Touraine

The French don't do what exactly ? Buy homes in the middle of nowhere and throw buckets of money at them. Not many I am sure. Silly British expats who do that looking for a life change in a country they know little about.

We move about a lot because of work, so if we lost 50,000-100,000 every we time we moved then we would be in a lot of trouble. Of course French people want to make money on their property if they sell. Everyone I know does. What a silly thing to say.

'unassimilated British way'. My French OH makes all the financial decisions

InVinoVeritas

I think everyone is in danger of thinking their own decisions are the right ones, that they reflect commonsense and that everyone else (except for a small minority) actually agree with them.

First sign of madness IMHO.

cyrian

I think the point that is trying to be made is that the housing market is very different to that of the UK.
For example, in London you can spend perhaps £50k on something like an additional room extension and expect your value to increase by £100k for that alone. Less so in other regions but still added value.
It is not like that in France where you can add a pool with no guarantee of increased value nor of making a profit on resale on the original purchase price.
The market is different because more people rent in France and many houses in the country are 2nd homes which have been inherited as in Intours' example.
There are simply fewer prospective purchasers in the countryside compared to the towns - exactly the same as in the UK.
However, you can spend a relatively small amount of money and live the French dream if you can afford to write-off the money over the long term.
i.e. the Rolls Royce example in #32
The choice is up to the OP but at least he fore-warned.

Novocastrian

At the risk if being anecdotal, my French OH (OK half french) has several cousins who are school teachers or other civil servants. They, like all their colleagues have moved all around the Region at intervals of a few years during the development of seniority in their professions.

They have invariably rented homes, knowing that even in cities they'd lose 1000's as you say if they bought and resold.

How do the French people who want to make money if they sell go about it?

Touraine

Buy wisely ?????? Know your market. Renovate tastefully. There are always up and coming areas to invest in.

Without being smug we have always made a profit.

Not rural of course. If we had to go rural (god forbid) we would certainly rent.

Novocastrian

Of course. Nonetheless there are objective structural differences between different countries, as exemplified by real estate markets and in many other ways.

I don't think you'll find many instances of house price bubbles or rampant property speculation in France.

Perhaps I'm wrong.

Blackladder

On a more brass tacks level for the OP, we live about 1 and a half hours' drive from Limoges, westwards towards the coast and believe me that seemingly short distance makes a big difference in the winter climate. It can be very, very cold in Limoges in the winter. We have friends who live near Limoges and say that if they had known they would have aimed a little more westwards when buying. Of course, it's different if it's a holiday home unoccupied in the winter months, but even a winter house must be looked after.
Blackie

bigglesworth

You will remember better than I, I suspect, Novo but the Economist used to publish their house price index in the back pages every so often. I remember when we first moved to France five years ago, it showed France as the most overvalued housing market in Europe - I think that was because of the rent/buy relationship, which is a bit skewed here. (Of course that is not the same as a bubble).
Now they do it online and France does not appear to feature.

Novocastrian

Actually, according to this document • Home ownership rate in selected European countries 2013 | Statistic and much to my surprise, the buy/rent figures for the UK & France are essentially identical.

Who knew? <Not me>

InVinoVeritas

How do they actually know? What does overvalued actually mean? Is London overvalued? One would have thought so but prices are still going up.

Fitzy and Shahine

To answer a way earlier question, our budget is €110k. We have seen excellent property 15 minutes from Limoges. We are considering our French property as a second home. We work shifts and will be able to spend considerably more time there before the kids go to school and will be able to practically guarantee school holidays there. I'd put the time we'd be able to spend there at an approximate ratio of about 60:40 for now. There are of course many variables of who goes and when but we hope to be able to spend enough time there to not just be English/Mauritian abroad and be part of the local community.

cyrian

It depends which statistics you read.

Why the Germans and French prefer to rent - House & Home - Property - The Independent

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_home_ownership_rate
The years used are not the same.

The article also states that there is a greater rental market in Paris and conversely in France a greater % of the population lives in the country vis-à-vis the UK where many will have inherited the family home.
In France, traditionally, many do both - buy and rent. They rent somewhere for work and have the inherited property in the country (e.g. Intours OH) or the seaside.
Hope that is clear to you because it isn't to me.

Touraine

If it really is '15 minutes' into the city centre of Limoges I would put another 50,000 - 100,000 Euros on top to make a home.

bigglesworth

They show the UK as overvalued for forty years. Personally I would interpret that as using the wrong metric.

bigglesworth

Very interesting Novo. Thank you. When we were in Spain we were surprised at an article in El Pais that claimed ( it seems incorrectly) that Spain had the highest home ownership in Europe. It was repeated in several UK broadsheets.
Querying it with some friends - he an abagado, she a gestor- they put it down to historic inheritance rules . Some families owned several or even many "houses". Most however rented. Your article ineterestingly refers however to owner occupied!
When we were leaving, we noticed quite a few houses that had been abandoned for many years re-inhabited. Completely overgrown and untended land was being cleared, in several instances by someone wearing what had obviously been a city suit.