Trumped Up Reasons to Move to France

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Donald Trump, Marine Le Pen

POST ELECTION NOTES

It took 24 hours to get over the initial shock of the outcome of the U.S. presidential election. That’s today, but in yesterday’s Parler Paris Nouvellettre® when the tears were still flowing, I thanked Mr. Trump for three things:

* He made me appreciate my residence in France even more than I had before.
* I realized how far we had come in achieving equal rights and how precious those rights are.
* Sending us more Americans and other Expats to France.

The negative and positive results are to be seen as he moves into the White House, appoints his cabinet and begins setting up relationships with other world leaders.

National Front leader Marine Le Pen is naturally quite encouraged by the outcome. President François Hollande issued a letter to Mr. Trump congratulating him, but said the result “now opens a period of uncertainty” and previously said about Trump: “His excesses make you want to retch, even in the United States.”

Today’s FPI reacts to the outcome of the election, too…

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POPULAR VOTE OR ELECTORAL COLLEGE

November 7, 2012, Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) said, “The electoral college is a disaster for a democracy.” It’s funny considering that Hillary Clinton took a majority of the popular vote with 59,923,027 votes (47.7%) compared to Donald J. Trump with 59,692,974 votes (47.5%), but lost the Electoral College vote. Now we have to face the consequences of the decision of the American people.

This only happened on four other occasions:

    1824: John Quincy Adams
    1876: Rutherford B. Hayes
    1888: Benjamin Harrison
    2000: George W. Bush
    
If you agree with Donald, and think the Electoral College should be abolished, then sign the petition to end it.

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Carl Mir, of Mir Enterprises, U.S. Tax Consulting & Expat Financial Services jokingly reminds us that regardless of how we voted, all Americans must file their U.S. taxes for the next four years!

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Moneycorp Market update: Trump victory jolts markets
November 9, 2016
 

Currency Fluctuations This Week

A 13% plunge in the value of the Mexican peso and a 5% decline in Japanese equity prices appeared to show investors were not fully prepared for a Donald Trump win.

Investors initial reactions included selling equities, selling commodity-related and emerging-market currencies. Nobody knows quite what a Trump presidency will mean for the global economy, let alone for currency and capital markets, but many fear it will have negative implications.

The US dollar also took a hit, plunging 2.6% against the yen, meanwhile, the euro rallied to its highest level in two-months, climbing 1.8%. Investors piled into safe-haven assets and gold saw its biggest daily rally since the Brexit vote, as investors rejected risky assets.

The most liquid currency pair is the euro/dollar as the euro is a popular choice for investors when there is uncertainty around the dollar. After losing a cent against the euro this morning, sterling has gained 2.8% compared with the low of the day.
 
Turbulence in financial markets has now calmed as investors have reassessed the effects of Donald Trump’s victory in the U.S. presidential election. Policy-makers in government and commerce will now have to reassess strategy and central banks rethink their monetary stance.

The Federal Reserve has less than a month to work out how to respond to the election before it makes its next policy decision. Thus far the assumption has been that the Funds Rate would be raised by a quarter of a percentage point.  That assumption may no longer be valid.

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OVERTAXATION ON PROPERTY — SECONDARY OR VACANT

The English Google translation for “Paris prête à surtaxer les résidences” is “Paris ready to OVERtax second homes and empty housing.” That was the title of an article in Le Figaro Immobilier this past Monday. It’s not really meant as “over” tax, but that’s basically what they did — vote in an increase of taxes on second homes and vacant dwellings in an additional effort to reduce their housing shortage, but it won’t take effect until it is endorsed by Parliament.

According to the article, there is an estimated number of 90,000 secondary residences in the city which Socialist Mayor Anne Hidalgo would like to convert to primary residences, if she had her druthers. Currently the tax is set at 20%, but she believes it’s far too low to encourage owners to rent or sell. She also wants to increase the tax on vacant housing, which is estimated at about 100,000 properties in the city, currently set at 12.5% of the cadastral rental value.

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THE TRUMP AFFECT ON REAL ESTATE

The U.S. market is speculating as to how the impending Trump presidency will affect U.S. real estate. Thomas Mitchell, staff writer of Inman.com, believes he will “use housing as a vehicle to lead economic recovery” by boosting home ownership and deregulating the financial market and building regulations. One way to boost home ownership is by making it easier to borrow money. (Of course, we saw the ills of that resulting in the financial crash of 2008.) His tough immigration policy, however, may adversely affect the market in areas that rely on overseas investors. Read the article in its entirety.

Here in France, we believe the election of Donald Trump will affect the market due to the increased numbers of Americans seeking a life outside of the U.S. and that France will be one of the primary destinations. This will boost foreign investment in France and increased immigration — the kind that France welcomes, from well-educated, monied Americans. If there is a higher demand on real estate, property prices will surely increase.  

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LIVING AND INVESTING IN FRANCE

If before the election you were thinking and dreaming about having a home in France, living here or investing in France, then now’s the perfect time to act on your dreams. Here are a few facts to help you decide.

* Owning real estate does not require a visa of any kind.
* You may stay in France 90 days without a visa.
* A long stay visa is easily obtainable.
* Legal residents in France can participate in the social security system and take advantage of the universal health care.
* Although not simple or easy, there are many different ways to acquire the right to work in France.
* Low interest mortgages (under 2%) to non-residents are obtainable in France.
* The cost of living in France compared to the U.S. is much lower (numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp):

* Consumer Prices in United States are 0.97% lower than in France
* Consumer Prices Including Rent in United States are 12.65% higher than in France
* Rent Prices in United States are 55.53% higher than in France
* Restaurant Prices in United States are 5.99% lower than in France
* Groceries Prices in United States are 6.77% higher than in France
* Local Purchasing Power in United States is 48.60% higher than in France

Paris vs New York

You would need around 6,656.82€ (7,256.58$) in New York, NY to maintain the same standard of life that you can have with 4,300€ in Paris (assuming you rent in both cities). This calculation uses the Numbeo Cost of Living Plus Rent Index to compare cost of living. This assumes net earnings (after income tax).

* Consumer Prices in New York, NY are 20.50% higher than in Paris
* Consumer Prices Including Rent in New York, NY are 54.81% higher than in Paris
* Rent Prices in New York, NY are 125.39% higher than in Paris
* Restaurant Prices in New York, NY are 21.59% higher than in Paris
* Groceries Prices in New York, NY are 28.91% higher than in Paris
* Local Purchasing Power in New York, NY is 5.02% higher than in Paris

If you are interested in making a move to France, or investing here, visit our consultaion page or property consultation page  and let us help you make your dreams come true.

A bientôt,

Adrian Leeds
The Adrian Leeds Group

Respond to Adrian: [email protected]

 

 

 

 

 

 P.S. There will be no French Property Insider issue on Thursday, November 24th, for Thanksgiving! We’ll be busy eating turkey! Hope you will be, too.