Discussing the Dollar - the time is now!

Flavour of the month is the drop in the dollar. I'm constantly emailed by clients and those poised to invest here who are teetering on the edge but waiting for the dollar to improve. Sadly for them, as Moloko said, the time is now. En mon avis and plenty of finance professionals, it looks like it won't and by the time they make the plunge, the Paris property prices will be on the move.

I read on Bonjour Paris this week that New Orleans, native Timothy Ramier, a specialist in International Tax, Trust & Estate Law says, ‘People are waiting for the Paris real estate market to take a dive, but it appears to be more rumor than reality. Compared to London, New York, Tokyo, Moscow and some other major cities, Paris real estate is a bargain.”

This I'd have to agree with and since we have our very own Maggie Thatcher (in drag of course) it's highly unlikely that his free market reforms are going to have anything other then a positive effect on property prices.

Ramier agrees with me: “Sarkozy promised the French a change and that’s what they’re going to get. People are upbeat that the new President is going to give a major boost to the economy. “

I'd also agree with his comments on the French attitude to borrowing and debt (which is helpful to understand when you are being grilled on your incomings and outgoings and assembling sheaves of paperwork for your French mortgage application).....still it's worth it. You'll not only obtain a better rate of interest in France than the US but you postpone the need to move the full value of your purchase into euros. Then, when the exchange rate improves, you can pay off your mortgage if you choose.

"French and European banks don’t want to be in the business of repossessing property. They aren’t into foreclosures and insist if they’re issuing a mortgage, the borrower take out a life insurance policy to cover the debt. With the advent of an increasing number of EU banks establishing offices in Paris, the lending market has become more competitive. But skip the idea of putting only 5% down.

The average duration of a mortgage is twenty years, and buyers are required to invest at least 25% (ACTUALLY WE'D SAY MORE LIKE 20%) of the cost of the property – unless they’re long-time clients and have a substantial portfolio with the lending bank. Contrasted with the US, most French citizens don’t live on credit. The majority have debit cards and don’t say, “Charge it” thus incurring bills and interest payments galore."

Here's a bit more about this I wrote earlier this year in Spend, Spend, Spend.