
Friday, 30 December 2011
Move to France 2012 - your New Year's Resolution

Thursday, 15 December 2011
Focus still on the €uro

Thursday, 3 November 2011
Euro crisis

Wednesday, 28 September 2011
A tale of Notaires

Sunday, 18 September 2011
New Capital Gains Tax rules - impact on some vendors

Wednesday, 7 September 2011
2nd homes news

Sunday, 4 September 2011
The property market 2011

Wednesday, 24 August 2011
Changing markets

Friday, 12 August 2011
England - summer 2011

Sunday, 31 July 2011
Many tax changes

Sunday, 17 July 2011
Exclusive mandats

Sunday, 10 July 2011
Negotiations

Sunday, 3 July 2011
Good news on 3 fronts

Monday, 20 June 2011
Tax on holiday homes in France scrapped

Sunday, 12 June 2011
Reports, reports & more reports
Sunday, 29 May 2011
New tax for 2nd homes

A new Tax on second homes is planned for 2nd homes owned by foreigners in France.
From 1st January 2012, non-residents who own a second home in France will be charged an annual tax of 20% of the cadastral value of the property. Clarification is being sought of what comprises the cadastral value, but it is roughly equivalent to the Taxe Habitation.
Monday, 16 May 2011
French Tax Reforms 2011

Wednesday, 11 May 2011
Has the £ turned the corner ?

The Euro has seemingly, at last, taken a long overdue fall after surging 9 cents against the pound this year. The newswires are supposedly full of stories of the Greek situation. Further bail-outs, interest rate reductions, debt restructuring and even a full scale Greek exit from the Eurozone are the possibilities to consider this week. The net result is the downtrend in £ / € has stopped, and is perhaps now in reverse, although we are in a volatile market, but the £ has moved higher so far reaching €1.14 from €1.10 last week. There have been previous crisis moments, with Greece, Ireland and Portugal, but the € has to date managed to overcome the crisis thanks to bail-outs & increased stability funds. So, it pays to be cautious in betting against the Euro. Unfortunately, as ever Mervyn King is talking the £ down at every opportunity, so upward moves in the pound are limited in nature. So what does this mean for you ? |
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EUR Buyers |
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Orders are recommended between €1.14 and €1.15. Big resistance (a ceiling) comes in at €1.15 and €1.16. A fall back to €1.12 levels would concern us and possibly signal a resumption of the downtrend to €1.09/€1.10. |
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EUR Sellers |
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The best levels in over a year have provided a fantastic window of opportunity for Euro sellers. £ / € can turn quickly and reverse moves in a matter of days. This happened previously around New Year 2010 when the rate went from €1.15 to €1.19 and back to €1.15 in roughly 3 weeks. This was also evident lately in the move from €1.14 to €1.10 to €1.14 in 2 weeks. A stop loss order above €1.15 would guard against a move which could go another 4 cents higher.
As ever, we recommend that you speak to our dedicated currency dealers for the best information.
Please contact me initially by e-mail sales@allez-francais.com
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Monday, 9 May 2011
House prices - observations

Friday, 6 May 2011
Win a stunning riverside property - competition

Sunday, 1 May 2011
Market update - 1st May

Tuesday, 26 April 2011
Smoke alarms

Friday, 22 April 2011
Early drought in the Poitou Charentes ?

We seem to have by-passed Spring and gone straight into Summer with lovely temperatures throughout the middle of April and virtually cloudless blue skies.
But this is coming at a cost since 8 departments have seen the imposition of summer-style water restrictions. Those worst hit by the drought are Seine-et-Marne, Essonne and Val-de-Marne which are on maximum restrictions with water even being banned for irrigating agricultural crops. Also affected are the Deux-Sèvres and Charente-Maritime where prefects have asked consumers and producers to reduce their usage. The neighbouring Charente and Vienne are also on a low-level alert. We have had virtually no rain now for three months and there is a real risk of drought if there is no rain in the weeks to come. The forecast is less favourable for the Easter weekend, but not a lot of rainfall predicted.
Monday, 11 April 2011
Property with the WOW factor

Sunday, 3 April 2011
Top Choice

Friday, 1 April 2011
New technology - new energy

Sunday, 27 March 2011
Reduced by over 200,000 Euros

Sunday, 20 March 2011
Mandates, bon de visits & paperwork

Before an agent is able to market the property in France on behalf of a client, they need to have their formal consent, and this normally is covered in the “mandat de vente”.
This is normally, but not always, on a non-exclusive basis, allowing the vendor to sell privately or via another agency. This document details the vendors, the property to be sold, the asking price and the agency fees.
When as a buyer, you view property via an agency, it is standard practice to sign a “bon de visite”, in fact it is a legal requirement to do so. This document lists the buyer’s details, summarises in brief the properties to be visited etc.
It demands that the client will deal with the agency for any negotiations for the properties listed. This ensures that the agency will be paid any commission that they are due resulting from the sale.
Sometimes, buyers try to be devious, and go behind the agents’ back, in an attempt to save fees. They are still liable if they are taken to task, and if the buyers is proven to be an accomplice, they are also liable.
This was the recent decision of the French Supreme Court (Cour de Cassation) in a case that came before them. They found that the estate agents had been formally instructed by the sellers on the sale of their property, for which they had a written contract (mandat de vente). The buyer and vendor tried to avoid the agency fees and deal directly with each other, with the vendor even cancelling the mandat. Although the contract had been terminated by the seller, the terms still required they pay the agent’s commission for potential buyers introduced to them up the end of the contract period. The commission continued to be payable for a period of 18 months for any clients who had been introduced to the seller up to expiration of the contract. By dealing directly with a introduced by the agent during this period, the court deemed that the seller had committed a breach of contract.
The commission payment due under the contract was 15,400€ and as the court considered that this sum was not excessive and reasonably justified, it was due by the seller.The court also examined the responsibility of the buyer in this particular matter. It found that they had dealt with the seller directly less than 2 months after having been introduced to the property by the agent. The court ruled that the buyer could not escape their responsibility for the commission by arguing that they were not party to the contract between the seller and the agent, since they had signed a ‘bon de visite’ which bound the buyer to deal irrevocably with the agent in their dealings with the seller. On this basis the buyer was equally complicit with the seller in defrauding the agent of their commission. As a result, the court found that the buyer and vendor were equally liable for the payment of damages.
Don't try to cut out the middle man - you have been warned !
Peter Elias (Agent Commercial) www.allez-francais.com
Thursday, 3 March 2011
D P E reports - a waste of time & money

Sunday, 27 February 2011
France - a low rate tax regime

Some people assume that France is a country of high taxation. It can be, be it can also be one of low taxation if you are smart.
Looking at Capital Gains Tax for example on property - if the property has been owned by you for fifteen years then no capital gains tax is payable on sale, even though it is not, and may never have been, your principal home. This is a massive advantage in comparison to UK rules.
Even if you have only owned a property for between 6 and 15 years an allowance of 10% per year of the gain is granted. Thus, as an example, if you sell a property after having owned it for a full 10 years, you will be granted an allowance of 50% against your liability to capital gains tax. Unfortunately, no exemption is available for a sale in under 6 years. In addition, no capital gains tax is payable on a property owned by a non-resident of France, provided you can demonstrate / prove that you have previously been fiscally resident in France for a continuous period of at least 2 tax years.
Ex-Pats often consider that the French get preferential treatment in some areas, but non-residents are not subject to the 12.3% social charges element of capital gains tax, that French residents have to pay under any circumstances. So there is some good news – and France can be a low rate tax regime ! Peter Elias (Agent Commercial) www.allez-francais.comThursday, 24 February 2011
Financial matters

Wednesday, 23 February 2011
Bargain basement price - 75,995 Euros

Sunday, 20 February 2011
House with 2 gites and beautiful lake

Tuesday, 8 February 2011
The dreaded DPE (energy) reports encore !

Anyone that is interested in French property will know that these reports have been in force for some years now, and that Notaires usually advise buyers not to take any notice of them.
However, with effect from 1st January 2011, the report has formed part of the property advertising, although many reports are still outstanding, as there is a significant backlog with the firms carrying out the diagnostics.
However, there is a very important aspect of the DPE reports, that has not received much publicity, and that relates to the 0% loan facility (mainly for French buyers) - where a proportion of their mortgage can be claimed at 0%, see
http://www.ptz-plus.info/le-pret-a-taux-zero-plus/ptz-plus-ce-qui-va-changer.html
This website shows the changes planned for 2011 & 2012. With effect from the latter date, the DPE report is going to significantly influence the amount that a buyer can borrow, with properties in ratings A-D eligible for double the zero % loan, and this will definitely make these properties more marketable.
« Les acquéreurs des logements étiquetés A, B, C et D bénéficieront d’un montant de prêt doublé par rapport à ceux des logements évalués E, F ou G ».
So those vendors with houses rated E, F & G might be advised to try to sell sooner rather than later as more press coverage is sure to emerge, and will inevitably show these houses in a poor light.
Peter Elias (Agent Commercial) www.allez-francais.com
Sunday, 30 January 2011
Coming soon - very serious business income

Tuesday, 18 January 2011
French property prices on the rebound

Sunday, 16 January 2011
Tasteful decorations

Monday, 10 January 2011
A business in the Corrèze

Saturday, 1 January 2011
Happy New Year - more paper !

The 1st January 2011. A New Year, some new rules & regulations for property sales, with a requirement for DPE reports (energy ratings), and status reports on fosse septiques.
December has proved to be a fruitful month for sales, and special thanks go to Kim & Nigel, our colleagues in the Poitou Charentes, who managed to secure sales on both Christmas Eve and also New Year’s Eve. An example of the Allez-Français team going the “extra mile”, whilst other agents extended the holiday period.
It was rather fitting that the deal agreed yesterday, on New Year’s Eve was for a Scottish couple, selling their home near Melle. They were able to celebrate Hogmanay in style.
The new energy reports are working their way on to websites, property details, and into windows. They won’t change much – one of our properties scores incredibly badly on one scale, and then incredibly well on another. It just has an outdated system, which is blatantly obvious to even the most inexperienced eye. We also have 2 identical properties that have been visited for the diagnostic reports, by different “experts”. The results are significantly different, even though the houses and the heating systems are the same. C’est la via !
If you would like to see my New Year greeting, follow the link below
http://www.jacquielawson.com/viewcard.asp?code=2692103349993&source=jl999
Bonne année pour 2011, Peter Elias www.allez-francais.com