Nice is Nice, No?
Volume IX, Issue 20
May 19, 2011
Paris, France
FrenchPropertyInsider.com
Bonjour French Property Insider Subscriber,
Today I made an official offer on an apartment in Nice in the "quartier" known as the "Carré d'Or" just off Place Masséna. It's expensive, chic, and well worth it, given its location and immediate amenities.
(Read about it in more detail in yesterday's Parler Paris Nouvellettre®:parlerparis.com/issues/pparis18-5-11.html)
Many people have asked, "Why Nice?"
Besides the fact that 'Nice is nice,' I strongly believe that Nice and the adjacent Riviera towns are going to see value growth over the next few years, particularly once the TGV (Train à Grande Vitesse) goes to Nice direct from Paris. The Nice airport is already international with flights from Air Berlin, Air France, Alitalia, American Airlines, BLU Express, Easyjet, German Wings, Sterling Airlines and Virgin Express. That makes Nice the air travel hub for the entire Côte d'Azur and travel to Nice is not expensive -- flights from Paris are as little as 70€ round trip.
The TGV from Paris to Nice is scheduled to be completed by 2025 and will reduce travel time from 5 hours 25 minutes to 3 hours 50 minutes. It will also improve the service between Marseille and Nice to be within one hour of each other. Developers are predicting it will reduce the traffic at Nice Airport, currently the country’s third largest, eliminating about half its routes. My bet, however, is that because of the ease of travel, the entire area will become increasingly more visited -- perhaps a factor they are not considering?
(If you're interested in learning more, here's a great article at:http://www.thetransportpolitic.com)
The Côte d'Azur is also poorly servicing the North American client. If you are British or Italian, there are lots of property specialists who can think like you think and satisfy your needs and desires, but culturally ours are quite different and few represent our style of living and traveling. When I visited a beautiful apartment under complete renovation in Old Nice, it was evident that the space in the bedroom would not accommodate a bed larger than 140cm (double), nor had they planned for closets to house large suitcases. We Americans are big people who need lots of space. We travel with large suitcases filled with all our favorite necessities (I know many who don't leave home without their own pillows!) and we want all the creature comforts our hard-earned money can buy, "n'est-ce pas?" They hadn't thought about any of that -- but instead went purely for the esthetics without concern for comfort or convenience...not at all American style thinking.
I am convinced that Americans love the Riviera as much as they love Paris and Provence and would be happy spending more time there if they were made to feel a bit more welcome. We hope to be a part of the pioneering spirit as a result of my soon-to-be testing of the 'Mediterranean waters.'
(Stay tuned for more or write me to learn how we can help you become a pioneering, too.)
The word "tax" seems to be synonymous with the word "France" -- since this is one of the highest taxed societies in the world. And even with this, the country is still falling short and seeking new ways of earning more money, particularly from those who have more of the wealth (at least this part seems fair enough).
A draft has been presented to the Parliament and may be enacted by July of this year, with some measures to enter into enforcement before 2012. For now, these are proposed amendments.
Wealth Tax will be reformed, but fortunately for foreigners, the tax is only assessed on real estate held in France, and not on the value held by a mortgage company...one very good reason for mortgaging your French real estate.
As of the first of 2012, it is proposed that non-residents (including French taxpayers who have left France) owning residential property that is at their disposal and not rented out will be subject to a new property tax, unless more than 75% of their worldwide income is derived from French sources. The tax base will be the deemed annual rent and the rate will be 20%. Expats that lived in France for three years within the ten year period before they left France will be exempt for a period of up to six years.
Clearly this concept is designed to raise money and reduce their housing shortage -- since so much property remains unoccupied in France. Those with second homes will be hit harder than those who have investment properties.
An exit tax will be imposed on those transferring their tax residence out of France. Like our Capital Controls Act, France is trying to keep its euros inside its borders -- and it will concern transfers as of this past March.
For more information about the French tax system, see this pdf in English:http://www.impots.gouv.fr/
Editor, French Property Insider
Email: fpi@adrianleeds.com
P.S. If you have not already reserved your place for the Special Event: "Legal and Compliance Issues for the US Expatriate" presented by Joel M. Nagel of Nagel & Associates, LLC and Peter A. Zipper, Caye International Bank, Ltd, there are only a few seats left, so do not delay. Scroll down for more information or visitFrenchPropertyConference.com
