frencharmoire

I know. I'm still laughing about those people who thought Trump would win! Silly people.

Marine Le Pen said just a few days ago that if she wins the Presidency, France will leave the euro, using the franc instead. Unless of course you think reporting from the BBC is "alternative universe"

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38511058

frencharmoire

In case people really do think the BBC is too liberal or mainstream or something, here is another story making it even clearer:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/world/...National-Front

If other nations in the EU keep the euro (which is what Marine Le Pen wants) but France leaves the euro (which is what Marine Le Pen wants) the value of the Euro will soar relative to whatever currency Le Pen introduces (which is what Le Pen wants).

It will be terrific for some people -- but not people who recently bought a house in France using euros.

Brilliantsulk

WoinParis: I meant Italian citizenship.

And I've restored a house from afar before, not the worst thing I've ever done.

WoinParis

Kerouac, my thoughts exactly.

Besides between what Marine dreams, what Marine wants and what Marine can or could do - there is a large gap... probably widened by what British understood and broadcasted...

Frencharmoire, if you have read her program for last elections (which I did) you know about 75% of the things she wants to do are illegal or against french and european laws.

And Hollande promised to hire a lot of civil servants and to inverse the unemployment curve. Anybody fully believing a politician is a fool.

Michael

<i>And I've restored a house from afar before, not the worst thing I've ever done.</i>

Restoring in France and restoring in the States is not the same thing. If you dream of an old house, it means that even the interior walls are solid masonry, making the extension of electric and water lines difficult. When looking at a house, make sure that you are aware of the how the house in constructed. Taking down lath&plaster does not compare.

As for restoring from afar: I have had work done on my house in France from afar with varying success. Unless you can dot the i's and cross the t's to the tiniest detail, anticipating every problem that will crop up, you are at the mercy of the contractor. <u>A Year in the Provence</u> is an enjoyable read, but it hides high frustration levels, and the author was on site most of the time.

fuzzbucket

I'd suggest renting a house in the area you're truly interested in, before you take on a renovation project.
One to three months should allow you to get friendly with your neighbors and find some semi-reliable references for workmen, estimates, etc. Most contractors schedule work at least 3 to 6 months in advance, and delays are common.
Due to the professional status of plumbers, electricians, carpenters and stone workers, you will not be allowed to do much of anything yourselves. It takes several weeks or even months to secure the proper permits from the Mairie.
You can expect significant delays due to weather conditions wherever you end up, so if you plan to live in the building during the renovation, this might not be possible.
You should include anti-theft measures wherever possible, due to the high rate of break-ins when the property is vacant.

StCirq

France isn't going to leave the EU.

French property taxes are laughably negligible. We just got our bill yesterday.

Anyone with money can buy property in France under the same terms French citizens can.

There's no reason any longer to be alarmed by the inheritance laws. You can have a will drawn up in your country of origin, translated and apostillé in French, stating that your inheritance wishes are governed by the laws of your country of origin and not by French law. We just did that. It's no big deal, but like everything else in France, it requires mountains of paperwork and takes forever.

I made 25-30 trips to France before settling on the region I wanted to buy in. Once that was done I made another 7 or so trips to familiarize myself with it. I went in every possible season. A place that's oh-so-pretty in July can look like sh$t in February. One trip to scout out property and one to buy is, IMO, ridiculously naive. And are you familiar with the actual purchase process? It will take you at least 3 months, probably involve several more trips, and require enough documentation to wallpaper a château. If you're not familiar with the process, get hold of the 7-volume set from De Particulier à Particulier and plan time for a good long read.

I came with near fluency in French, but that's just the beginning of it if you're buying a house. You're going to need to have an extensive legal and technical vocabulary, and I mean super-extensive if you plan on doing any renovations (particularly to an old house). You're going to need to know everything under the sun about water sources and soil and vegetation and wildlife and rights of way and local ordinances and permissible local materials for renovations....and a few thousand other things.

As for the renovations themselves, you cannot expect much of anything to happen when you're not in residence. Or even when you are. If you're going to undertake them yourselves, get ready for a whole bunch of trips to the mayor's office for permits and such, some of which will have to be publicly posted for a month before you can proceed, if it is deemed that you can actually proceed.

That's just a few things I'll toss out. I could write a tome.

You asked what our opinions of the Loire Valley are. I think it's a bore, but I don't know why my opinion should matter at all. The last thing you should be concerned about is what other people think about a particular region. To me, the only thing that matters is that YOU fall in love with a place, an entire region and a particular property. You don't seem to have even a smidgeon of the actual experience I would want to have before making such a big decision. And trust me, it's a HUGE decision, one that you will live with and deal with every day after you do it, and for many months leading up to it.

Bon courage.

tom_mn

Loire region: I only visited one June but it wasn't terribly appealing. Chilly and grey, busy/populated, with a fair bit of industry, and pretty flat. One of the less pretty countrysides in what is usually a very pretty country.

Tulips

We only have a small appartment in France, but I completely agree with St Cirq. But good luck to you!

TDudette

And this is where many trips, as StCirq suggests, are vital. One visit should not a pronouncement make, eh?

And, I disagree with you Michael about A Year in Provence--I thought Mayle <I>did</i> effectively show the frustrating process of getting workmen in on any other than their own schedules. His method of dealing with it was inspired.

Again, good luck, Brilliantsulk.

WoinParis

On the riviera tulips ?
We have a house in Cavalaire.
Nightmarish with the solicitor - yet we speak the language and the laws are similar
We kicked out all French workers - had Belgian Ones coming over (declared..)
Cheaper to come with our guys and we were sure of the results.
We also did a lot by ourselves.
But I am sure some reliable locals can be found.

ribeirasacra

Sorry to burst your bubble but there is no such thing as EU citizenship! Have you both got rights to reside in France for longer than 90dyas?
Read all about investing in France here.
https://www.angloinfo.com/france
or ask on an expats(immigration) forum.
http://britishexpats.com/forum/france-76/

StCirq

I love AngloInfo, get a fair bit of useful information from it, BUT for obvious reasons it tends to draw an awful lot of people looking for exclusively English-speaking you-name-its (dentists, plumbers, roofers, ophthalmologists, gardeners...), and that's certainly not the road I wanted to go down to live in France. For one thing, it costs more (sometimes a lot more); for another, it simply hinders integration. Then there's all the folks who hire property managers, at great expense.


Agree with WoinParis about workers. It's taken us more than 2 years since coming to live here permanently to find "the right crew." Some just disappeared, some were chronically unreliable, some had to be threatened, some had to be fired, some left their equipment lying around our property for weeks/months on end (I'm sure at least a couple of Fodorites who've visited us got to see the various cement mixers, scaffolding, piles of roof tiles, etc. scattered around). And it's not as though we didn't do a lot of research and ask a lot of people for recommendations, over many months. People like mayors, real estate agents, notaires, property owners whose work we admired...

I'm pretty sure the OP said she holds a passport from an EU country (Italy?), so the 90-day Schengen limit wouldn't apply. That's the case for me, as well, as an Irish passport holder. Anyway, it sounds as though she and her spouse aren't planning a permanent move or long-term stays.

fuzzbucket

I bought an apartment in Paris which had one of those "suspended toilets" - which hangs completely off the floor.
It ended up costing me 4360 EU - and 2 months without the only toilet - to have it replaced with a "standard toilet" - one which sits securely on the floor.
The stone was dissolving in back of the tank, the pipes had to be replaced, permits without end, irate neighbors, 2 plumbers fired, another one finally saved the day...
Nothing is ever simple.

frencharmoire

No one has said France is going to leave the EU (at least not in the thread).

The question is whether France, under a Marine Le Pen presidency, which abandon the euro in favor of a different currency. The eurozone is different from the EU, and certainly more fragile at the moment.

No one knows who will win the next election in France, but it is worth nothing that most highly confident predictions about European elections for more than a year running have proven wrong (in Italy, UK, Spain, Poland, Finland, etc) and in the US as well.

For some people, house buying into such uncertainty would make little or no difference, if their bank account is hefty enough to withstand what others might consider major losses. But people who tell you they "know" what's going to happen in the next 2 years to the value of the euro or France's relationship to it simply don't -- and if large losses due to currency fluctuations would matter to you, then you might want to wait until after political situations in several eurozone nations -- France, Germany and Italy -- are more clearly resolved.

frencharmoire

Here, by the way, is an excellent explainer from The Economist for people who haven't already made up their minds they can predict the future (are they the same people who thought Hillary Clinton would win?):

http://www.economist.com/news/financ...t-rise-markets

Pvoyageuse

"French property taxes are laughably negligible."
Add the taxe d'habitation to the taxe foncière. They are both based on the rental value and depend on location, size of property, home comforts, and most of all, the budget of local authorities. You can pay €100 per year for a house in a remote mountain village and 3000€ for a smaller house in a nice city location. It is something to ask the "notaire" before purchasing a property.

1994

Agree with Pvoyageuse. French property taxes can be far far from 'negligible.' Our tax d'hab and tax fonciere add up to more than 4000 euros each year. And, before anyone asks, no we don't live in a mansion or have acres of property.

We rented for a year in an area we had visited about 10 times at various times of the year. While we rented, we saw about 68 houses. I recommend this if you can do it. You learn an awful lot about an area after having lived in it for a full year.

We also renovated the home we purchased. Like just about anyone who has done this, I could write a book on the various escapades of home renovation in France.

And if you're living on a foreign currency income, as has been said, never, never count on that remaining anywhere near stable.

MmePerdu

Another I-bought-a-place-in-France-to-restore book, my BIL, in the throes of grief having lost his wife, bought a mill in SW France. Scottish, he spoke French (a broadcaster for CBC in French), a very smart man who knew better when himself, but did it anyway. Movie rights available. http://tinyurl.com/jclggbo

Michael

This contains a description of the book by Yates:

https://www.abebooks.com/servlet/Sea...ance&x=24&y=10