Should I sell my home first?

[DavidNW]

Hello,

I'm thinking of retiring to France in a few years. I was wondering how the selling and buying process there varies than that of the UK. For instance, in the UK, if we want to move, we generally put our property on the market and look for one to buy. When we have found a buyer for ours, and the people we want to buy from have done likewise, the move can take place.

Ideally, I would like to do this when buying a property in France.  In other words, I don't want to let my home go in the UK before I have one to go to in France.  Is this practise readily accepted in France?  I was wondering if I would have to sell my property in the UK first to raise the purchase price first, and indeed, if this would be an easier way of buying a French property.

Thanks in advance,

David.

[Quillan]

Hi welcome to the forum.

I don't know what experience you have of France nor your age, the latter may be important with respect to joining the health system here, have a look in our health section for that sort of information. Very important stuff as you get older.

One question, if you sell first in the UK what will you do with your household and personal items prior to buying and moving over to France.

I have asked this because it leads to a suggestion which I make to everyone these days, don't sell and don't buy, rent. Now if you have worked out storage for selling and buying then you won't have to worry about where to put things if you rent your house out.

Renting is a much safer idea than buying in France for the first year (don't forget it can take a very long time to sell a house in France). Many people miss the UK and in particular if they have children and grand children. Also the weather is different but still not brilliant, thats another reason people leave down here in SW France. Whoever said we get 300 days of sunshine a year was obviously a second hand car salesman in a previous life. What about friends, things to do, how good is your French and more.

So renting for a year gives you a taste (warts and all) and lets you see France through the seasons and gives you the opportunity to see thats its not cheap here living on a day to day basis. You will find that there is a very big chance that the rental income on your current home will be substantially more than the cost of renting in France and will also help towards the bills.

Its a very big step to buy a house in a different country and even bigger to live there and once committed its not that easy to go back which is why I always suggest renting first.

Whatever you decided I wish you the best of luck.

[Anton Redman]

I would totally agree on renting first. Buying costs - notaires fees etc are a large percentage of the price and I suspect what you spend on a years rent you will probaly save on buying as you will have a far better idea of the local market.

[P-D de Rouffignac]

I think the answer to your question is a subjective one. Some people manage to cut all their ties with the UK (sell their house etc), put the money in the bank, come to France, find a property, buy it and move in.

As an example I have friends who recently did this, BUT they knew the area - even the town - where they wished to live, had been there often at different times of year, knew exactly the sort of property they were looking for, and when the time came, as cash buyers were able to get a substantial reduction on the asking price. They lived in a holiday villa for three months while looking and completing the purchasing process, and arranged to have their furniture delivered from store the day after they collected the keys of their new home and moved in.

I helped them sort out the utilities, medical cover, a doctor, artisans to do some work etc and everything has gone 100% smoothly. After 18 months they can get by in French and are already actively involved, among other things, in the residents committee of the apartment building where they have made their home.  

Best of luck, whatever your decide - P-D de R.

[nectarine]

well if I were you I'd go the renting route first, to find the areas that you like, and then start looking for property. There's a lot of it for sale in France and it doesn't move as quickly as in the UK, therefore you might be able to identify a couple of houses that fit the bill and then go back to the UK and put yours on the market. The way things are, it might take a while for the UK house to sell but when it does, and there's exchange of contracts (to be certain it will go through) you could return to France and put in an offer on the house you like. If it's accepted then it's about three months from offer acceptance to getting the keys.

So you'd probably have to rent for a few months, or move in with a friend, if you get the timings right.

A few years ago I think we could have given more definite answers but the property market in the UK is very slow. That's probably to your advantage, giving you time to really look around France and see what you like. Like the UK, houses that have been on the market for a while will probably take an offer.

Good luck.

[Albert the InfoGipsy]

I agree hat renting is a good idea, but some of the agencies have very rigid policies and procedures for proving income and may take some convincing about UK-sourced money.

We are renting and were lucky that the agency is a little, local family business and they were quite relaxed about taking my latest UK tax return as proof of earnings. The fact that my income might be affected by moving to France didn't seem to occur to them.

[dexter]

Hi David,

Study similar questions and subjects on this forum carefully and you will get some good ideas as to how you may want to proceed.

The buying process in France is quite different to that in the UK in that once you have committed to buy in France, and after paying the deposit and the requisite cooling off period has expired, you stand to loose a considerable amount of money if you cant proceed because you are unable to raise the remaining capital. . If your purchase of a house in France depends solely on the sale your UK property, then believe me, you will have many sleepless nights if you commit to buy in France too soon.

Good luck ,

Dexter