France: where best to buy a holiday home?

[WinkyWinkola]

We thinking of buying a holiday home in France with a view to renting it out some weeks a d stating in it ourselves other weeks.

Does anyone have insight as to the best areas in France for this kind of venture?

We are thinking beach + mountains would have best rental appeal.

Any recommendations of areas and agents?

Many tia.

One of my dreams to do this
I have Normandy in mind because of ease of access
The whole tax inheritance thing is putting me off
That and money of course lol

What whole tax inheritance thing?

I think it would be a good idea to explore France and find out which areas YOU like. To get easy access to both beach and mountains you are looking south. Alpes Maritimes wich is very very expensive, or I suppose Bayonne which is not so nice.

You need to look into the French inheritance laws as any property owned in France comes under French law and you cannot just leave it to who you want in your will. Though this is due to change in I think 2015 (assuming the UK stays within the EU of course).

I have bought an apartment in the centre of Nice, together with my sister and BIL...its one of the few places in France, (apart from Paris and the Alps) that has been unaffected by the property slump. Its close to Monaco, Cannes etc so is good for holiday makers. The rent we have received from it has covered the mortgage so its a no brainer!

To avoid inheritance tax we set up a company (SCI)..basically if one of us dies the share goes to the other parties in the company.

Most of the agents there speak perfect English. I used a firm called Attika International and they were brilliant. They lined up many properties for us to view.

You will need a french lawyer. The paper work is a nightmare!

Fees are very expensive.. You essentially pay the estage agent fees and legal fees add about 7% to your purchase too.

Good luck! It was a bit of a bureaucratic nightmare but worth it in the end.

Tax inheritance thing

Sorry I am on phone so spelling and punctuation has gone to pot

So you do tax return in France as well do you pay tax in France or uk I think France has different inheritance laws and different inheritance tax and my inability to sort all that out since I don't know what they are......
That kind of stuff

Alternatively maybe I am wrong

Sorry that should rad do you do a tax return in France as well