French charm offensive paying off

Property investors are recently advised to avoid some of the areas in Europe considered as investment hotspots before. Spain is one of these places. Property prices in Spain have risen in the past few years that the Brits are having difficulty looking for bargains.

In Bulgaria, homeowners can enjoy good weather and several tourist attractions like the beautiful beaches, but the holiday market is still undeveloped. This means that the buy-to-let investor can’t rely on a steady stream of income from holiday makers. This fact is not only true in Bulgaria but in other eastern bloc countries as well.

Locals have been quick to react to the flow of foreign property investors by raising property prices. This results to property rates tripling in the space of a year. This trend is a turn off for eastern European investors. They do not want to pay a high price for something that does not guarantee great returns.

In spite of the bad news, one country is attracting interest lately. France was recently declared the country with the best quality of life in the world by International Living magazine. France is also benefiting from laws that allow foreign property investors to avoid VAT on their purchase as long as they do not resell the property for 11 years.

Another advantage of buying a property in France is that it can be let out to a management company who can guarantee a steady flow of income year-round. Although the rate the property owner can expect will be below full market value during peak times, this is offset by the fact that the property will still be generating gains even during the off-seasons.

Possible property investors may also be interested to know that the country has recently gone on a “charm offensive” in an attempt to sell the attractions of a French holiday to foreigners that may not have considered a vacation there in the past. In Japan, the French government tourist officel, or the Maison de la France, is running a campaign together with iconic French companies such as Peugeot and winemakers from the Cotes du Rhone. Japanese tourists are being enticed with the tagline “A treat for me: the French lifestyle”.

France is also targeting tourists from the Middle East with a sustained campaign called the France Travel Road Show. The road show passes through Kuwait and will also take in countries such as Egypt, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan. This campaign aims to showcase the attractions of France to tourists and holidaymakers that may never have considered them before.

Posted on: France

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French charm offensive paying off

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