THE DEUX-SÈVRES MONTHLY
Money & Property matters No 2 In the last article, I looked back at the £ / € exchange rate, and propose to continue to comment upon this, since it impacts upon so many ex-Pats living here in France. The current rate (11 March) is around the 1.16 mark, and relatively steady. Most experts predict that once UK interest rates start to rise, so will Sterling, so anyone selling their French home this year, to repatriate back to the UK should consider a forward contract to buy their currency at these attractive rates.
Ask for honest feedback, but be prepared to act upon it! Too many houses are on the market currently at inflated prices, and as a consequence, are not getting viewings. Peter Elias (Agent Commercial) SARL Allez-Français email sales@allez-francais.com Tel 05 49 27 01 22 www.allez-francais.com
In the last issue, I also talked about DPE (energy) reports for properties, it will be interesting to see how much value is placed upon them. There is going to be some impact since many French clients borrow a certain amount of their funds at a special 0% rate, and those houses with a rating of A-D on the energy reports will be able to borrow double the amount that a property with a rating of E-G will have available. How accurate are these surveys – that is anyone’s guess. We have 2 absolutely identical properties with differing reports, but in a recent independent survey conducted by a French magazine, 16 diagnostic experts were asked to visit 4 houses, and only 1 of the houses was classified in the same band by all experts. 2 properties, (50% of the sample), were actually classified under 3 different bands, by these so called experts ! Often buyers and vendors are confused about the process involved with local taxes when a sale is concluded. The legal requirement is that the owner, (or the person living in the property on 1st January), is liable for the whole of the year’s tax liability for the Taxe Habitation, so that even if a sale was concluded, on say the 15th January 2011, the vendor would be liable for the tax bill that normally is sent to you around September / October of the year in question. The Taxe Foncière is treated differently, and is apportioned exactly pro-rata, so again using the 15th January as a completion date, the vendor would be liable for 2/52 (2 weeks) and the buyer 50/52 of the bill. Often the Notaire will use the previous year’s bill and take care of the apportionment, since the bill will still be sent to the vendor. For this reason, it is often beneficial to keep a French Bank account for several months after a sale is concluded as there will often be bills to pay, or sometimes some refunded. As most readers will be aware, most French properties for sale are advertised with several agencies, this is normal practice. Ideally, a property should be with 3 or at most 4 agencies, perhaps covering different geographical locations, and some with strong internet presence. More than 4 agents and the vendor will find their property appearing everywhere on the internet, and buyers will perceive that the vendors are desperate to sell, or that there is something wrong with the property. One somewhat devious practice carried out by some agencies, is to get their vendors to sign an exclusive mandat de vente. Sometimes, from our experience they give very conservative valuations, so that the property is very attractively priced, (below market value). In the event that an offer is received at the full asking price, the vendor is obliged to sell. So, our recommendation is NEVER sign up to an exclusive mandat, unless you are sure that you know what you are doing and are confident that the valuation is accurate.
Don’t forget to mention ‘The Deux-Sèvres Monthly’ when responding to an advert!
If your house has been on the market for more than 6 months, you should talk to your agents about the price. page 27