Anyone thinking about buying a Euro currency property?

[cove]

I have been following the Euro currency for some years and now that it is around 0.72 that makes buying a place somewhere in Euroland seem quite inexpensive.
Two members of my family have bought places in Germany and France that came available due to inheritance issues (death duties are high in France).
Any thoughts on this?

 

[Mal]

Every week I see stories of scams that occur in eu when it comes to buying property. Eg, incorrect deeds, places bought off the shelf without inspection , illegal planning, and the list goes on.
Do your research wisely.

 

[cove]

Good thinking Mal. Getting to Yes on a place really requires quite a bit of research. If you buy a place in Paris and put it out thru airbnb style of rental you can get a big tax sent your way as the French want to protect their over priced hotels.
I have been amazed at the super low pricing for trades people in rural France as they have little work. A family member is finalizing renovations on a place in the south of France and the cost is well less than a third of the prices in Melbourne.

 

[dmitri]

Myself and my wife are 100% sold on buying property overseas. We are keen on somewhere in rural France as the prices are affordable and it's a great excuse for a holiday/tax write off. My wife has an EU passport so I plan on getting some use out of it. Any my wife's best friend will be a qualified lawyer finishing her degree in Paris next March so I expect to lean on her for mates rates when I pull the trigger.

 

[cove]

My family member picked the Sauveterre region and it is going well for him. He spends a few months there each year with really good food ,fish in the river, 4 acres and welcoming neighbours and tradesmen. Big views and a buy price about one third of S. Melbourne.

 

[ellen10]

Oh it has always been my dream to own or part own place in rural France.

 

[Pushka]

Friends in Canberra purchased a property near Caen. They have wonderful holidays. A housekeeper. Gardener. Sigh. My dream too.

 

[boomy]

Berlin and Barcelona are supposed to be solid long term invearments. I've already invested in Berlin (taking advantage of the generous Deutsche Bank finance planing) and considering Barcelona or Miami (also very appealing city but that's OT).
Prices are a joke compared to Australia.

 

[dmitri]

Boomy, how did you sort out the legal side of things- contracts etc?

 

[boomy]

Boomy, how did you sort out the legal side of things- contracts etc?

Did it with help of friends in real estate. The only way to do business when living in the other side of the world is working with people you trust IMO.
The finance planing was easier as Deutsche have branches in Australia and they are very nice to deal with.

 

[Jacques Vert]

Oh it has always been my dream to own or part own place in rural France.

et moi aussi

 

[Ric]

My family member picked the Sauveterre region and it is going well for him. He spends a few months there each year with really good food ,fish in the river, 4 acres and welcoming neighbours and tradesmen. Big views and a buy price about one third of S. Melbourne.

Fish in the river...sound right down my lane. They bought it to live in or is it available for rent? I will be interested to rent it.

I am looking at Tuscany province and will go back this Oct to check it out again. Biggest problem is looking for a trustworthy person to look after it when we are not there. Rental will be thru Airbnb.

 

[Isochronous]

Fish in the river...sound right down my lane. They bought it to live in or is it available for rent? I will be interested to rent it.

I am looking at Tuscany province and will go back this Oct to check it out again. Biggest problem is looking for a trustworthy person to look after it when we are not there. Rental will be thru Airbnb.

There must be good agencies or service providers that will manage an airbnb rental for you one would assume!

 

[burmans]

I think its a good idea with prices comparatively extremely low but have seen enough of the shows about people moving to the South of France to recognize its not necessaily easy. Some of the local bureaucrats make our councils look positively tame (e.g. in controlling colors of building, types of materials used, and other "heritage"), legal arrangements seem to be fairly different to ours, and while tradesmen are cheap I'm not sure they are always as efficient as you might expect and may be reluctant to use building techniques we regard as standard.

I think the moral on all this is not to scrimp on good local advice. but yes I'd still do it and indeed am considering it!

 

[cove]

About once a year I look up emilegarcin.com to go window shopping in France. They have sales and rentals. My French is rusty after 49 years since high school and my wife never did study French.

 

[cove]

For those who want to speak a form of English you could try zillow for the US or zoopla for the UK but pricing in Aussie dollars has changed by a large amount. Happy window shopping!

 

[Deleted member]

I thought about , but now not so keen. My cousin ( works as a mega yacht captain) lives in France. Has done for more than 30 years. Only in the last 5 or 6 did he buy a place.
My father owns something ( for skiing I think) somewhere ( I've never been to see it)
I can't settle on anywhere special, so would prefer to rent for extended periods and get a different experience each time.

 

[cove]

Yes GPH if you haven't seen your bucket list then you just go anywhere your heart desires.

 

[RB]

We thought about an Italian property a few years ago. Ended up too many hoops to jump through for us ( at the time seemed to require setting up PTY in England etc). Also our Italian friend rented out her place through Homelidays a few times but the gloss soon wore off. I think you have to be prepared to have a % in mind that you accept that you are going to get used up by people.

 

[TiredOldFlyer]

Haven't a crystal ball so don't know about investment value but it seems to me a bit like owning a boat - it's better to have friends that have one !