This year, the Monaco Principality will again house the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix, from Thursday May 13th to Sunday May 16th.
The Monaco Grand Prix is one of the oldest and most prestigious motor races in the world and is the dream of every single driver to win. The legendary circuit was designed in 1929 by Antony Noghes and is a real challenge in itself: the racetrack is narrow; the race is the hardest to manage and the slowest of all; the smallest mistake leads to inevitable failure… William Grover-Williams won the very first race in April 1929 and since then, numerous renowned drivers have competed on these tracks: Schumacher, Senna, Prost, Fangio, Graham Hill.
The actual competition will take place on Sunday, May 16th at 14h00.
Mythical for drivers and for spectators alike, this event is one of the must-do’s in one’s life. Even if you are not a fan of racing sports, the Monaco Grand Prix has an incredible ambiance, a classy prestigious setting and an indefinable passion that will nonetheless catch your interest…
The French leaseback system could be one of the best as it is a guaranteed and advantageous rental scheme with numerous incentives.
Firstly, if you purchase a holiday residence in France, you will be able to get the 19.6% VAT back. In order to get a full VAT refund, you will need to rent your property for at least 20 years. Read the rest of this entry »
Further to several enquiries from property investors, we have decided to clarify the French income tax for people investing in France or who currently have a French income.
The total net income is subjected to several band rates (like for the PAYE in the UK). It applies only on the income realised in France if you aren’t a French resident. Read the rest of this entry »
The Domaine of the Val de Seine – Only one unit left!
Act fast to snap up this last available unit in a luxury business development just outside of Paris!
This 4-star leaseback business residency offers spacious accommodation which is ideally located at the gateway of Paris, in Sainte Assise Beaulieu. The development offers fully furnished studios to 2-bedroom cottages offering 20 sqm to 43 sqm of living space.
The accommodation features:
A fully fitted kitchen and bathroom, television and a telephone socket, storage space, electric heating and double glazed windows
The residency offers:
A car park area, an indoor heated swimming pool, 8 tennis courts, a SPA and fitness centre, a restaurant and bar, and a conference centre
The investment scheme includes:
– A high rental demand
– An 11 year lease term
– Up to a 5.2 % yield
– A 19.6 % VAT return
– A guaranteed index-linked rental income
– A self-occupancy scheme
The residency is ideally located just 35 minutes from Orly airport and 45 minutes from the Paris Euro star. Located in a green area, facing the magnificent panorama of the Seine, this development provides all the necessary facilities for tourism and business and also offers relaxation for quality stays.
Following the introduction of its first trust law on the 2 March, huge amounts of foreign investment are expected to flow into the French property market.
What are the benefits?
• The opportunity for a first-time investment in French leasebacks for foreign pension trustees.
• High net worth individuals will be encouraged to move offshore funds into the property market without major tax penalties.
• “It could be one of the biggest developments in overseas property for the next decade,” according to chartered tax adviser David Anderson of law and tax firm Sykes Anderson.
• More high net worth individuals taking an advantage of the unique property types such as vineyards and ski chalets.
• A potential immediate benefit to the €10 million + property market.
SIPP leasebacks
Leaseback developers are also excited because of the potential for Self-Invested Personal Pension (SIPP) investment from the UK. A massive interest from current clients has been reported.
SIPPs are not allowed to invest in residential property but developers are confident certain leasebacks would satisfy tax office rules.
The change in law will encourage more SIPP providers to invest in foreign property in order to avoid losing business.
France has signed tax information exchange agreements with a number of tax havens including: Jersey, Guernsey, the Isle of Man, the British Virgin Islands and the Cayman Islands.
The 3 % gross annual tax penalty and the absence of a trust law were two major obstacles for foreign investors so it an amazing turnaround has come about that could even lead to Trusts being able to buy residential property that no-one’s been able to invest in for the last 50 years.
Situated in the heart of the Languedoc-Roussillon region, deep in the South of France, a new oasis of peace has been created to fulfil your ultimate holiday pleasures. This oasis is situated on the outskirts of the pretty village of Les Demeures de la Massane. It is a landscaped, private park which is close enough to the village that you feel attached to civilisation but far enough away that you can ignore it [civilisation] for a while, making it a very attractive touristic and financial prospect for everyone.
The fully-furnished interiors of these Mediterranean-style apartments offer a haven for those who enjoy the sun and sea provided by the south coast of France. The blend of colours provided by the rural surroundings’ and the resort itself, cannot fail to set a mood of total relaxation.
As with many such resorts, Les Demeures de la Massane is an exclusive community that is centred around a communal reception area that houses a 5-star luxury spa facility that comprises a large swimming pool, Jacuzzi, sauna. The resort is not just targeting adults; children have their own games’ area within the spa complex as well as a paddling pool to amuse themselves with. All this and should you still wish to explore further, there are the white, sandy beaches of the Mediterranean no more than 2km away and the Pyrenees mountains as well as Spain, only a short distance by car.
On the financial side of things, this resort is a leaseback property, meaning that you can have the opportunity to enjoy both touristic and financial reward! The investment scheme is as follows:
– The property will be managed by a well-known management specialist.
– Rents will be guaranteed via a commercial lease.
– You, as the buyer, will get a VAT percentage in return.
Additionally, buyers will be granted a VIP member card which will give access to special holiday offers!
The resort is very accessible as the nearest city, Perpignan, is only 20 minutes away and has a train station with trains going to Paris and all over France as well as an international airport with cheap flights to the UK.
Looking to invest in an expanding housing market? Look no further than the new estate at Saint Benoit in the Languedoc-Roussillon region of southern France. These new houses give the perfect opportunity to enjoy a holiday and rake in profits at the same time!
A vineyard and Spa estate, Saint Benoit offers both the ancient and the contemporary in its modern styled furnished apartments, with private gardens, set within the estate’s 12th century renovated gardens. Set in the heart of all this modernity is the estate’s reception centre which incorporates:
– Restaurant/bar
– Lounges and libraries.
– Spa facilities with indoor and outdoor swimming pools, saunas and Jacuzzis.
– Kids’ area.
These delightful apartments are at €245,180 with a required deposit of 2% on agreement. At Sextant French Properties, we can offer you a top quality mortgage service whether it be an interest-only mortgage, a traditional repayment mortgage or even a hybrid mortgage should you so require.
The property will be under the watchful eye of a management specialist with rents guaranteed on a 9-year renewable commercial lease and paid on a quarterly basis. The buyer receives 19.6% VAT cash back and the property can be offered on 5 different options from a pure investment (yields can be up to 4.5% per annum) or a 6-month personal use scheme that sees nil return on the investment but you can nonetheless enjoy the property all by yourself!
There are only a few units left in the estate so hurry now and make good on a great opportunity!
Eligibility leases with rents that incorporate a minority variable rate.
Investments in tourist residences are based on a “triangular” theory:
DEVELOPER (D) – INVESTOR (I) – OPERATOR (O)
Put simply, “I” acquires a property from “D” and then signs a commercial lease with “O” who then pays the rent to “I”. Rent is at this point guaranteed, that is to say “fixed”. ie. A property worth €200,000 at a flat rate of 4% rent per annum will therefore be paying rent of €8,000 per annum.
In order to avoid pitfalls, some property managers felt it would be more realistic to use “sliding scales” (variable rates). This usage of variable rates would mean that, for example, managers could guarantee a flat rate of 2.5% over a 9-year period and then at the end of each year, they could pay back a percentage of the residence’s or manager’s turnover to the investors. In this case, there are elements of both “fixed” and “variable” rates.
BEFORE: This “mixed” rent incorporating the two types posed taxation problems in leasebacks located in the ZRR, Zone de Revitalisation Rurale or “countryside under re-development”. The tax would depend on each tax office’s interpretation of the make-up of fixed incomes, so the investor would lose his tax advantage.
NOW: It is no longer an issue as the line is “if the income is erring on the side of fixed rates, then there is no need for independent interpretation.” It means that the tax deduction will not be affected any more within the ZRR.
Changes to commercial lease systems for 2010.
Up until the end of 2009, in the event that the management company could not fulfil its contractual obligations, property investors were required by law to sign a commercial lease with a new management company otherwise they would lose their tax advantages such as the VAT rebate on New Build properties . Now, with the law changes made for 2010, potential investors can avoid tying themselves to a new precarious lease with another management company. Investors can avoid the commercial lease altogether and grant a management mandate to a professional manager. For example, an experienced manager specialising in hotel management or in holiday centres, or if the owners decide to run the whole operation themselves without the involvement of middle-men (although it might be very complicated to do so due to the number of owners in those types of residences who usually have 100 apartments).
There are 2 conditions to this new law:
1) The so-called “self-management” of the residency must involve at least 50% of it.
2) The “self-management” of the residence is possible after 1 year only if the owners could not agree on another management company. In practice, this period of 12 months isn’t ideal for residences in difficulties, “It would be necessary to allow investors, who are already without rent, to find a solution to their money woes more quickly,” according to Yannick Aure, the Head of Exhore, (Exploitation d’Hotels et de Résidences).
Yannick, himself a specialist in hotel management, has proposed a management mandate to investors who agree a re-sale price of the lease for a token sum will receive the commercial funds of their property in line with a judicial proxy.
At Sextant Properties, we hand-pick the French leaseback developments, making sure that the management companies are sound and will be able to fulfil the rental contracts they sign with the buyers.
Registration is now open for Sextant Property’s latest free property seminar on 19th January 2010
This free property leaseback seminar is designed to inform you as to how to choose potential properties and how to get good returns on capital invested. These investments can provide you with a palpable source of income as a holiday home. Additionally, you will be shown the advantages of a buying off-plan and how to avoid the currency fluctuations.
The seminar’s case-study will be luxury apartments in the ski resort of Avoriaz, the gem in the crown of the Portes-du-Soleil ski region in the French Alps. At an altitude of 1800m and over 650km of ski slopes, these luxurious apartments are much sought after. The resort is situated in the mountains overlooking the Morzine valley and is approximately 1 hour by car from Geneva airport in Switzerland.
As well as the obvious delights for both skiers and snowboarders alike, the resort houses a 2500sqm indoor water-park – dubbed “Aquariaz” – a perfect place for both old and young!
The resort is a car-free zone which ultimately makes it a safer environment for young families.
The guest speaker will be Jim Beattie who will speak about the apartments themselves and why property investors should be looking to purchase in this highly desirable alpine area of France.
This seminar is free but places are limited so book now to avoid disappointment.
Following the introduction of its first trust law on the 2 March, huge amounts of foreign investment are expected to flow into the French property market.
Looking to invest in an expanding housing market? Look no further than the 
Registration is now open for Sextant Property’s latest free property seminar on 19th January 2010
Firstly, all the team members at Sextant Properties wish you a happy New Year!