wvdthree

Hello,
My only child will be off to college in 2.5 years and it's looking like financially I could retire and perhaps move to France if that is a possibility. I will forgo all of the reasoning and background details as I know from reading many posts on the subject that it can stir up many inflammatory and often negative responses. My desire would be to by a turn key property. When I was younger my dream was to buy a fixer upper but that no longer appeals to me for many reasons. Suffice it to say I have lived in Paris for a year,speak some French and have traveled probably ten times to the regions I would consider.

My essential question is this. Could people provide me with websites/books with information specifically geared towards retired Americans,with means,moving to France and buying a home?
What I have discovered after much searching is that most resources for english speakers are written by Brits (or other EU member english speaking residents) or Americans who have fallen in love with and married a French person. Neither of these two situations are comparable to being a single American in my research. Both Brits/EU citizens and spouses of a French person are much more easily able to attain the required visa to reside legally in France for extended periods of time. I have discovered one paid resource in the Languedoc which is one area I am considering. renestance.com
Best regards,
Vance

kerouac

https://transferwise.com/us/blog/gui...ring-in-france

bilboburgler

Any Irish or Italian parentage you could use?

wvdthree

Kerouac.......thanks for the link,it looks fruitful.

Billoburglar........no such luck. I am a euro mutt of English/Scottish/Germany/Dutch heritage. I have heard reports of Italy trying to attract foreigners to buy up homes (maybe particularly old homes?) in smaller villages in somewhat remote areas where the natives are moving from and those villages are in danger of disappearing. It seems like if you could prove Italian heritage you could get fast tracked with a more permanent sort of Visa and be eligible to purchase a house. Never uncovered if there was any truth to these claims.

Best,
Vance

Christina

I used to have a book like that, geared towards American expats. Sort of a jumble of chapters on different issues with resource suggestions. It had nothing to do with whether you were married or not. It was just practicalities, basically. I think I threw it away when it kind of got outdated and wasn't really that relevant to me.

This is sort of interesting tips. What bugs me is people who have this fantasy to move to some place (often France or Paris) and yet have never actually been interested enough in the place to learn the language. Just seems weird to me, one of the guys on here is an example of what I mean -- an expat Brit who didn't realize he really should learn French, he just thought everyone would speak English with him and it wouldn't be necessary (and he didn't realize locals would look down on an expat who didn't want to learn the language). ugh, but you aren't in that camp, it's just that drives me crazy.
https://www.thelocal.fr/galleries/li...nce-top-ten/11

But some of those tips are worthwhile, I think.

I think this is the book I'm thinking of, I'll check my bookcase at home to see if I still have the original, but I think I threw it away. This guy also has a book specifically about retiring.

I don't think it gave extensive info on buying a property, though, just more day to day stuff.

StCirq

The Bible for purchasing property in France used to be the 7-part series by De Particulier à Particulier. Don't know if it's still applicable, but it taught me everything I ever needed to know about buying a house in France (but this was almost 30 years ago). This is a sort of feeble recapitulation of what used to be in those 7 volumes, but it might be a start: https://www.pap.fr/acheteur An excellent notaire is going to be your best friend (and in case you're not aware, notaires often have wind of properties for sale long before they appear in the vitrines of the immobiliers, so it's advisable to get one even before you buy, obviously once you've selected an area.)

I would give those cheap houses in the abandoned hill towns in Italy and Sicily a very wide berth. I have read countless horror stories about them recently on expat sites and elsewhere.

I can't imagine not being married would be an impediment of any sort, but yes, loads of "resources" are put forth by married, often retired, Brits whose advice I wouldn't necessarily eschew, but I wouldn't start out by counting on them, either. They tend (and yes, it's a generalization) to be focused on Brits who want to move to France and be surrounded by other Brits. Of course, half the Brits are moving now, so who knows what's going to happen?

Alec

France is, relatively speaking, easier country to move to in order to establish as retired non-EU resident. Get in touch with the nearest French Consulate (they deal with applications from specific states) and ask about retirement visa for US citizen. Basically you have to satisfy a French consular officer why you want to move to France (such as family tie, previous vacations, particular interest in French culture, knowledge of language etc), your financial state so that you can support yourself without working, suitable accommodation (existing or prospective), health insurance and criminal record. Once approved, you travel to France and obtain residence permit from the nearest prefecture.

PalenQ

Curious without reading all those links that covers this - how long does it take for you to be covered under France's national health care? Merci!

wvdthree

Thanks to all for the replies.
Christina.......I have David Hampshire's (another Brit) 25 year old edition of the book you linked to Amazon. Helpful in some respects but again,geared toward Brits.

St Cirq........I am only intrigued by the deals on the homes in dying Italian villages as a curious outlier. I would need to be younger to take on such a project and ultimately have more money on hand for serious renovations. Plus,as much as I have enjoyed limited travels there I do not speak the language.
I didn't mean to suggest that being single in and of itself would be a disadvantage. I am only suggesting that the resources I have uncovered tend to be Anglophones (Brits or non EU) who have met and married a French national. From the little I know it seems spouses of nationals have a much easier time gaining the right visa/residency than non EU citizens without a French spouse. I will look at the PAP link Thanks so much!

Best,
Vance

thursdaysd

Similar to the Hampshire book, but the author this time appears to be American:

Traveler_Nick

There are various Expat oriented forums. I'd start there. You should be first collecting all the information you can for your visa. Don't waste too much time and effort on anything else. No visa no point.

https://www.expatforum.com/expats/fr...living-france/

I'm sure there are others.

In general the requirements for a long stay visa are supposed to be similar across the Schengen zone. But it doesn't seem to be that way.

Portugal IIRC gives retirees tax free status.

The Italian "free" homes are free only if you ignore renovation costs and the fact the resale value won't be much more than free.

kerouac

My main complaint about expat forums is that they tend to tell you all of the ways to continue living as though you had never left your country and also provide a platform to complain about everything that is perceived to be negatively different in the new country. And don't get me started about expats at a party or a diiner. They always try to one up each other on all of their "horrible" local experiences. People who consider themselves to be immigrants rather than expats are far better.

Traveler_Nick

No doubt about the complaints but the OP needs people who have done what he wants to do. Not books written a decade ago.

swandav2000

Hi wvdthree,

One of our regular posters here, Belinda, an American, just recently retired and moved to Paris. She is learning French and had made a lot of new French friends; however, she is renting and not buying where she lives. She is just starting her second year in Paris on a long-stay visa. You may want to look for her posts in the French threads on this forum or else in the Lounge, where she occasionally posts. She isn't in Paris, I think, at the moment, but maybe she'll see your thread and comment. Anyway, you may want to send her a message here and ask her to tell you exactly what she did and what went well/what went wrong.

I moved to Germany 10 years ago...obviously not the same as moving to France. But even though I knew the town I wanted to live in, I still rented an apartment for a year before I bought my apartment -- just to suss out neighborhoods, shops, friends, bus routes, and make some initial connections. It worked out very well, as I made some friends who helped me enormously when I ran into some problems when I renovated my apartment (needed new kitchen & bath & floors & painting). Even though you say you want turn-key, it may be that you fall in love with a property that might need some cosmetic upgrades. Anyway, I do think it would be a good idea to rent for a year before you buy.

Best of luck! Oh, and one thing -- I was single and had a finite amount of money to do it....consequently I was stressed the whole time. My advice to you is to really enjoy the journey. It's an amazing rush!

s

Coquelicot

See what you think of survivefrance.com. It's mostly Brits with a few other nationalities and most of them seem very well integrated into their communities. It's a lively forum, mostly civil, and members live in many different parts of France.

gooster

As noted, there are a number of books and forums you probably have researched. There is however a specific Facebook group called Americans Retiring in France that has people in a similar situations -- and various FAQs you can read plus threads to research, including on visas etc. You will find mentions of consultants, notaires, accountants, etc specific to your region and section. There are a couple of other property buying and expat groups, but none as specific.

I'm pre- early retirement myself but I used a consultant for the property purchase, Adrian Leeds Group. They are active in Paris and the Cote d'Azur, but will offer general consultation elsewhere They are paid, like the Renestance group you lalready found.

Sarastro

I did exactly what you are purposing. I would not suggest your purchasing property without first establishing yourself somewhere and are sure you like the area. Be prepared for a lot of paperwork.

The Expat forum, mentioned above, will answer many questions. You should also join AARO. Moving to France and all that is involved is probably outside the scope of a travel forum. There is a lot to discuss which is not really pertinent to those just visiting and planning their vacation.

You might want to send me a PM if you have specific questions.

bilboburgler

Yes, the Italian free house is still there, nearly always in the south of Italy so think Sicily or Puglia. The deal is normally that you have to invest a certain amount (E10, 20k) to get it "done up" and you need to use the local builders. If you do this remember planning law (well law generally) in Italy is a minefield that makes the French system look organised, while Italy is right in the middle of both an earth quake zone and a political crisis that started in 1925 and a mafia attack that started just after the USA paid them a fortune to capture Sicily from the germans in WW2.

Much as I love Italy it is worth recognising that the place has a few problems. If I was looking I might look at Portugal as well. Nice people, nice climate and nice tax laws.

walkinaround

I've lived in several different countries over the years and it's never 100% smooth sailing. Everyone's got their stories and expats often have common challenges. It's a coping mechanism. I wouldn't get so bothered by it. Expats that have 'gone native' also can be annoying. By 'gone native' I mean acting like a university student on their first trip abroad. All of the sudden their own country is total crap, they talk almost militantly about 'never going back', and become smug about how they 'got out'. That's much worse than expats sharing a few 'horror stories' of life abroad.

Traveler_Nick

In addition no matter how bizarre the complaint (And some are REALLY bizarre) the odds are the complainer isn't the only person in the world with the same view. Better those people read the complaints before they get on the plane.