FRENCH PROPERTY TIPS - 12 February 2004 http://www.frenchentree.com Welcome to the first issue of French Property Tips, the email newsletter from FrenchEntrée.com. Our aim is to provide you with a monthly digest of news, views, articles and other information which might help you with a French property purchase or a move to France. You registered to receive this newsletter at our site - if you do not wish to receive it please follow the unsubscribe link at the bottom of this text. CONTENTS 1. Future of cheap flights to France 2. French property prices 3. Capital gains tax changes 4. French healthcare review of 2003 5. French education reforms 6. Using property databases 7. Metric conversion 8. Search engine tips 9. Which region of France? 10. Climate statistics 11. Currency advice 12. Set up a French bank account 13. Property purchase legal tip 14. Recent stories on FrenchEntrée.com IN THE NEWS 1. Ryanair loses Charleroi airport case Will your French airport be next? The EU has ruled that Ryanair was getting illegal state benefits from the Belgian airport. About 20% of Ryanair's destination airports are state-owned - nearly all of them French. So will this mean your favourite route gets the chop? http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-transport/displayarticle.asp?id=619 2. French property prices are rising rapidly The annual FNAIM survey shows prices rising at an average of 14.3% for 2003. Are there still any bargain areas to buy in? What's expected for 2004? Which areas are seeing the highest price hikes? http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-property/displayarticle.asp?id=622 3. Changes to Capital gains tax from Jan 2004 The new French Capital gains tax rate is 16%, with tapered relief of 10% (i.e. of the 16%) for each year of ownership beyond the first five years after purchase. This means that after fifteen years of ownership, the reduction is 100% and there is no CGT to pay. 4. What's happening in French healthcare? It is fair to say that for many years the attitude of the French government to the health budget was one of benign neglect. The cost to the customer/patient was largely unaltered but medical inflation was escalating quite dramatically. (7.2% in 2002). A health budget deficit of under 1 billion Euros in 1999 was heading for 10 billion Euros in 2003 and 14 billion Euros in 2004 in the absence of remedial action... http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-health/displayarticle.asp?id=632 5. Review of French Education reforms 2003 was a frustrating academic year in France, for teachers, pupils and parents alike. A continuing crisis in the national education system lead to a series of one-day strikes across the country by teachers and other school staff, leaving pupils standing at the gates and forcing parents to take time off work to look after their children http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-education/displayarticle.asp?id=567 TIPS 6. Property databases on the internet It's easy to get carried away trawling through one of the big property databases. Keep this reality check in mind before you fall for that dream property on the web: - property databases rely on French immobiliers and other agents to provide information - French properties are often listed with many agents so it's hard to be 100% sure what's still for sale - most agents are too busy with clients to keep their own web sites up to date, let alone the property databases - property details are often brief and sketchy. Photos can be misleading: there's no substitute for viewing the property to find out what it's really like. In other words, don't get carried away! There is a very good chance that the property you fancy on the database search results may not still be for sale when you get there OR that once you see it you quickly realise it is not suitable. Find the area you like first, THEN visit the properties with the local agents. 7. Ooops, we seem to have bought a farm instead of a garden Buying a property with land and having trouble with hectares and acres? Use our metric converter to do the calculations for you http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-lavie/displayarticle.asp?id=348 8. Going Google eyed searching for property? Planning a trip and want to find the local estate agents? Try typing “Immobiliers Vendee” (or your département or town) to find local agents. Or go to these web pages for lists of agents by département http://www.321maison.com/immobilier/agences_carte.htm http://www.immosearch.tm.fr/web/serveurs/ 9. Which region is for you? Find the region and area you like, then look for property is sound common-sense advice. But where to start? Our Regions Zone is designed to help you research the different areas of France from a property buyers viewpoint: access, climate, landscape, price of houses etc http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-regions 10. Where's hot, where's not - climate in France Where to find out about sunshine hours, rainfall, average seasonal temperatures, historic patterns for each département of France http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-home/displayarticle.asp?id=120 11. Confused by currency? If you are buying a French property from outside the Eurozone then welcome to the world of currency speculation! Seriously, if you want to avoid the unpredictable ups and downs of currency values before you pay for your property then our Currency Zone should answer all your questions http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-currency 12. How to set up a French bank account Buying a holiday home and need to pay your local bills? Moving permanently and want to get your bank account up and running? This article takes you through the process... http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-finance/displayarticle.asp?id=623 13. Property Purchase Legal Tip (from Graham Platt of Fox Hayes) Never Never NEVER pay money under the table to a vendor - it is not true that it is a "common practice" and that "everybody does it". It is a fraud on the revenue and conspiracy with the vendor to assist him in evading French Capital Gains Tax. It is in a way similar to an immigrant to the UK fraudulently obtaining benefit. You must not start your venture into France by becoming a criminal in the first week. Just ignore what you are told in the bar or by friends. More advice and articles from Fox Hayes at http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-legal RECENT STORIES on FrenchEntrée.com A selection of recent stories. Lots more added all the time... Regional factfiles on Provence, Normandy, Midi-Pyrénées, North-East France http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-regions/ Income tax on buy-to-let properties http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-legal/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=629 Swimming pool security laws http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-lavie/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=271 Teenagers in French education http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-education/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=426 How to start up a French business http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-lavie/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=461 Profile of a downshifter - 20 burning questions http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-downshifting/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=595 So you want to start a smallholding in France? http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-smallholdings/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=446 Getting UK television in France http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-techcorner/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=434 Ten tips for vegetarians moving to France http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-vegetarians/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=136 Holiday home - buying on impulse! A true account http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-maisonsecondaire/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=607 Running a gite business - the 90 page guide http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-gitebusiness/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=401 Cottage to let for house-hunters or holidays. Dordogne/ S.Charente http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-property/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=447 HOW TO GET IN TOUCH Editorial & Press enquiries: mailto:editor@frenchentree.com Advertising: mailto:richard@frenchentree.com Directory: mailto:jennie@frenchentree.com Contribute a story or article and claim your FREE book: http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-contribute/DisplayArticle.asp?ID=90 A bientôt Guy Hibbert Publisher FrenchEntrée.com mailto:guy@frenchentree.com If you wish to unsubscribe then please use the link below: http://www.frenchentree.com/fe-newsletter/home.asp?status=unsubscribe