Once they decide to buy a property in France the first question that most people ask themselves is "Does the house come before the French mortgage or does the mortgage come before the house"? Should they find their dream home and then try and arrange a mortgage and risk being disappointed or should they try and arrange a mortgage at a French rate on a property they haven't yet found and then search for a property, mortgage in hand?

In practice neither approach is very satisfactory. Finding the house first makes it very much easier to fill in the mortgage forms but if you then can't find a French mortgage the disappointment would be considerable. Finding the French mortgage first is often not possible because most French mortgage providers have difficulty in offering a french mortgage on something that can't be described to them because it hasn't yet been found and French rates change. What should you do?

Quite simply, fill in the mortgage application form describing the type of property you will be looking for. For exemple if you are looking for an old farmhouse to renovatesay just that in 'comments'; stating how much you think the property and the renovations might cost. We at CAFPI will then process your application as if it was a French full mortgage application and we will tell you if our banking partners would "in principle" grant a French mortgage and on what terms. We will also tell you the maximum French mortgage you would be granted on the type of property you describe.

Better still, we will issue you with a CAFPI pre-approval certificate. This will enable you to be confident that when you find your dream home, provided it is broadly as described in your application, we will be able to obtain the mortgage you need at the French mortgage rate you prefer. You will be clear as to exactly how much you can afford to pay for your French property and what the loan monthly repayments will be.

The best news though is that it will enable your estate agent to be sure that he is dealing with a real prospective customer who has already arranged the funds to make the purchase and not a "time waster" with a dream but no serious intention to buy. That way you will get much more enthusiastic help from the agent, get to see the best properties and get the keenest price as you are in the same position as a cash buyer having already pre-arranged your French mortgage.