Actually, I have no idea whether the Landlord and Tenant Act is even an appropriate mention; HOWEVER, I have friends to needed to sell their maison secondaire a few years back but who soon discovered that the market was against them so decided to let the house out using Century 21 as letting agent. It has not been a successful operation from the management point of view, although Century 21 have been very efficient so far as taking the monthly management fee is concerned!
The landlord husband is disabled due to crippling arthritis, the landlord wife (a professional person - if that doesn't sound too dubious!!) is about to retire. They have sold their home in Ireland and are buying a new home (in Ireland) more adapted to age and disability. The need to sell their house here has now become a priority.
Initially Century 21 located an excellent tenant who took out a 3 year lease - but then left after 18 months.
A second three year tenancy was entered into about a year ago.
The question is, how does the landlord break the tenancy agreement in order to sell?
But I'm sure you will be reassured to know that this members account has been suspended as a precaution, until I hear back from him, following on from my request yesterday to change the user name to comply with our T&C.
Sounds like you have a plan!! The very best of luck! Happily I am now too old to consider trying to earn a living here - I survive on my sadly depleted pension - thank you Gordon Brown and Mr Balls (and a grossly unfair divorce didn't help either :-) ) But I love being here and reckon I have another 10 years before I will be ready to shuffle off.
My friends' house in in the Norh Dordogne (just!!) in Montpon-Menesterol. We are not in la france profonde, but it is a semi-rural area, close to the A89 motorway and within an hour of Bergerac and Bordeaux. Ideal location for any wine lovers, being surrounded by some of the very best vineyards.
Catharine and James have done an excellent job with this site! It is highly informative and a very friendly environment. Very few rules - full names and photos are deemed important because they add greatly to the ambience. The other rule is probably just "Be kind"!!
There are folk here from many corners of the globe with a wealth of experience in a multitude of fields - and an enormous amount of just plain common sense. On the odd occasion, discussions get out of hand and members are sent to the kitchen to cool off :-)
Pray tell me what area is the property in that you are selling, as said by Marie-Claire Gauthier in her recent post, it really does matter where you are to how well Property will sell.
I buy and sell property in the UK and hold a portfolio of Holiday Rentals in Wales and it is with this background I started about looking in France some 5yrs ago to buy and what I quickly noticed was if a Property is in a particular Department or maybe a Rural Setting then it is the difference between a 1 and a 100, it is a mile apart.
I am hoping to start a small Property Buy and Sell business here in the Auvergne, a quite and unspoilt area with price on it's side, I have completed 3 books on the subject of small business in France, which has left me running for the hills, but with the help of the EU and a little Amazon / Ebay Strategy I should be able to pay tax in the UK Holding Company I own.
This board and many others are a great place to understand the problems of French Living and hopefully the Solutions to many of those problems may be found here.
I lost €100 000 euros on my first house here :-( We bought at the top of the market and sol three years ago because I had lost my job and could no longer afford the mortgage! Not a fun time. But I stayed because I love being here in France despite everything :-)
I think my friends' house is more likely to attract long stay family rather than an investor - it has a lot going for it for the French market.
First of all, welcome to SFN - I am sure you will find it a fount of information, friendship and badinage!
Thank you also for your input - buying and selling is just so different here where time is not the premium it is in the UK :-)
As for the Notaires! I don't even think they have realised that calendars exist, let alone watches! But then again, not that different to most solicitors in the UK!!
Thank you again - I will be relaying all the experience and info here to my friends.
And, yet again, welcome to SFN --- it is a great place!!! Enjoy!!
I think that some pieces of property are purchased immediately, sometimes within minutes.
The market is different everywhere in France, towns being a little easier for sellers, but if your property is fairly priced, according to agents, it goes fast. The problem is, we may be quite shocked to hear what IS a fair, market price!
An empty house, unless it has been recently renovated is quite off-putting and I know that agents like to show it with tenants inside, even if they are leaving (tenants living in a property for sale have to make time for prospective buyers, they max submit with ill grace, but it's the law...). It all depends if you are selling a place likely to attract investors (in a resort or a town), or one more likely to attract families who want to live a quiet, healthy life in a village and put down roots.
Not sure if my response is still relevant today but only joining today here goes.
We have lived in France now for 2 yrs, I own a property company in the UK which we now run from France and have spent my life in Property having been with my father when he built his 1st House.
Being here in France one thing seems so obviously clear to me is that selling French property is like trying to sell a place in the Himalayers, whilst possible it is going to take some time.
It took us nearly 8mths to get our Notaire off his chair and finally make our completion and looking around at property in Central France, with hand on heart if you put up a Sale board today it would take you 2yrs plus to sell, any Agent who would look you in the eye would confirm this, unless you meet one who has hundreds of people on their books waiting to buy your wonderfully unique property................. yeh sure!
So, on that note, why not get on with selling the property, be glad of the extra income received from the rent and who knows when the tenancy expires you might just be ready to complete.
Did you know that property habitated sells easier than empty property?
Thank you for that, Marie-Claire. I will relay that too. It turns out that the existing tenants have been looking for a 30 year lease. They have their own property in northern France which is on the market. We will see :-)
My friends are now on their way back to Ireland, so I will copy your comments (and the other comments) to them to help them decide their next move. I *think* they have accepted that they can do nothing until 2017 when the current agreement ends - this will make their lives more difficult, but not impossible.
You can break the lease, but you will need a signed agreement from the tenant that they are not interested in buying the property. As an owner, you might also have to wait until the tenant finds something just as good, at the same price, or give the tenant help in finding a new place. The best is to ask an estate agent if there would be any potential interest in buying the property with tenants or not and get the agent to find them something suitable.
There are more and more sales with sitting tenants (there were virtually none before), however you need buyers who are looking for an investment, rather than for a place to live, as well as good tenants.
The only case I came across where the selling price was "considerably reduced" was when the tenants were paying very low rent and they stay put as long as they wish: single mums (very difficult), disabled persons (don't think of it!) and people over 70 years of age (impossible).