La French Rentrée est Enfin ... Arrivée

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It’s the end of summer and time for the august bank holiday weekend (UK), usually wet and often spent to prepare to return to work and school.

In France we call it ‘la rentrée’ and french media tend to focus on the costs of returning back to school, grown ups on what the autumn fashion may look like this year and getting the right shoes (or school shirts) in time.

La Rentrée des Classes

Needless to say that this ‘rentrée 2020’ is going to be different with the announcement that kids in France from the age of 11 are going to wear face masks in class, as well as during break times due to the pandemic situation.

September is also ‘la rentrée des classes’ for politicians who will be working flat out on Brexit with only a few months to go until the December deadline. We’d like to think a deal will be struck at the 11th hour, more than necessity than by will, but this remains to be seen in what has already been the strangest year for decades.

Winter is Coming

Many of our international clients are planning to come this autumn (europeans) and winter when the pandemic situation has hopefully improved and we think after the elections for US buyers and investors.

If the bad weather is keeping you inside or you fancy a read with your coffee, here’s a selection of articles from our Blog that may be useful as fall is upon us.

Better Weather Please

Starting with the number one priority for most buyers particularly brits, the climate and what is the best areas to buy while we share why September is our favorite month of the year (in France bien sur). But we know that most won’t be able to travel until winter, some even not before next year we understand.

A Word on International Schools

For most kids moving to France there’s no need to consider international schools when the children are at a young age. However, you may want to research higher education & international schools for later on and for teenagers.

French Mortgages & Financing Chateaux

If you need to borrow to finance the purchase of your French house, we cannot stress enough the importance of researching French mortgages. If you are likely to be approved? What is the down payment? the different repayments options?

Failing to do this will result in costly trips, months of frustrating correspondance with lenders and often, the end result being missing out on the property. Those banks much prefer to lend for residential projects, rather than for income properties and they are not keen on financing chateaux projects.

House Hunting During Covid

It’s really important to make the most of this time to learn about France, it’s regions, the buying process so that you are ready when you come, and don’t miss out on that perfect house, we hear this all the time.

We have recently started labelling some of the property for which we are able to provide videos and/or virtual tours. These have been very helpful for some overseas buyers and have contributed to sales during the lockdown period.

If you are planning to travel to France , ensure that you check the advice from your own country as they get updated on a daily basis and will vary from country to country. Here’s the advice from CdG airport for travellers flying into Paris, and from Eurostar for those taking the train or their car on the Eurotunnel.

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