Keep a house here or not?

[snapper]

Hello,

I have a holiday home in Dept 86 with no mortgage and want to move out permanently in a years time on my own as my children are now grown up.

I have many friends - both French and British out there.

My question is funding my stay and would like advise please.

1. I could rent out my house in London to cover the mortgage and have around £400 a month to live on.  I am worried in case there are some months when the house is not rented and not being able to cover the mortgage.

2. I could sell up here, pay off the mortgage which is not too large, buy either a 2 or 4 bed gite to run and invest a sizable amount - around £100,000 and hopefully have enough income from that each month to live.

Look forward to any of your thoughts.

 

[sunshine 2]

Cost of health care will be an issue for you and may prove prohibitive. Neither of those options sound as though they will generate sufficient income unless you are of retirement age will get an E121 to get you into the health system.  If not then you will get an E106 for up to 2 yrs (the very max is 2 yrs 5 months if perfectly timed) as long as you have been working in UK and paying NI - then you will need costly private health cover until you have been legally resident in France for 5 years.  The regulations are also that you register at the prefecture within 3 months of moving to France, and demonstrate that you have sufficient resources not to become a burden on the State plus have health insurance (an E106 is fine for starters if you have one) and then get a titre de sejour which will give a date on which you started your residence.  Whilst the prefectures do not yet seem to be geared up with the right paperwork to issue titre de sejours, once they get into action I am not sure that an income of 400 pounds sterling per month would be considered 'sufficient'.

With the E106  (or an E121)you will only get the standard health cover of 70% of your health costs, so you can take a risk and pay 30% costs yourself or have the outlay for top up insurance to cover the 30%.  I mention the latter just so you can factor that cost into your calculations.

[maude]

Do NOT part with your property inUK under any circumstances- this is our regret after 6 years of living here full time.We now have no option financially but to stay put or move locally due to the financial situation generally.If I had my time again,we would have rented out uk house,remotgaged or sold my body for medical research rather than be committed here forever.Not too much to complain about but do find life as someone said months ago,"life in France is an open prison"The world ends sept 1st,shutters shut until june next year unless the drinking sessions among other Brits,or the "aperatifs" with the locals are your scene.C.est la vie!!!!!    Maude

Ps.  Many people we know do in fact struggle financially with the gite ,B&B scene due to the very short season of holiday makers ,unless you are in an exceptionally popular house hunting area.We seem to be, here in the S.Vendee, but again, it is very competitive for little reward-the market is awash with gites etc.Good luck in your decision,hope it works out.

[mint]

If you are not of retirement age, I honestly don't think that running gites and your capital sum of £100000 will generate enough income to live on.

If you are of retirement age, however, and have a pension as well as the gites and the interest from your capital sum, then it is feasible.

Keep your options open.  Why not let your property in London and rent yourself something here for a period of time to get the feel of things?

It's all very well somone telling you how much you need to live on.  At the end of the day, you're the only person who can work out how much you need for the type of lifestyle you want.

[woody234]

snapper wrote "I could sell up here, pay of the mortgage" do you mean in london, also isnt the market flooded with gites to rent out, would you make more money renting your house out in london than a gite in france plus you can go back to the uk for medical stuff rather than paying french health care insurance

[Bugsy]

[quote user="woody234"] plus you can go back to the uk for medical stuff rather than paying french health care insurance

[/quote]

I hope you've got your tin hat on Woody..................[:-))]

[Trying]

[quote user="Bugbear"]

[quote user="woody234"] plus you can go back to the uk for medical stuff rather than paying french health care insurance

[/quote]

I hope you've got your tin hat on Woody..................[:-))]

[/quote]

Allso lets hope its a night off for the watching eyes.

[snapper]

Thanks for all your replies.

I have another 10 years before I retire.

The mortgage is on the UK house. The French house was bought outright some years ago.

I know lots of people say keep a base in the UK, rent out the house but if I do that I am worried in case there is a period of a month or more between one rental contract and the next one and not being able to pay the mortgage.

My fixed rate mortgage ends in 2010 so I also anticipate I be paying more at a higher rate after then.

There are not many Gites in our area - we always had trouble getting into a few in the locality before we had bought the French house.

We have gotten to know the French owners of a Gite who is often booked up most of the year, mainly with French people.

One Gite, owned by English is not doing as well.

 

[woody234]

whats wrong with going back to uk for medical stuff rather than paying french health care insurance, also i have no tin hat but i have a pillow instead also yes I have watching eyes

[Patf]

I would definitely say, keep your London house and rent it out. We do this and use an agent which takes some of the worry off our shoulders.; Having said that, £400 pm isn't much to live on here, although many french people do manage on this amount. We have also had to spend quite a bit on maintenance of our english house, not that the tenants are destructive, just normal wear and tear. Have you spoken to any letting agents to find out how much rent you could get?

[snapper]

I have only looked on line at letting agents  here in the Uk to see what similar properties are being rented out for - between £1200 - £1400.

We have the DLR being built which will be ready early next year and is just a 10 minute walk away so prices may go up.

[woody234]

whats a DLR

[Trying]

[quote user="woody234"]

whats wrong with going back to uk for medical stuff rather than paying french health care insurance, also i have no tin hat but i have a pillow instead also yes I have watching eyes

[/quote]

Hi woody

         Please do-not not take (watching eyes)as a joke,it like all forums there for all to read,and they do.

[Gardian]

DLR = Docklands Light Railway

[woody234]

What do you mean when you say "watching eyes" do you mean the forum moderator or people that watch things with there eyes

[nectarine]

I'd had this same chat with a couple of estate agents recently and this is their advice:  rent out your house because there are lots of people registering with them to rent, the numbers are increasing all the time as people will always need somewhere to live.  Also, property values in the UK have dropped but you can hold on to the house and rent it until the value goes up again.  Their tips for good rental were to see what equivalent properties were renting at, and price yours at 10% cheaper, then tenants will be attracted to yours and inclined to stay there longer. 

[Danny]

[quote user="woody234"]

whats wrong with going back to uk for medical stuff rather than paying french health care insurance

[/quote]

Woody, if you are a resident in France, you are not entitled to health care in the UK except for emergencies with the appropiate card...

Danny

[mint]

Snapper, I do think you have had some good advice here or, at least, food for thought.

If you're worried about voids in rental (which incidentally do always happen even in the most popular areas), then you'll have to look at whether you can generate enough rent money to set some aside for paying the mortgage during voids.  That and a sinking fund for repairs, renewal, etc would be essential for total peace of mind.

Your London property looks to be in a good place and you can certainly try letting until you know what you want to do in France, even if it is just to get that breathing space to have your gite up and running.

You're in a very fortunate position.  It's a nice problem that you have!  There are many others on the forum, me included, who wouldn't mind having to make your sort of choice.

[Trying]

[quote user="maude"]Do NOT part with your property inUK under any circumstances- this is our regret after 6 years of living here full time.We now have no option financially but to stay put or move locally due to the financial situation generally.If I had my time again,we would have rented out uk house,remotgaged or sold my body for medical research rather than be committed here forever.Not too much to complain about but do find life as someone said months ago,"life in France is an open prison"The world ends sept 1st,shutters shut until june next year unless the drinking sessions among other Brits,or the "aperatifs" with the locals are your scene.C.est la vie!!!!!    Maude
Ps.  Many people we know do in fact struggle financially with the gite ,B&B scene due to the very short season of holiday makers ,unless you are in an exceptionally popular house hunting area.We seem to be, here in the S.Vendee, but again, it is very competitive for little reward-the market is awash with gites etc.Good luck in your decision,hope it works out.
[/quote]

Yes the winters do get colder as we get older,we have now for the last 5yrs gone south for the most of the bad weather, to south Spain and this year the Algarve.We use a small camping car with tent on the side.One month in good sites for 200Euros all in.See from your file you list caravaning,so if you still have one  give it a go.

P.S. this year it never got below 7c, in the Algarve

[Pads]

Hello Snapper

I am also in the same position as you at the moment, I really want to move out to france and live in our house out there, but I would have no job, I f We rented this house out in the UK it would generate a good income more than enough to cover my wages ( but what if it wasnt rented for a while ?) we are already in a rural area so renters would be hard to find.  Plus my french isnt very good and as we also live in a very rural area in france this would make it very hard to find work, but it would make my french better. !!

My husband's work takes him away from home anyway so we could live anywhere. but with the loss of my wages would make life not as comfortable as it is now ( plus I would be asking hubby for my spending money [:-))] some thing I have never done )

We have decided to not sell our house for at least 10 years , by this time we will know if we have made the right move for us.  

So I have had to be sensible ( some thing I find hard being a taurus i tend to do first think later) and look at what life would be like in a few years time if I made this move now. I t has been hard to find I have to wait for now if I want to do it the right way for us, but meanwhile Im putting things into action to make us ready mainley taking french lessons and spending a lot of time and effort into this. Saving very hard to give us a matress to fall on if needed. I have also whinned and blackmailed my boss at work into giving me  more time off work, so I now have 5 weeks paid 5 weeks unpaid and as I only work 3 nights aweek I can now work days in leiu so by doing 6 nights in a row I earn another week off. This means I can spend more time in france to path the way a little into our new life and also by going there at all times of the year to make sure we realise what the real life is like,

We now have a goal to be there inside of five years and that for us is sensible 

I still have a lot of thinking to do, even though some days I think just do it[6]( some times I think I think to much ) so my advice to you is look at how much is going out , how much is coming in for real not what might be coming in if I do this or that it might not happen and take you time to just think about it. dont do any thing just because you want to do it now !! What ever you do do I hope it works out the best for you Good Luck [:)]      

[snapper]

Thanks for all your replies - plenty to think over.

I did speak to a local estate agent here in London and he has similar properties to mine on his books for £800 - £900 and they were all nice properties so that was a bit disheartening as it would not leave much left over after paying mortgage etc.

My eldest says to hang onto the house, rent it and try living in France for 2 years then sell up if I still liked it there.

So I am still confused but I have a year and a bit before my youngest goes to uni so will be following this forum and researching and thinking.

[PaulT]

Snapper - with your finances, they seem very lean and there are a lot of what ifs - what if there is not a tenant (and I would not listen to estate agents, after all they only want your property on their books and it is no loss to them if it does not rent). What if the £ v euro goes even further down, your £400 will mena a lot less euros.

If you are a risk taker and, it seems to me, a big risk taker then go for it. If however, you are the type that likes certainties then do not do it.

Plus remember interest rates in France are lower than the UK.

Plus, becoming resident in France and going to the UK for healthcare is not on. There was a programme on just recently and one trust in the UK chases those not entitled for money upfront. What about if you go this route, are then caught out and have a demand for payment of treatment previously received.

I as one who has had his early retirement to France plans firmly wrecked by the change in France most certainly do not wish to pay taxes in the UK to fund those not entitled to UK healthcare.

Paul

[Ian]

The problem of being not quite well off enough to live off one's investments yet still too young to qualify for retirement benefits has traditionally been solved by the solution of getting a job.

This radical, though rather unfashionable idea, works well in both France and Britain.

[Cendrillon]

[quote user="Ian"]The problem of being not quite well off enough to live off one's investments yet still too young to qualify for retirement benefits has traditionally been solved by the solution of getting a job.

This radical, though rather unfashionable idea, works well in both France and Britain.
[/quote]

LOL Ian

There you have it in a nutshell.[;-)]

[mint]

Ian also made me laugh