well we only have two immediate neighbours and neither of them have the land that we have, there are a couple of houses that have popped up just don the lane though.
I’m really not bothered by the resale value to be honest as that would probably be an issue for who ever inherits it, as it is there’s probably about 1000 sqm of land that is sat there that we wouldn’t miss so much that could potentially increase our monthly income.
I’m kinda tempted by going for the regime reel (which seems more detailed with regards to actual costs) as I am now resigned to the fact that we will need an accountant anyway due to the complexities of our revenue streams.
We did a full conversion of our place too, it’s an old stables built in 1800, costs really rose on that too. I think it’s because it can be challenging some times when it comes to compromise when its your own place, there’s always this part of us that yearns for the ideal. I figure a new build for someone else would be a bit more pragmatic when it comes to build choices.
1 Like
We would probably go to 180k euro for an 80 sqm new build and I’d be happy with a dependable 4% annual return to be honest - that’s still another 700 euro a month coming in.
As to a stranger at the bottom of the garden if they are from the “strange legion” we would have something in common and might be good company at a bbq spinning yarns and swapping war stories, either way they usually get posted elsewhere after 3 - 4 years.
Does your €700 pm take into account tax, electricity, etc?
Well it would be the tenant paying the electric, but yes that would include tax. If it starts to bring in less than 4% it becomes less worthwhile. The rental value should be pretty good compared to the actual cost of the because the house would be sat on a 1000 sqm garden with established trees and it’s own well.
And water, taxe foncière?
Noted and the inheritance point I get…its someone else’s problem as you will sadly not be in a position to worry about it!
The care point here is the big difference between tax deductions on furnished lets vs unfurnished. For an unfurnished let you are unlikely to be able to claim depreciation (so x% per year of all the capital you invested doing the building) so the question will be what costs you could deduct. The tax fonciere yes, specific maintenance yes but how much on a new property, building insurance yes, Agent fees if you use an agent yes. Energy no as tenant should pay. Will it add up to 30% of the rent or more - time to do a little guesstimating.
Big thanks for that Paul, much appreciated. I hadn’t considered the furnishing side of things, my target clientele usually travel pretty light when they come to a new posting. Where as we will have a surplus of furniture - our place in France is fully furnished and we will be arriving with a 40ft shipping container full of more furniture that has travelled with us for years from one place to the next.
There’s a 4eme farm not a million miles from us, north of Pezens (Ferme De Bertrandou). They do exercises and training in the Black Mountains.
Ha! Bertrandou - been there that’s the farm for the CIC, for the new recruits though I’m not sure if they still have them.
Further thoughts; is the person who is finding out about planning permission a French architect? It is quite common that there is a difference between an informal enquiry especially from a non-local (sure, no problem) and the response to a formal application (absolutely not). Best to ask for a certificate d’urbanisme which will set out the conditions for that parcel. And if that commune has local elections this month then Maire and conseilleurs could all change. They have much less power now in planning terms but can still make a difference.
Also would your proposed rent be affordable to your target market? Rents in rural France are low and your photo suggests that the house is quite isolated, so may not appeal to people with eg school age children.
I’m sure there were recruits around late last year as we see them yomping in the Black Mountains from time to time. Last time I drove past, there were building works on the terrain militaire there not far from the road. Big building going up, which I assumed was new barracks etc but maybe not. The tank was still there.
Hi Jane, yeah the architect is full on French and qualified, we would always look to keep the Marie on side. One of the reasons why I want to keep to a single story dwelling - very discrete can’t be seen behind the trees so won’t upset anyone.
We are pretty well located really the main road that leads to Quartier Danjou (the barracks) is just at the end of the road adjacent to us that and the town center of Castelnaudary is less than 10 minutes drive away. Legion pay isn’t that bad a few years back there was a Seargant Chef renting the Maison de Maitre next door to us before the current family bought it - the rent for that would probably be more than what I would be asking for.
1 Like
yeah not very easy to tell the difference between recruit training and training for corporals and sergeants when it comes to the farm - general beasting and running around with great big rucksacks kinda stuff. If they are building sounds like they are expanding it’s role which could include a bit of recruit training. But it wouldn’t be the “full live in experience” of my day it wouldn’t have the capacity for the 4 recruit training companies which used to have a farm each - I know that la Jasse (for 2eme Compagnie) has been sold and was told the others had been too.