I've decided to leave America and buy a French Estate

[The Dharma Bum]

Four issues to be aware of when purchasing property in France:

1. The inheritance laws in France are quite different than those in Anglo-Saxon countries. You should review them.
2. There is a "Wealth Tax" that applies to the net French assets of non-residents above 720,000 Euros.
3. It is advisable to to come from a country which has a Reciprocal Tax Arrangement with France or you could incur other tax liabilities. (as an American you are good there.)
4. You should purchase the property in your own name rather than that of a company because it is unknown what future legislation may hold for company owned property in France.

Other than that the transaction looks rather straight forward. You will need the assistance of a "Notaire" and the costs of the transaction look to be about 6% of the purchase price. Commissions are paid by the seller but the buyer can pay them if they want to avoid paying the registration tax.

[PoS]

[The Dharma Bum]

Now that I know about it I'm going to try sell it to someone. It doesn't necessarily have to be to Saz and his family, if they aren't seriously interested.

I've been looking into it and that place looks pretty awesome. 14 bedrooms on 15 acres of some of the most picturesque countryside I've ever seen. It's actually in an area Monet represented in his paintings frequently.

[Spider]

There's always a buyer in Idaho.

[The Comrade]

palatial estates can't support the required number of phones

[The Dharma Bum]

It's actually a manorial estate, but it still applies.

[eynon81]

[Professor]

Good info. Thanks guys. I certainly wouldn't mind living in France, Spain or Italy. Probably Italy, if I had my preference. Awesome cars, food, location (hate snow), etc. Had no idea property was this affordable. I don't need anything with 8 bedrooms. Preferably just a 4-5 bed manor, with large garage spaces and living areas. About 30 minutes from a decent sized town, and 1 hour from major city. Preferably on the coast. Not that I'm looking now. But, once the kids are out of the house.

Heck, who knows. I wouldn't mind putting them in an international school over there if I got a job. Wife can already speak Spanish, so Italian is easy for her.

[Dennis]

LOVE the area, the yardage, and the outside of that Frenchy house, but I'm not crazy about the inside. All of the rooms are way too small.

Yeah, I heard Italy is where it's at, but they probably have small rooms too.

Y'know, you can find some good property for cheap in the U.S. too. You just have to be willing to look outside the city/suberbia/McMansions. In the country, you can get some badass new houses on a ton of land for cheap. And, no one said it had to be a part of the country that wasn't nearby a major area.

[John Galt]