Is Leaseback the same as Timeshare?
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Absolutely not! When timeshare is purchased, all you get are specific periods of time to use at certain locations over a set number of years. Once the term comes to an end, you are left with nothing. When you purchase a Leaseback property, you are the actual freehold owner of the property who has simply entered into a lease agreement with a management company. In essence, the management company is your tenant for the duration of the leaseback contract. Upon completion of the leaseback agreement, the property is yours to do with as you wish. The only similarity is that during the lease, you can only use the property during specific timeframes.
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What happens if I have to sell the property before the end of the Leaseback term?
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As freehold owner, it is your right to sell it at any time. It is important to consider, however, that you would be obliged to sell the property with the remainder of the Lease term, and whatever period remaining on the lease should be reflected in the sale price. In addition, selling before the end of the lease agreement means that a proportion of the VAT discount must be refunded to the Government (1/20th of VAT for every year before 20 years). If you sell within a lease the price of the property will relate to the rent. If you want to sell it as a normal property you have to refuse renewal of the lease (subject to French law). This is a very grey area too complex to describe here, so we suggest you read our forum or contact us direct to discuss.
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Who maintains and takes care of the utilities for my property during the Leaseback period?
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The management company looks after all the properties in the development. Because of the strictly enforced standards required by the government, all properties and their grounds must be maintained in a condition compatible with the official standard of the residence. The management company is also responsible for paying most of the utility, upkeep, and general maintenance bills of the property during the term. This will be explicity defined in the bail (lease agreement), but for the majority of leasebacks the owner will pay some co-ownership fees and the taxe fonciere. For new builds owners are exempt from paying part of the taxe fonciere for the 1st 2 years.
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Why is there a discount on the purchase price?
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The French government invented the Leaseback program, which gives tax breaks to developers in order to encourage them to build 'Residence de Tourisme' developments. This discount (VAT refund) is then redistributed to purchasers as an incentive to attract investors. This program was created because of the high importance tourism holds in the French economy. Today, there is a great shortage of summer holiday accommodation and France earns a significant amount of its GNP from tourism – as the number one tourist destination in the world.
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Am I able to live in my own property when I book my holiday time, and what about off seasons?
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As long as you have booked on time, you will most certainly be able to live in your own property. If you are late in booking, however, you may have to take accomodation in a similar property. Keep in mind, however, that the management company always accomodates the owners. Your property is also available during off seasons, but a small fee may be charged or discount given on the public rental price from the management company.
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What happens if I can't use or wish to use more than my allocated weeks?
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If you can’t use your specified weeks, it is quite common for owners to sub-let their property, although this type of arrangement must be done privately. Be aware - some leases restrict this. If you desire to use more weeks than what is normally alotted, it is common practice for the management company to offer a discounted rate on any extra weeks you may require.
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How is the rental income guaranteed?
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The rental income is guaranteed by the management company throughout the leaseback period and is usually paid quarterly in arrears (this may vary by contract). The management companies are established, usually very large holiday accomodation companies with a substantial numbers of clients, assets, and a strong portfolio.
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What happens at the end of the Leaseback period?
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Again, as freehold owner of the property, the property is yours to do with as you wish. Sell it or negotiate a new lease with the management company. You cannot live in a leaseback or use it yourself unless you refuse renewal of the lease which may have further implications (discussed in the forum).
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Is it possible that I would get a higher rental return if I bought the property outright and rented?
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Generally yes, but there are five important points to consider. First, your rental income would not be guaranteed, so you would be subject to all fluctuations in the accomodation market. Second, if you decide to find and use your own management company, you will find that the normal charge for services can be up to 25% of all your rentals. Third, you will be responsible for all advertising costs to attract renters, maintenance bills, pool cleaning, gardening, utility bills, cleaning, changeover costs, and property emergencies. Fourth, classic properties have purchase costs of approximately 10% including stamp duties, legal and mortgage fees, etc., whereas Leaseback purchase costs are only about 4 to 5%. And fifth, classic properties must be furnished and are likely to require renovation before rental is possible. With Leaseback all properties are furnished and either brand new or recently renovated.
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How much cash would I need upfront in order to buy a Leaseback, as opposed to a Classic property?
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With a leaseback you are looking at a 20 to 30% downpayment of TTC plus 3% cost of acquisition : a rough total of 23 to 33% of the TTC price, or 7 to 17% if the VAT is deducted at the time of purchase (rather than later refund). With a classic property you can count on a 20 to 30% deposit, 10% cost of acquisition, 5 to 15% renovation costs (kitchen, bathroom, etc.), and 5 to 10% for furnishings: a grand total of 40 to 65% of the purchase price.
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Does my upload file have a size limit?
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Note Maximum file size is 3MB. That may mean very little to some of you. But as a rough guide, if you have a digital camera it probably has a mark on it indicating the maximum picture size it can handle. e.g. 3 megapixel. This is the same as saying 3 MB (unabreviated 3 megabyte). Unless you take photography very seriously you are likely to take pictures using the 2 MB or 1MB setting. If you take a picture with your camera set at 2MB, the resultant image file is not 2MB large - it will be less than 2MB - on average even less than 1MB. So for the majority of you you need not ever worry about exceeding the max file size. If in doubt just try to load it. If our system cannot load your file you will be given a reason.
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Why can't I login?
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You may have forgotton your password or do not have your cookies enabled. If you have forgotten your password click on the "forgotten password" link to request a new one. To see if you have cookies enabled on your browser follow the instruction below.
If you are using Internet Explorer:
Go to the Tools/Internet Option. Then click on Security, now click on the custom button. Scroll down to Cookies and check to see if they are enabled.
If you are using Netscape Navigator:
From the Edit menu, choose Preferences. Click the Advanced category. Click the radio buttons. "Accept all cookies".
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How long will it take to upload my file?
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Let's imagine you have a file of size 1MB . If you access the internet using a normal telephone line then in theory your line will typically have a max download "speed" of 56Kb/sec (56 Kilobits per second) and a max upload speed of 33.6Kb/sec. It is the upload speed that dictates how long your file will take to load. In practice due to many factors (e.g. other users using the line, noise on the line etc) your line will likely operate at an average upload speed of 15Kb/sec which means your 1MB file will take roughly 8 minutes to upload. So be wary of loading a large file if you are using a telephone line. If you know how to reduce the size of your file then do so. If you have scanned a photograph then please read the scanner topic. If you use ADSL or IDSN your upload speed will be considerably faster e.g if you use an ADSL line then your upload speed due to many factors (e.g. other users sharing your line) will likely be in the region of 128Kb-256Kb/sec. So as a rough guidline you will
be able to upload the same file in one tenth of the time.
Boop will display a progress bar showing you the progress of your upload and it will estimate how long your file will take to load, so you can always be assured that something is happening.
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Why can't I register?
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You may have forgotton your password or do not have your cookies enabled. If you have forgotten your password click on the "forgotten password" link to request a new one. To see if you have cookies enabled on your browser follow the instruction below.
If you are using Internet Explorer:
Go to the Tools/Internet Option. Then click on Security, now click on the custom button. Scroll down to Cookies and check to see if they are enabled.
If you are using Netscape Navigator:
From the Edit menu, choose Preferences. Click the Advanced category. Click the radio buttons. "Accept all cookies".
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I have a scanner - What file type and resolution do you recommend I use?
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A standard photograph scanned at 300 d.p.i. will produce a large file which may take several minutes to upload to our site (depending on the speed of your web connection). This will work. But a picture scanned at 100 d.p.i. will require a much smaller file and consequently will load much faster. It would be difficult for the human eye to tell the difference between the resulting pictures on the site. If you have the option then save your file as jpg or jpeg. If you have to save your file as tif then save it at 100 d.p.i.
The tif file must be uncompressed.
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How do I get a picture?
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You have several options:
· Digital camera - a digital camera lets you take a picture of your item and immediately have it in digital format, ready to transfer directly to or edit with your computer. Your digital camera will come with instructions on how to transfer (upload) photos to your computer.
· Normal camera and scanner - take a picture with a film camera, have it developed, and then use a scanner to convert your picture into an electronic image.
· Film-to-digital-image service - you can get digital images made from your rolls of film. Most photo processors will also provide this service. Just ask for a copy of your photographs on CD.
·Mobile phone - many mobile phones now have the technology to take photos. Your telephone will come with instructions on how to transfer (upload) photos to your computer.
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How do I make my text look better?
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You can use html to format your text. We will detail a few examples to make your advert more effective:
If you want to insert a new line then use <br>
e.g. first line<br>second line<br>
or
first line<br>
second line<br>
will look like:
first line
second line
If you want to make text darker then use <b> before your text and </b> after your text.
e.g. first <b>line</b><br>
second line<br>
will look like:
first line
second line
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How do I enable cookies?
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How to activate cookies in Internet Explorer 5 or earlier
- On the desktop of your computer, go to the Control Panel. Find the Internet Options icon and double click it. If you are not sure how to get to your Control Panel you can click your Windows start button, go to settings and choose Control Panel.
- A new screen will appear. Click on the Security tab then click on the Custom Level button.
- Another new screen will appear. Scroll down until you see the area which says Cookies. Make sure you have both sections set to Enable cookies.
How to activate cookies in Internet Explorer 6/XP
- On the desktop of your computer, go to the Control Panel. Find the Internet Options icon and double click it. If you are not sure how to get to your Control Panel you can click your Windows start button, go to settings and choose Control Panel.
- A new screen will appear. Click the Privacy tab. You should either see a slider similar to the one pictured below, or the word custom
(if you see the word custom, follow the instructions for advanced users instead).
- By default, this should be set to medium, if it is all the way at the top, move it down until the word medium is displayed, as this is the highest level which will allow the ezboard login cookie to work properly. Click OK, close all your open IE6 windows, and restart IE.
Instructions for advanced Users
- If you have not followed steps 1-2 above, do so now. Click the Advanced... button.
- Check Override automatic cookie handling and select Accept under both "First party Cookies" and "Third party Cookies."
Also, Check "Always allow session cookies."
- Click OK out of internet options - close all your open IE6 windows, and restart IE.
Alternate instructions for those who require the medium-high or high privacy options
- In the Privacy tab, click Edit... in the Web Sites section.
- In The Address of Web Site box, type in http://www.boop.co.uk
then click Allow. This will enable all servers in the ezboard.com domain to set and read cookies unless you have the privacy settings explicitly set to block or allow all cookies.
- Click OK out of Internet Options – close all your open IE6 windows, and restart IE.
How to activate cookies in Netscape
- Launch your Netscape program. On the toolbar go to Edit then choose Preferences.
- A new screen will appear. Click on the Advanced tab, then look under the Cookies area to make sure you have Accept all Cookies enabled.
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How long will it take to upload my file?
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Let's imagine you have a file of size 1MB . If you access the internet using a normal telephone line then in theory your line will typically have a max download "speed" of 56Kb/sec (56 Kilobits per second) and a max upload speed of 33.6Kb/sec. It is the upload speed that dictates how long your file will take to load. In practice due to many factors (e.g. other users using the line, noise on the line etc) your line will likely operate at an average upload speed of 15Kb/sec which means your 1MB file will take roughly 8 minutes to upload. So be wary of loading a large file if you are using a telephone line. If you know how to reduce the size of your file then do so. If you have scanned a photograph then please read the scanner topic. If you use ADSL or IDSN your upload speed will be considerably faster e.g if you use an ADSL line then your upload speed due to many factors (e.g. other users sharing your line) will likely be in the region of 128Kb-256Kb/sec. So as a rough guidline you will
be able to upload the same file in one tenth of the time.
Boop will display a progress bar showing you the progress of your upload and it will estimate how long your file will take to load, so you can always be assured that something is happening.
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