Hi AnthonyGA
>I'd say that $120,000 is a lot to pay for a house in a tiny town of 3000 that is hours from anywhere.

Small towns have their charms … for a week or so. Then you start looking for things to do. And if you don't already have pre-existing activities to occupy your time, you can become very bored indeed.<

Being a resident of a small town in Georgia, USA who paid $120 K for a Victorian Cottage on a 1/2 acre plot, I have found that if I don't say "No", very firmly, I will have more than enough to occupy my time.

((I))

A question for those who already own property in France for part time use: Is there any hidden tax beyond property tax? For example if the house is a second residence (not permanent) or an additional tax for using/residing in a property that you already pay property tax on? Is it all a matter of where your property is located? St Cirq or anyone else? Thanks.

Hi,
Let us know how you what you decide to do and the pit falls and great momnents. My husband is a citizen of the EU, so I am hoping that will be of an advantage. My dream is winter in southern Italy or Crete and summer in New England. HOw great is that.

There are a number of extra fees and taxes, some of them dependent on what département you live in, some municipal, and some relating to the use of your house. For example, if you rent your house, in some départements you may have to pay a taxe de séjour when there are guests in your house - usually 5 euros or less per head per night. I also pay a fee for garbage collection - though the garbage isn't even collect4ed (I have to load it in the car and take it to the dump on the hill). There's a television "tax" (redevance)! When you first buy a TV, you're required to sign papers declaring ownership, and once a year you receive a bill (ini my case the bill is more than twice what I paid for the TV, BUT I can go and buy 20 more TVs if I want to without the tax increasing). So yes, there are "hidden" fees, but they don't amount to much, depending of course on the worth and location of your property.

On the flip side, if you rent out your house or run it as a B&B, you may be eligible to reap some tax benefits back in the USA (if that's where you're from).

You do pay the tax d'habitation (occupancy tax), as well as tax fonciere (property tax) on a secondary residence, unless it is unfurnished and unoccupied. And the revdevence audiovisuel (television tax) if you have a television set in a secondary residence and are not paying that tax for a primary residence. If the property were rented to someone else, they would pay the tax d'habitation, provided they had occupancy on Jan. 1, but of course you could not expect a short-term renter to pay it and ultimately if the renter doesn't pay that owner is responsible.

Flaze might like to note there are a number of (mostly British) websites on buying property,living in France, such as www.frenchentree.com.

Hi

Check info on French legislation here : http://www.the-languedoc-page.com/ex...egislation.htm

Peter

An American friend of mine who sold property in the Ardeche had to deal with notaires to sell her property. She told me it can get quite involved. I imagine estates might be likewise.

There is a great book by the late Ann Barry, "My Home in France" that can provide you with insights in to the ex pat life.

Young French friends of mine, who were from eastern France, bought and ran a hotel in Provence. They told me it might be generations to gain the real acceptance by the locals. As a retiree, this may not be a primary concern for you.

On the positive side, the Brits seem to do well in southern France but they tend to be clannish and socialize with their fellow countrymen since there are so many of them.

My wife and I, both 70, have thought of retiring to Ireland or France but the health care complexities, inadequacies, etc. tipped the scales and finally dissuaded us.

Every story will be different, but I've lived here in Provence for almost thirteen years (Brussels and Paris before that) and had no problems being accepted by the locals, the taxes aren't bad (Fonciere and d'habitation). Health care is excellent and in no way costs what it would in the United States.

The euro has impacted prices more than the exchange rate.... but it's no more expensive to live here than in many other cities in other countries. Of course, Paris would be far more expensive, as would any other large city here in France.

If you did decide to take the plunge, just make sure you pick a place that has good transportation access (for instance, I live 45 minutes from the TGV station and 45 minutes from Marseille airport).

I would suggest that once you've picked an area, you rent a place for a month or so to see if it's REALLY where you want to be. A good notaire is essential when purchasing property - and never use the same one as the seller.

Patricia

I agree that French health care is excellent. The potential problem is not with quality but with insurance coverage. But inquire, you could be pleasantly surprised. For example, some U.S. Blue Cross/Blue Shield plans will pay for treatment at the American Hospital in Paris. If not, there always is repatriation coverage in case of serious illness. Vis-a-vis the United States, medical care is considerably less expensive in France IF it's provided by doctors whose fees conform to the levels authorized by French the social security system. If you seek out English-speaking health-care providers, you will pay a lot more.

I went to France last year to my ancestral village in Normandy that my family originated from and in the surrounding villages the foreigners like the English and others who owned homes there were viewed like some kind of peculiar opportunists who took advantage of the cheaper real estate and only associated with each other.

I don't believe this is the rule. Certainly not in far west Burgundy, the Nievre, where we've never been received in anything remotely resembling that manner - and I'm fluent enough in French and sensitive enough to others to be confident of it. Nor in Honfleur in Normandy, where we also have a home and spend a good deal of our time.

It may be true that some small towns don't embrace newcomers. (It was true in my childhood in upstate New York.) But the French are not lacking is discrimination. No doubt the reception depends quite a bit who is being received..

There is certainly an undercurrent of anti-British, anti-Dutch sentiment in the Dordogne, where hordes of Brits and Dutch have second homes or have moved there permanently. That said, it's directed primarily at the people who don't make any attempt to mingle with the locals and who hang out exclusively with their own countrymen, those who refuse to learn the language, and those who just don't behave politely (which many of them don't). My French neighbors are always remarking on how amazing it is that I speak French, hire my own (French) workmen, can find my way around, etc. So it all depends on your own approach. Mine is that it is their country and I'm a guest who needs to adapt to their ways, not that I'm setting up an American enclave in their territory.

Thank you for all the great input and advice. As for going to Fla instead- already live there, want to escape the "snowbirds" as it is. Alot to consider but the bottom line is this- if money is no object (relatively) and one can do it- I think it is worth the hasstle to try. You have given us alot to think about and contemplate such a bold move. My son lives in Paris this year as a student, and we love to visit and live amongst the "locals". France is an incredibly unique place, unlike anywhere in the world we have been. As for speaking the language, we find more and more french speak better english than we speak french. I'm not sure we can conquer their language like they've conquered ours. Will this truly keep us from being able to live there or negotiate? I would have thought so 5 years ago, but times have definately changed. Is that not other's experiences? Do you think Americans still stick out like a sore thumb? Can we not be accepted by the french?

"Accepted by the French"? Well, yes, if you speak French, of course. That's why so many people here are focusing on that aspect of it. You may well be accepted anyway, but being able to communicate is kind of a necessary given to "being accepted."
And it depends where you're thinking of living in France. In the Dordogne, the locals don't, for the most part, speak English. That's why there are so many thriving British companies taking care of everything for British and other expats who won't learn the language - and making a pretty penny off it, too. In Paris and Provence, it probably doesn't matter that much if you speak French well. But you will pay for your lack of French skills in various ways -through higher prices paid for middlemen who take on the responsibilities of guiding you through the ropes, through endless hours spent in hardware stores trying to figure out which cement you need or in trying to follow the directions and assemble the new furniture you've bought from IKEA, through fees paid to a bilingual notaire and people to translate contracts and such for you, through panicky moments when you need to call emergency services of one kind or another......you get the picture.

Investing in the language was, to me, the cornerstone of investing in the property. But then, I've seen plenty of people who've been there for years and have barely any French at all. Can't say as I envy them their experience, though, and I'm quite sure they've spent loads more money than I have for the privilege of owning a home there.

Hard to exaggerate the importance of speaking French if you want to live in France. Of course it's possible to make do without, but it will be a poor life regardless of finances.

As a Parisian, but a native of the Dordogne, where my parents live and own a family house in the countryside, I think StCirq's words are very true. The Dordogne, despite its isolation, has been popular with the British for several decades, and some, but not all, are a bit clanish. However, many hamlets are living again thanks to the British and the Dutch, old farmhouses are tastefully renovated.
Rising home prices in the Dordogne, and the dearth of available properties of character is now causing a spillover of British interest to the neighbouring areas such as the Limousin.
However, I am under the impression that the more recent wave of British "immigration" is more lower middle class (people having been kicked out the the British real estate market?), and local villagers wander about the arrival of younger people, "with tattooos everywhere", and not a word of French...