Buying a Mobile Home in France - 1st Step or Wrong Step?

France is the most popular holiday destination on the planet. 70 million people visit every year, the same number as the entire population. Many visitors come time and time again and for some of them a mobile home in France is an attractive idea.

It's easy to see why. It's not as expensive as buying a house in France yet it gives you somewhere quite permanent if you've found an area you like.

While mobile homes aren't huge, modern design makes very efficient use of the space available and if you're only going to be here for a few weeks a year you don't need a palace - although to be honest some of them are bordering on palatial with good kitchen areas, lounges, even en-suite bathrooms in some.

A lot of people also look at them as a possible first step on the housing ladder in France.

Well I hate to rain on your parade but if you're one of the last group, forget it. Keep your money in your pocket and save up because if there's one thing a mobile home in France isn't, it's an investment. Unfortunately there is absolutely no way at all that you will ever make money from its re-sale.

I don't say that to discourage you, I say it as a warning. If you want to buy a mobile home in France as a holiday destination and you love to return to the same area year after year, go right ahead. It can be a very cost-effective and comfortable way to do it.

You also have the added bonus of it being available for family and friends. Some of them might want to make a contribution to the upkeep, which will further reduce your costs. All in all a pretty good idea. Relatively cheap, convenient holidays. Nothing wrong with that at all.

But as an investment or a first step on the French housing market it's a non starter. For one thing, much like a new car the value drops like a stone once you've bought them. I know of one couple who bought at 15,000 and were offered just 1,000 three short years later.

Admittedly they'd got a very bad deal, with a site that had very dubious selling rules, but that's another cautionary tale. When this couple wanted to sell their mobile home themselves, not through the site owners, they had to move it off site! To where do you suppose?

Of course they couldn't do that, so they had to sell via the agents who wanted a big slice of the pie. There are rumors, although unproven, that the potential buyers, who offered a very low amount, would turn out to be relatives of the site owners and so the whole thing was a set-up.

Worse still, not selling is hardly an option because the ground rent they had to pay every year soon became more than the residual value of the mobile home!

Now I don't want this article just to be a scare story about all the things that can go wrong when you're buying a mobile home in France. There are, of course, many reputable sites and many honest agents. Choose carefully and read all the small print and you could have a delightful home for many, many pleasant holidays here.

However, if eventually buying a permanent home in France is part of your decision, please think again. Think hard about whether you can actually afford to go the whole hog and buy a 'real' property in France straight away. Alternatively perhaps continue to visit different parts of France and get a better view of the French property market whilst keeping the bulk of your savings in a nice high interest account for now.

Jeff Seems is an Englishman living in France. He is author of the very popular French Property Buyer's Guide, which is vital reading for anyone thinking of a buying a home in France.