Tuesday, 20 June 2017

Allez-Français active now in North West France !


We have been selling houses in South West France for over 15 years now. But recent weeks have seen some top quality houses appearing on our website in the North West corner of France.

Our marketing started with a house on the Normandy landing beaches, a property that had been on the market for many months with no serious interest. We became involved, and had immediate interest, found a buyer quickly and could have sold the property two or three times over. That has led to a referral for another property and so on. We now have a very select group of outstanding properties :

Saturday, 10 June 2017

A Strong, Stable, Shambles





It hasn't quite gone according to plan for May!

Poor Theresa May; standing outside Number 10 almost a month ago she looked like the cat that got the cream. A masterstroke the media called it - perhaps she would finally be rid of her socialist foe and be left to negotiate a potentially hard British Brexit.

Yesterday the British people went to the polls to do decide who should preside over, not just Brexit negotiations, but Britain's future. It must have been an incredibly difficult evening at Conservative HQ: having orchestrated one of the very worst election campaigns in recent memory. The nerves were justified; the Conservative party lost twelve seats, Labour added twenty-nine and the Liberal Democrats added four. The result was a hung parliament: no majority for any one party, no government- strong and stable indeed.

So What Happens Now?

Three hundred and twenty-six seats are required for a party to form a majority government and, with no party able to achieve this independently, the courting process will now begin where the Conservatives and Labour will look at forming either a coalition or a loose alliance with one or more parties.

In 2010 it was the Conservatives and the Liberal Democrats who hopped into bed together - a dalliance that Nick Clegg unfortunately hasn't been able to forget and neither has the people of Sheffield Hallam who decided yesterday to relieve Mr Clegg of his job.

An outright coalition with the Liberal Democrats is off the cards at this election. Tim Farron and co have said that there will be no partnerships with either Labour or the Conservatives. The Democratic Unionist Party in Northern Ireland could be an option for the Conservatives; their ten seats could see the Tories take a majority.

Whilst the Scottish National Party could still well play a part in this saga their stalwart Alex Salmond will not. In scenes that could well have been out of the Scottish play, the Scottish Tories (having campaigned furiously in his area) managed to oust the former leader of the SNP and leave him, with Clegg, on the job hunt.

The clock has now begun for Theresa May, who will need to form a party by the 13th of June when the new parliament is set to meet, or resign; there have been calls for her to do so already. Corbyn and co will be campaigning furiously as well as the aim will be to have a government fully formed ahead of the Queen's speech - which is scheduled for the 19th of June.

What Has This Done to the Pound?



Since the exit polls yesterday evening sterling has dropped, not to the degree it did during Brexit, but by two cents against the euro and just over that against the dollar. Whilst this drop is disappointing for anyone looking at purchasing another currency with pounds, it is worth bearing in mind that, towards the end of last year, GBP/EUR was nearly three and half cents lower.

With this fresh spate of uncertainty it will be worth contacting your account manager here at Foremost Currency Group today to discuss any potential requirements you may have. With no stability in government, and Britain beginning the negotiating process with the EU in just over a week, it is definitely worth assessing your options and discussing strategy with your contact here today.

Today's Announcements


Today, any developments from this morning's election result could have a bearing on sterling; so we could see some volatility over the course of the London session. Today there are also a number of eco-stats from the UK, including: Trade Balance figures, Industrial and Manufacturing Production numbers and Consumer Inflation Expectations. The UK will also publish a GDP estimate later this afternoon. This morning Germany published mixed Trade Balance figures themselves and there are a handful of minor releases from the States. There was a published decline in Australian Home Loans last night and no major economic releases issued from New Zealand.

Blog commentary provided by Foremost Currency

Thursday, 8 June 2017

Just the business ...



From time to time we have a run on a particular style of property, whether that be water mills, or farmhouses etc. At the moment, we have some really fabulous business opportunities in the form of Bed & Breakfast / Gîtes properties.

Having the combination of the 2 of course means that you are not exposed to one particular type of market. Chambre d’hôtes generally means having somebody sharing your living space, but some properties have flexible accommodation that lends itself to this sort of business, whilst retaining your own privacy. Having a business of this type in France is generally easy to register, and gets you into the healthcare system as well. Tax returns are not over complicated, and you can set your seasons to suit your rhythm of life.

My selection of properties for you :



https://biz.allez-francais.com/property/P9806 B & B + Gite + Pool 665,600 €

https://biz.allez-francais.com/property/P9796 B & B + Gite + Pool 595,000 €

https://biz.allez-francais.com/property/P9645 B & B + Gite + Shop 495,850 €


A few tips :
  • Location, Location, Location so very important.
  • Make sure people can find you! If they arrive late at night with no GPS and you are down a remote track in the back of beyond, inevitably you will not get off to a good start.
  • Be within easy reach of an Airport. If guests need to travel much over an hour it will hurt your bookings.
  • From the income you generate you will need to pay taxes, social charges, insurance, local tax de séjour, plus the running costs. If you need a mortgage / loans then don’t expect French banks to loan money for this type of business. If you have some other income, such as a pension or investments then you will be may find a lender.

All of our properties with business potential can be found at https://biz.allez-francais.com

Thursday, 1 June 2017

A new president and another election


So we have a new French President, in the youthful figure of Emmanuel Macron, who also speaks excellent English. He has a previous career that includes a spell as a philosophy student, an investment banker, and a minister of economy. He is seen as the last great French hope for a European future based on a common market and a common morality, a single currency and a singular commitment to the continent’s core values.

Meanwhile in the UK, Labour continue to narrow the gap on the Conservatives with one recent YouGov poll putting them within five points of Theresa May's party. This has impacted upon the £, making French houses more expensive for UK buyers, as the currency markets hate uncertainty. As I prepare this newsletter the FTSE 100 closes at record high and the pound has hit a two-month low against the Euro. Not long now to wait for the final outcome, and then hopefully, a rest from elections!

We have started a series of articles that will be featured in our Library pages (see https://www.allez-francais.com/library). We work with leading International companies to provide the best advice to our clients, and if you would like more information please contact me by e-mail sales@allez-francais.com and I can put you in contact with the most relevant expert. I can also share with you the rest of the series of articles before they are actually published. For UK buyers who are particularly worried about the consequences of Brexit we have a great feature here https://www.allez-francais.com/library/buyers/e-u-position-post-brexit
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