How can I Afford to Buy a Property in France?

When you live in France and you plan on buying your first French Property made sure you are prepared financially for the purchase of the home. To be prepared you need to take into account all expensive involved.

To Set Your Budget for your French Purchase

(This is similar to in many parts of the world – the most unique to France items are toward the end of this article, for example, the cost of French Notary fees)

Step One

Detail all your income.

Add up all your salary and other forms of income from investments.

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Step Two

Deduct all Expenses

Monthly Expenses like your car, education fees, your personal taxes, your food costs, childcare, make sure you remember all expenses like telephone, television – sometimes we forget the eating out expenses or clothing expenses or your annual planned vacation or family gifts.

Make sure to add an buffer to this expense amount for the unexpected like new tires or brakes for the car or a new fridge because the old one just stop working

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Step Three

The difference between your expenses and income is the amount you have to dedicate to the purchase of a new home. Make note French banks will not loan you money if your expenses exceed 30 to 33 percent of the amount of your income.

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Step Four

With your monthly payment in mind you can approach your French bank to estimate how much of a financial budget you have to purchase a home and manage financially each month.

Make sure if you are going to buy an apartment or a house in a residence in France you make allowance for monthly charges which can be very high up to several hundred euros per month.

Note also the following:

Deposit for the purchase of your French Home

When you buy you will need in most cases a deposit of approximately 10 percent of the purchase price of the home in your savings, this deposit can be payable right when you make the first commitment in writing to purchase your home.

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French Notary Fees

You will need to pay a French Notary his or her fees that include property purchase taxes levied by the government of France.

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The Cost of the French Mortgage

There are fees involved in the acquiring a mortgage include typically a non-refundable application fee.

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Rent

You may need to pay rent at the same time as you are paying your mortgage payment as you make your move into your new French home. This depends on the timing of your purchase.

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Moving Expenses

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French Property Tax

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French Occupany Tax

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A Portion of the Monthly Charge for Apartments and Houses in Residences

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Other misc. costs

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The above is a helpful but only general introduction to how you can plan to buy your French property.  Check out our French real estate buyers course here

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