French House Burden

Turnbull2000

gingin wrote: »

What information do you have to back this up? I am worried you are giving the OP false hope/ information.

Smoke and mirrors?

Generali

The problem (well one of many really) with buying a wreck in France is that they have nil value to the vast majority of French people. My experience is that in most areas people will rent a flat or a house until they are in a position to buy. If you're not well paid you buy 2nd hand but most people aspire to a brand new place that they can do nothing to for 20 years as it slowly collapses around their ears!

Spending months lugging stones around and getting lime plaster put up is on the 'want to do' list in about 10,985th place just after scraping Grandma's corns.

EdInvestor

gingin wrote: »

What information do you have to back this up? I am worried you are giving the OP false hope/ information.

Blimey,some people are hard to satisfy. :rolleyes:

I said to the OP she might not be able to sell it until later this or early next year.You're saying (I assume) she may not be able to sell it for years, if ever.

In which case she'd be even better advised to follow my advice to make it basically habitable asap and get some use out of it, so it pays its way, right?

Or would you suggest she just sits there like a numptie complaining about the state of the property market?

Like some people we could name.......:cool:

gingin_2

EdInvestor wrote: »

You're saying (I assume) she may not be able to sell it for years, if ever.

you are saying the market will pick up the end of next year, I was wondering why you think this and what you have to substantiate this?

I never offered any advice to the OP because I don't know enough about the French market to offer advice...don't try and put words into my mouth....

ruggedtoast

Meelius wrote: »

I paid around 40k (Pounds) which at the time was around 60k in Euros.
The mortgage at the time worked out around £200 a month, and I reckoned on needing around another £20k to make the place habitable/desirable.

To be honset though -I overstreched myself from the start, and didnt bargian on just how much it would really cost once all the annual taxes and utilities etc have been paid.

More recently my domestic circumstances have changed. I now have a small son to support, and my partner has had to give up work, so the strain on my fairly average part time lecturers salary has become even greater.

With the amount of 'use' I have had from the property (very little -my partner wouldnt stay there in its present state) , and with the Pound now sliding against the Euro, I am really considering what to do for the best.

With the information youve given us here youve really answered your own question. You have a young family to worry about. Youve made a poor investment decision (as we all do from time to time), get little personal use out of the property, cant really afford to risk any more money on it, and would be stretching yourself to hold onto the property in the hope things might get better. Which looks unlikely in the near future.

The right business decision here is to sell and cut your losses. This is completely without sentiment and why those awful property flipping shows sell you are such a con, as they promote a "dream" with turning a profit. The fact is if you're holding a poor investment then dump it.

Naturally theres two sides to every coin, the other being are you sure its as bad as you think it is? I would put the property on the market now and see what happens. Talk to the agents you use and negotiate a realistic asking price for a quick sale. If this seems too low, they know the market after all, ask for their professional assessment of what would need to be done to get the price you need to sell for. Cost what it would take to get this work done and the feasibility of your being able to project manage it.

This would be a risk. You could get more into debt and still lose money. You need to establish whether you can take the risk, what the potential gain would be, and whether you can afford to keep spending £200 a month on something that may come to nothing. If you do all the sums with your dispassionate hat on you may decide that that £200 would be better spent paying down your debts after youve sold.

EdInvestor

Meelius wrote: »

I paid around 40k (Pounds) which at the time was around 60k in Euros.The mortgage at the time worked out around £200 a month.
More recently my domestic circumstances have changed. I now have a small son to support, and my partner has had to give up work, so the strain on my fairly average part time lecturers salary has become even greater.

Typically, as this forum is full of bears promoting a house price crash, they will advise that you sell at a fire sale price so that they can benefit.

However this is a silly idea.The OP will lose an investment which could be made to work, get little capital back and save an amount per month which is not going to make much of a difference to the overall problems.

IMHO s/he would be more sensible to stop worrying about the property for the moment and concentrate on maximising household income such as by arranging to work full time, since partner is now available for childcare duties.

airhostess

just out of interest, what type of property is it and where is it located?

Running_Horse

Is emigrating an option?