up to about €700 for a decent-sized furnished house in good condition and in a good location. Furnished lets are for 12 months maximum. Unfurnished for 3 years, but the tenant can give notice to move out any time during those 3 years.

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One other point that I forgot.

Buying costs are very high, with the frais do Notaire adding a large chunk, then if you sell through an agent they also take a hefty commission.

A real example of a friend of mine recently.

Sold a House for 65,000€ 

5000€ commission

Now buying a flat for 30,000...frais de Notaire around 3400€

Total cost of changing properties 8400€...

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Yes a property you can't sell in a place you hate, in the worst of cases.

Nobody suggested renting for 10 years.

The idea is to rent for a while until you find somewhere you are happy in.

That way you avoid the various buying and selling fees, and also the regrets that come with making an irreversible mistake.

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[quote user="doberkid"] still cant decide whether to rent or buy if we stayed for 10 years we would have probally paid out 60000 in rental charges and have nothing but could probally buy something for 60000 and still have a property ????????????????

[/quote]

I stand to be corrected, but I suspect that a property in the French countryside that you can buy for 60K€ will probably need quite a lot of work doing to it - and you probably won't get THAT money back on resale. And as NH notes, a 60K€ property in the French countryside is probably not going to be easy to sell on. If you don't sell your UK property (if you have one), then it will probably have been a better investment of your money. Owning a property in rural France can be more of a millstone than an investment if you are unlucky. My guess would be that 60K€ "invested" in a French country property is not going to be as good an investment as £50K of equity in a UK property - especially if in the long term you intend to return to the UK. Don't underestimate the value of mobility that can come with renting. Don't underestimate the costs of having to hang on waiting for a buyer - there are good reasons why cheap property is cheap. It really isn't as simple as comparing 10-20 years' rental costs with the purchase price of a different property - over that time things will go wrong and need replacing or at least maintaining - if it's rented then it is not your problem.
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