Ron Avery Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 I noticed that CA have started doing interest free loans/mortgages (well for first couple of years anyway) for house purchases. The properties can be new, or for refurbishment, there are earnings limits depending on family size of around €25k for a couple, if I am reading it correctly.Does the panel think this will make any difference to the (perceived) growing resentment on the price hike caused by the level of foreign and holiday home ownership in rural France, or is it a sign of the times that in Europe you have to now go east for real cheap bargains? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 Roy, I would say that unless you're prepared for a total (and hideously expensive) renovation job, and perhaps not even then, I certainly think you're right about having to go much further afield nowadays for rock bottom property prices. In fact, had this conversation with a friend earlier this week who was talking about "cheap" property in France. Better value no doubt if you've got a lot of money to spend, but I would question whether anything is still "cheap". Prove me wrong though, please, someone. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0BRIAN WOODHEADI,m here in franceddMMyyyy0Falseen-USI,m here in franceTrue Posted March 17, 2005 Share Posted March 17, 2005 No,can`t. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Well I've just spent two hours this week typing out an estimate for a wreck renovation and the cost so far without any fittings or decoration is well over 1.5 times the purchase price which wasn't cheap either. Can anyone tell me the logic in that and for a holiday home too which will take years to recoup the expense and never be the same value to re-sell. People here are bemoaning the fact now that french mortgages are becoming 25-30 year stretches instead of the previous 15 years repayment,that surely must indicate a huge change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
letrangere Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 Ah, Val, now this is very interesting coming from someone in the know. Didn't a poster recently talk about buying a place for Euros 100,000, renovating it for Euros 50,000 and then selling it on at Euros 300,000+? I thought at the time that those figures didn't add up. Are you saying now that you don't always recoup all your costs if you sell up immediately after a professional renovation job? Personally this is something I've long suspected but have no first hand experience of.Margaret Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 There is that nasty thing called CGT on second properties here for the first 15 years and if you sell up straight away it will hit very hard.The other problem is the TVA at the reduced rate as this is now being investigated more and more by the authorities here because people are buying wrecks,getting them done up as renovation and modernisation jobs at the lower rate and are in fact really creating a new property instead of using the lower rate to improve a property that someone already lives in but cannot afford to spend vast amounts getting it upto date. Even more is that if you have a Permis de Construire you cannot charge the lower rate anyway for works involved there. With a complete wreck there is so much work involved from the foundations upwards to counteract damp to a complete new roof without all the drainage,carpentry,electrics,tiling,flooring etc so you can see where a lot of the money goes which dosn't show at the end of the project. We did a very large renovation job whereby the owner had to sell up due to death of his wife and return to the UK and in this case the property sold for a lot less than the purchase plus renovation costs because no one was prepared to pay any higher in this region. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted March 18, 2005 Share Posted March 18, 2005 The herd has caused the prices of French houses to rise to such an extent that resentment from locals has become more visable and reasons for buying (price wise) less attractive. According to TV programmes, that feed the dreams of the herd, the new grazing pastures will be Eastern Europe and places like Fiji etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Turnip, have you too noticed that A Place in the Sun now hardly ever features places in France and Spain anymore,but more exotic places like Mexico,Australasia and the Balkan states where your money goes a lot futher for what you can buy even with some of the horrendous stipulations that come with the properties. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Turnip Posted March 19, 2005 Share Posted March 19, 2005 Yes Val.TV sells dreams to hook the dreamers. France etc have been done to death so to maintain viewing figures the TV companies move East. Watch out for "Nigel opens an Indian restuarant in Croatia." Which is fine for those of us seeking property in France. I am hoping that as the herd moves Eastward the predators move with them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
derf Posted April 2, 2005 Share Posted April 2, 2005 [quote]The herd has caused the prices of French houses to rise to such an extent that resentment from locals has become more visable and reasons for buying (price wise) less attractive. According to TV progr...[/quote]How do you separate yourself from "The Herd" then? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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