Buying or selling a property in France?

Find the right person to help you through your dealings through the Directory of Notaries

You can now consult for free this directory to find a notary anywhere in the EU who speaks the language of your choice. this directory gives you access to a list of 40.000 notaries with their contact details and the languages they use.
Great tool for buyers and sellers who need to feel confident in dealings of such important nature.
For more information, consult www.annuaire-des-notaires.eu

A bientot
Team Lucke Immobilier

Property price in France: map of square meter prices

Want to find out more about property price in France?


www.meilleursagents.com have just published a map of France showing property price per square meter in France, per region and departements. 


You can see the Alpes Maritimes below:

Source : Prix immobilier m2 par MeilleursAgents.com

For more information on the whole of France, go to http://www.meilleursagents.com/prix-immobilier/

A bientot
Team Lucke Immobilier

FRENCH TAX SYSTEM - What’s ahead in 2012

New tax measures regarding inheritance and savings for French people as well as foreigners will be implemented as early as 2012 by team "Hollande". All these measures have been raised by Francois Hollande in his project and will be effective only when voted... but, as the saying goes, forewarned is forearmed!

French wealth tax (ISF) - Restoration of the former schedule by 2012.

- From last year onwards, individuals whose net assets valued between € 800 000 and € 1.3 million have been exempted from paying the ISF.

- This € 1.3 million limit will remain in the future.

- However there are plans as early as this summer to restore the former wealth tax schedule as follows:

Net assets > € 1.3 m	ISF rate in %
€ 800 000 to 1.3 m	0,55
€ 1.3 to 2.5 m	0,75
€ 2.5 to 4 m	1
€ 4 to 7.6 m	1,3
€ 7.6 to 16.5 m	1,65
Above € 16.5 m	1,8

- This tax applies as much to the French on all their assets than to foreigners holding assets in France such as real estate.

- Example of calculation for a taxpayer with a patrimony of € 2 m : € 2 750 on the first tax bracket and then € 5 250 on the second making a total of € 8 000 as opposed to the current schedule which would total € 5 000 of wealth tax or 0.25% of € 2 m.

Inheritance tax

- Reduction of the inheritance allowance to € 100 000 per child (as opposed to € 159 326); policing of the surviving spouse’s exemption. A couple with two children would only benefit from € 400 000 in tax exemption as opposed to € 637 304 currently.

- Furthermore, the tax exemption period between two donations would go up to the 15 year mark.

Dividends

- Shareholders may opt in now for the dividends’ 21% flat withholding tax although the new tax law should tax them through the income tax progressive schedule in the future.

Life insurance contracts

- New contracts entered into from end of June 2012 would be taxed through the income tax on withdrawals made before the 8 years’ threshold.

- Currently, you can still benefit from the current tax rates (income tax or flat withholding tax) to which 15.5% of social security contributions are added 

Real estate

- The current capital gains tax on French real estate, which also affects foreign tax residents, should be abandoned in favour of a system implemented before 2004, namely the capital gains exemption for property held for at least 22 years (currently 30 years) with a 5% allowance on the capital gain amount from the second year the property is held. The taxable capital gain would be taxed on the income tax progressive schedule.

- It is possible that this new system, which could come into effect from August 2012, is more advantageous than the current. It is therefore preferable to calculate your taxation before going to the Notaire!

The candidate François Hollande, now President of the French Republic, could implement these measures with the support of a majority in the National Assembly whose deputies are being voted in June 2012...to be continued!

A bientot

Team Lucke Immobilier

Real estate prices across France available through new app

A new application has been launched by Notaires de France, providing you with housing prices in more than 36,000 Frnech towns.


Data are updated monthly and include quarterly, annual and five year evolution and housing prices index.


It allows you to calculate an estimate of taxes and other amounts to include in the sale price as well as saving your searches.


For more information on this great new app, please go to http://www.notaires.fr/notaires/en/home

App screenshots:

             

     

Team Lucke Immobilier

French mortgage rates on the decrease: it's time to invest!

Although the industry seems to be slowing down after a record year in 2011, banks are now offering mouth watering rates. In March alone, about 90% of them lowered their interest rates to attract new customers, of an average of 0.13 points (first time since mid 2010) and the rest did not raise theirs. The average rate over 20 years is now 4.20% versus 4.31% in January 2012.

(source: www.meilleurtaux.com)

This exciting move in the industry seems to counterbalance a forecasted decrease in the number of property transactions. Banks are still very cautious in their selection and you still need a pretty strong file to be eligible for a mortgage.

A few tips that will take you a long way:

-         -  Make sure you have had a stable work situation and regular revenues for at least a year

-          -  Have a deposit (at least 10% in order to finance  fees mainly – notary and guaranty)

-          -  Avoid overdraft on your current account on the last 3 statement at least

-          - Try to pay most of your existing credit (credit cards, loans...)

For those of you who took a mortgage a few years ago, it might be a good time to remortgage now and benefit from the new rates (between 3.80% and 4.30% over 20 years compared to rates over 5% in 2008). However considering the costs of remortgaging, this operation is therefore only interesting if the rate difference is greater than 1% or if the mortgage life can be lowered

So what is it going to be for you?

If you want to benefit from these new mortgage rates in France and finally find this “pied a terre” you have dreamed of for such a long time on the French Riviera, contact us and we will assist you every step of the way in your property search.

We have some great properties on the Cote d'Azur at the moment so check out our website  at www.luckeimmobilier.com and contact us at anouk@luckeimmobilier.com for more information.

A bientot!

Team Lucke Immobilier

NEW LUCKE IMMOBILIER BLOG now open!

We have just launched our new website (www.luckeimmobilier.com) and we
are now starting a blog on all things property in the south of France.

You will be reading about lots of topics related to buying and selling property in France:

- lifestyle on the French Riviera

- top tips when buying a property in France

- industry news including new laws and regulations impacting the market (buyers and vendors) and expats

- expats advice and useful links

- our agency's anecdotes

- and many more.....please feel free to send us your suggestions! This blog is for you and should have all the information you are interested in and that you need to know about.

So watch this space for our upcoming first article!

In the meantime you can visit our brand new website to find your dream property on the French Riviera!

www.luckeimmobilier.com 

a bientot!

The Lucke Immobilier team