MelRegan29

Hi all

My husband and I are looking for a place in Limousin as we need a bolt-hole. We are looking for something to do up and make our own but only want something quite small and for below 50000 euros. We have the deposit and expenses etc and were looking to finance using a French mortgage but the few mortgage companies I've asked so far only offer a minimum of 50000 euros on a minimum house price of approx 85000 euros.

Are they all like that or does anyone know if there are any mortgage companies offering a lesser amount for a mortgage?

Thanks in advance!

dmu

Hello again! I've no idea about French mortgages.
There's an ongoing thread entitled "Paying Bills in France" that you might like to read. The OP has £60 000 available, but the general consensus is that this wouldn't get her much and that, at that price, it would cost as much to do the necessary work to make it liveable. With your budget, I suspect that you'll only find "something small" in an isolated location, far from airports and TGV stations, which would mean a bolt-hole difficult to access and far from DIY stores/builders' yards....
Have you found anything on French Immo sites? (apparently certain expat-oriented sites are to be avoided).

MelRegan29

Hi dmu

We've seen quite a few online that we're interested in and the one I really like is only 29000 euros. We have done our house up (it was a mess) and so are okay with a doer-upper (a technical term obvs!!) I've read a few and found a site where there are a few others - a 15th Century one aswell! I'll go look for the thread now

Chatter Static

You will struggle to find a Mortgages below 50K and being self employed in the UK will make it even harder to get here mortgages are based on you and your earnings and less so on the house banks here probably won't even visit the house you are buying but the paper trail for you will be relentless.

EuroTrash

I didn't know French mortgage companies existed - I thought it was only banks that offered mortgages. And as CS says, French banks may be reluctant to lend to a non-resident with no secure French sourced income. Banks don't survey the property but they know what property is worth. Unfortunately they've seen too many Brits take on a project, get half way, run out of funds or motivation and default, leaving the bank with a pile of stones worth next to nothing.
You might have more success if you try a broker?

MelRegan29

Thanks CS, it's a Ltd Co and so he is paid as an employee and not self-employed. Need to look into it more, me thinks. A broker may be an idea for us.

We intend it to be a long-term bolt hole and so are happy to do the work without the thought that we'd want to sell it and make the big bucks More for us and the family to enjoy it.

Pulaski

A second mortgage/ secured loan on your home in the UK might be a more straightforward option if that is a possibility.

MelRegan29

Sorry ET, I meant the banks - slip of the tongue

MelRegan29

Yes, we were thinking about that. At the moment our house is on a fixed rate term and so we'd have to pay a couple of KKKs to unlock it.

Also I'd read on the web that it's better to have a mortgage with a French bank. So much 'help' out there on the web that I can't keep up with it. That's why I thought I'd ask people who may have already done it.

Pulaski

I am not sure why anyone would say that a French bank would be a better choice, except for one reason, which I will get to in a moment. Banks lend money to people who they "know" and they get to know you by looking at you banking and loan payment history, your job and how long you've had it, and whether you have transferable skills if you lose your job, and in the case of a mortgage or secured loan, they look at the property. In your case a French bank is going to find it difficult to "get to know you", much more difficult than for British bank, and so they (i) will be much more reliant on the security over the property, but us as others have said, incomplete renovation projects in France are a tough sell if repossessed, and (ii) to reflect the risk of you defaulting and the fact that your income is in another country, you are likely to get charged a premium on the loan rate.

So, the one reason a French bank might be a better choice? ..... If you finance your purchase with a second mortgage on your home in the UK, you'd better make dämn sure it is structurally sound, has a "good title" (others aren't able to claim ownership, or slap a lien on it for taxes or unpaid debts), and that you have it fully insured for all relevant risks (fire, flood, earthquake, mudslide, sinkhole, or whatever else the area is known for), because if you lose it whether to destruction or to legal forfeiture, you still have all the liability for the loan in the UK.

InVinoVeritas

Bolthole and mortgage sounds like oil and water to me. What is your motivation for buying in France? If it truly is to escape and hide then other countries may be better suited. If you mean a pied-à-terre then your budget sounds a little tight with respect to France. Doing up old places is damned expensive and all too easy to underestimate.

dmu

Be very careful with a property at such a cheap price. Without seeing the advert, it sounds like an isolated bergerie, with no running water, electricity, septic tank.... Not only that, it may be fiscally classified as rural and non-constructible and you'd need a Permis from the Municipality for the change of status, not to mention for any visible works.
You mentioned "family" in a more recent post. If by chance you happen to be a recomposed family with children from previous marriages, you should consult the Notaire dealing with any sale as to how best to protect all your heirs. If a non-related person is named in a Will, they'll have to pay 60% of the value of their inheritance as Taxe de Succession...

EuroTrash

Somebody on another forum said there has been an article in an English newspaper that said that having a French mortgage reduced your property tax

A very confused journalist with no understanding of the French tax system I think - presumably the article was written for Brits with second homes in France, and there are no reductions on taxes for second homes, period.

I suppose that if you pay your tax in France then a mortgage can reduce your taxable income (RFR) and your income tax, and your RFR does come into the taxe d'hab calculation on your main home. But you need a very low income to get a reduction in taxe d'hab, and realistically, if your RFR is below the threshold you're unlikely to have a mortgage. And as said that only applies to people who are tax resident in France.

Anyway, back to the question - As an 'employee' you would stand a better chance but French banks far prefer a permanent employment contract with a French company, paid in euros. They also require your monthly income to be at least three times your loan repayments, ie your UK mortgage, any car loans, credit card repayments etc plus the French mortgage repayments would have to add up to less than a third of your salary, this will be checked from bank statements etc.

Your budget for a doer upper sounds reasonable to me, but be aware that for a major renovation the building normes you will have to meet are very strict because France is on a mission to reduce the carbon footprint of its housing stock - so you'll need to meet minimum insulation standards (sometimes quite difficult with an old building) and do energy calculations etc for your plans to be passed. But if you're not extending the property and it only needs cosmetic improvement not rebuilding and you don't need to submit plans, this shouldn't be an issue.

I'm quite amused that you need a bolt hole in France to escape the stress of living in North Wales - before I moved to France, my bolt hole from the stresses of Leeds used to be a little cottage on a hillside on the Llyn peninsula. No running water, no access road, just me and the sheep and the gorse and the heather and the sea view, perfect!

dmu

My apologies - I've since seen several very cheap properties in the Limousin on LeBonCoin site, located in villages!
But this doesn't mean that the electricity/plumbing doesn't need a complete overhaul nor that the roof and woodwork are in good condition! You should take the adverts with a pinch of salt! Also, unless you intend to drive down whenever you need your bolt-hole, check the exact location of the villages with respect to airports (and their UK destinations).

balding_potter

We secured a mortgage whilst non-resident, and only with UK sourced income. With Caisse D'Epargne, via a broker (who has since retired, so I can't help there!).

It was understood that this was to be a maison secondaire, although as it transpired we moved here lock, stock and barrel immediately anyway, being able to work, and thus service the mortgage, from home. There were no problems with this.

We have a fixed rate mortgage - for the life of the mortgage. I doubt if a better deal could be found anywhere.

Your mileage may vary, as they say.