Mortgage for French Holiday/Retirement Home

Killylastin

Thinking of buying a holiday/retirement apartment in France. Can pony up some (40-60% LTV) but not all the cash

Last time we thought about this a few years ago, the Irish banks were not lending for foreign places. There's a lot of stuff on the web for British people who are looking to get mortgages for french property - and if you read articles in publications like the Telegraph, it looks like its fairly routine for British people to get mortgages for places in France from French banks. There's also a big community of mortgage advisors/brokers for English people looking to buy in France. But there's next to nothing in terms of advice for Irish residents.
Two basic questions of fact,:
-Do Irish lenders lend for French property?
-Is it possible/easy for Irish people to get mortgages for apartments in France from French lenders?

DubCount

I doubt Irish banks will be interested in holding security on a foreign property. Besides, with Irish bank interest rates, I'm not sure why an Irish mortgage would be preferred anyway.


Getting a French mortgage is straightforward, though the process of buying property is very different so an advisor with knowledge of the French market would be really useful and would help with the documentation for arranging the mortgage etc.

Spanish Eyes

Rent rent rent. Only advice I would give. There is a chunk of expense attached to owning in France. Taxe Fonciere, Taxe d'Habitation, Insurance, community charges, taxes if you let it out and so on.

Sounds lovely on paper but the reality is so different. We had a little spot in Nice for a few years. It was just too expensive to run in the end. Sold and broke even thankfully. So now we rent the nicest place within our budget and have no expenses or responsibility.

Sorry to be a wet blanket here. Just giving my experience.

Killylastin

Thanks for the heads up folks!