Hi,

I consider a purchase of an apartment in France near Basel for investment purposes (I am planning to rent it out from day 1).

Is it a good idea?

If yes, which village/city u would recommend

Thanks

france is very tenant friendly.

i know one case where the tenant didn't pay rent for years and the landlord was unable to get rid of them. in the end the landlord paid the tenant to leave.

Sounds like many countries in Asia.... L-)

Property is cheap, rents are cheap, and tenants have more rights that the owner.

I've owned holiday rental properties in France since 2006, and last year due to COVID, and a desire to maintain an income stream, I rented 1 out long term to a Frenchy... biggest mistake I ever made:

- Paperwork is horrendous,
- Rules & liabilities for owners are many, and non existant for tenants,
- Income and capital taxes are high on rental properties,
- Liability insurance is not cheap,
- Contracts are restrictive in terms of duration, and heavily tenant loaded, and even a small error mean the owner is up shit creek.
- Even with a water tight, drawn up by an advocat contract, Its not possible to have tenants leave in winter even if a fixed contract has ended, if they decide not to leave, or evict them if they breal the contract.
- Agents are as much use as a chocolate teapot, as the rules are so heavily weighted to the tenants.
- Any attempt to try to get tenants out after March takes months, with no guarantee of success, just more costs.

So the net effect is I would have been better off financially leaving that house empty, and would have none of the stress of a tenant who knows how to play the system. There is no guarantee I can get this guys out after his contract ends on 26th March, and the house made ready for potential summer rental according to the lawyer, so it's a double whammy.

I'm not the only gite owner, who switched, and I'm not the only one whose come a cropper, my saving grace is I only did it with one property leaving the rest empty.

So I would never ever recommend the long term French rental market to any investor who wasn't French resident, does not speak fluent French, and a expert knowledge of French property law is a must, impotent, but a must.

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How do you know if a Frenchman has been in your garden.... your rubbish is gone, your dog is pregnant.... but at least your cabbages are pest free

It was like that in the UK from the late 60's to mid 80's. Sitting tenants paying £5 a week with several generations living in.

I dont want to jinx my run on this, but I have a place in St Louis and so far so good.

The buy price is ok, banks are quite easy, the interest rate is fixed for the term and quite low.

Yes there is some paper work and it can be a bit messy. You need to sort of tune in to the French way of doing things and relax and it should work out.

I make about 20% per month in rent compared to my mortgage. All in all I yield about 6-7%. The tax is a bit high, France is quite socialist. At the end of the year I am down, but its a long term investment. Rough calculations after about 7 years I will be making money.

I would prefer the owner to have more rights than they do, and if the tax could be lower. But France didnt make their rules to suit me unfortunately. So far I am pleased with it, but I have only had my place a couple of years.

I also own rental property in Saint Louis, and unlike others on here, I have nothing but good experiences to share. I target cross-border workers with good salaries, and they've paid their rent every month, on time. I use an agency and they manage all the details, and I've never had trouble finding tenants. It's possible to take out insurance against non-payment of rent, and the insurance also covers the legal costs of evicting a tenant should I ever need to.