• Buying in: Val D’isère
• Property price: €5,000,000
• Loan amount: €4,850,000
• Mortgage type: Refinance (Interest Only) *
• Interest rate: 3.80% *
• LTV: 97%
• Term: 15

The background

Two brothers-in-law co-owned their large chalets in Val d’Isere. They financed their 2 chalets via a private bank. They wanted to transfer the two chalets to their own SARL (French limited liability business) and take out a larger mortgage in order to avoid French property wealth tax.

Our Approach

While the initial expenses (notary fees) are substantial, the benefits of avoiding the French property wealth tax and other advantages such as inheritance tax outweigh them. We collaborate with a few private banks in order to customize a deal to their specific needs. It was an unusual procedure and a reality check in what private banks can do in contrast to retail banks: the SARL was actually owned by UK businesses, which is typically not permitted. 

We discovered a problem with the conformity of the properties throughout the procedure (meaning that the properties were slightly different than the plans and the city hall had not agreed with it).

As a result, we had to seek legal advice and the assistance of an architect in order to get it amended. Thus, the properties comply with all applicable urban regulations.

Without this procedure, if there was damage (like a fire), the insurance company might just have refused to pay for repairs / renovations.

* The rate / the product may differ to what is currently offered since this mortgage has been agreed.