From Pezenas in the South of France

This is number 78,

You can read the daily news at
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1. Home Rentals - Private Owner or a Travel Company
2. Buying in France - Pros and Cons
3. ChateauMaison and Mrs Roberts
4. A Place in the Sun - See us on TV - and in the Book
5. Nizas - "La Griffe"

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1. Home Rentals - From a Private Owner or a Travel Company

The number of visitors to France renting a private home or a villa has increased enormously in the last 5 years. From a "cottage" (excuse the pun) industry, it is now very big business.

For over 30 years, most rentals were arranged by travel agents through catalogue companies. Some, Like Meon Travel, French Life, and Thompson, have stood the test of time and offer thousands of good holiday properties, with guarantees and security.

These reputable companies have to be bonded by ABTA and other agencies which guarantee the quality of service and ensure you money is safe. These charges plus the costs of advertising and the support they give with local representitives are expensive. On a typical villa rental of 1500 euro a week, the owner will expect to recieve about 1000 euro, guaranteed by the company. The owner also has to pay taxes and charges on their home and pay someone to clean, change linen and look after the property.

We estimate that an owner should have about 50% of the advertised rental price left, before tax, from renting their home.

In the hope of getting a bigger share of the rental, many owners are now advertising their homes direct through Catalogues like "Chez Nous", newspapers such as the Sunday Times and by using the Internet with marketing websites like our own
http://rentalsfrance.com
RentalsFrance.com

and hundreds (thousands) of others offering advertising and marketing services.

Some owners have made their own Internet site, which is why, if you do a search on Google for "france villa rentals", or hundreds of search terms like this, our sites are (today) at numbers 1 and 2 and there are over 120 thousand sites behind us.

In fact, in the majority of cases, the private owner will not save any money by advertising privately and is risking both having their property empty for a lot of the time and is likely to be breaking laws or leaving themselves open to legal actions from renters if something goes wrong.

In the last two years, the number of rental properties offered in France has more than doubled, the numbers of visitors this year have fallen and although property prices have risen sharply, the price of a rental has not changed much in 5 years.

Renters are demanding (and getting) better services, more facilities and lower prices. Owners are facing higher marketing costs, more controls and legal standards (many long overdue such as Pool regulations) and strong competition. If you have a property suitable for the major catalogues, we srtongly recommend that you consider this option for rentals. We are happy to advise and either way we can offer your property through our sites.

We work very closely with the major travel companies and believe that for value and security they offer an incomparable service.

At present we are looking for private villas in Languedoc Roussillon for one of our partners "Meon Travel" - so if you have a good quality villa with pool in the south, do http://rentalsfrance.com/contact
Contact Us

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2. Buying in France - Pros and Cons

Thinking about buying a home in France for Investment? Here are 10 bullet points for the Pros and 10 for the cons.

PRO

1. A second home can usually be funded by low interest loans and this is an excellent way of securing capital if you have a regular income and building an investment or retirement portfolio.

2. You can have the advantage of using the property for vacations which will be much cheaper than renting other properties.

3. Having a "base" in another region or country will broaden your knowledge and give you and you family extended "roots" which will benefit you in many ways, increase your understanding and tolerance and can bring many new friends and experiences.

4. Property has consistently been a safe investment over a long period of time. 5. With a rental income and capital appreciation, property has proven a steady and reliable way of securing capital with a return usually better than any other investment through banks or mutual societies.

6. Taxation rates and terms are changing rapidly in every country, having the option for two tax bases can be an advantage (but see cons).

7. Thinking and planning for a property in a region with a better climate can help get through the bad-weather days.

8. If you travel, having tax paid funds banked in another currency from rental income can save you substantial bank and currency charges.

9. Some areas have special tax concessions for investment property which can reduce the purchase price by over 20%.

10. Buy land, they stopped making it (Mark Twain).

CON

1. Prices can go down in the short term and interest rates rise, you should only invest in property long term.

2. Income from rentals in most other countries MUST be taxed in that county, there are usually double taxation agreements, but do make sure of this.

3. Even with a double taxation agreement, the income from all sources is usually considered for calculating your tax threshold. This can have the affect of your tax liability in both countries being pushed over the tax level you would have had. GET PROFESSIONAL ADVICE ON THIS.

4. New laws make it illegal for anyone to have any income from anywhere without it being fully declared in both your country of residence and the country where you own assets. Not only that, but anyone who is "suspicious" that you have not fully declared your income and assets, MUST report you and they MUST NOT tell you. This now includes your professional and "confidential" financial advisors, banks and even antique dealers, jewelers and car sales people.