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How to obtain a mortgage to buy gites?


Allez
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Currently UK based with husband working. Want to buy a gite complex and all move there but how to fund it?

Gites would not be sole income long term - wife would run the gite business and hubby would find work out there which obviously may take time!

Do we apply for UK mortgage based on husbands salary as though he was going to continue working or

do we apply for a business mortgage in UK/France?

What have you done? Advice welcome !
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LAST EDITED ON 29-Apr-04 AT 12:05 PM (BST)

Someone else may say something different to give you hope BUT I have to tell you that getting a mortgage on something in the tourist business as fickle as a gite complex, would in my view, be a recipe for disaster.

If I had just a few euros for everyone I know who has had terrible problems or had to go back to the UK through credit problems I could have a real nice meal in a top restaurant.

Those that do best, are the ones who have thrown off the shackle of debt and have bought something outright.

Now that is not to say it is impossible to succeed with a small amount of credit, it is relative to the gross income.

That is without taking in to account the problems your husband will find getting work here in France.
Does he speak French? Is he a qualified tradesman ? If he can answer yes to both, he has a good chance of getting work. Otherwise you will be relying heavily on luck.

Sorry but what I have said I have found to be quite true.

Miki
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I cannot see any sane person giving you a mortgage to do this, without major security beyond the Gite complex itself.

In many cases you are buying not only the property but the alleged goodwill. This is almost valueless IMO - Gites are not a particularly "regular trade" issue, though some people will come back.

Also, I think this is a boom, and we are about to go over the cusp of the boom. There are increasing signs of people having to sell, and those most exposed will be the people who rely on Gite income to pay mortgages. Many of those people will be looking for "supplementary work" to prop up their finances.

Those settled, or retirees with pensions, will be okay. Though some will be unable to resist the temptation to sell at the ludicrous prices presumably some people pay.

The market (unless you have a specific skill) is grossly saturated. There are too many gites.

Why would anyone sell a Gite Complex that is making good money ? Okay, some people do want to move back to the UK, retire on health grounds, sure. But some of the prices asked are ridiculous.

Work out income (my spreadsheet link is still on here somewhere). Don't assume it's going to be that easy to get a job (unless you have specific skills and speak good french). Jobs like "looking after holiday homes" are in great demand because they are skill-less to a great extent. There are lots of adverts for people trying to do this in things like FPN.

Spend some time at M.Isherwoods site www.gite-complexes.co.uk which is a good source of info on current prices *and* income (though obviously limited because it's still an agency) - estimated (will always be estimated high for obvious reasons !) or specific years (again, could be selective) and see what your return is. Usually it's something like 3-4% - with no likelihood of your property gaining in value (and IMO a real chance it could decline in value). Not much better (allowing for some house price increase) than sticking it in bonds.

It is quite simple. Any market which is saturated beyond its level will have general problems regarding shortage of income - obviously some individuals will be fine - but as a whole, the generic Gite (or B&B) market is not somewhere to be if you are relying on it.
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