Buying a Property in Morocco - Your essential guide to purchasing, letting, selling and living in the world's hottest new destination. PDF
Preview Buying a Property in Morocco - Your essential guide to purchasing, letting, selling and living in the world's hottest new destination.
Other Living and Working Abroad titles from How To Books Live and Work in Turkey France: A Handbook for New Residents Live and Work in Brazil Live and Work in France Live and Work in Greece For full details, please send for a free copy of the latest catalogue to: How To Books Spring Hill House, Spring Hill Road, Begbroke Oxford OX5 1RX, United Kingdom infoVhowtobooks.co.uk www.howtobooks.co.uk Published by How To Content, A division of How To Books Ltd, Spring Hill House, Spring Hill Road, Begbroke, Oxford OX5 1RX, United Kingdom. Tel: (01865) 375794. Fax: (01865) 379162. info_howtobooks.co.uk www.howtobooks.co.uk How To Books greatly reduce the carbon footprint of their books by sourcing their typesetting and printing in the UK. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced or stored in an information retrieval system (other than for purposes of review) without the express permission of the publisher in writing. The right of Leaonne Hall to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted by her in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. @ 2008 Leaonne Hall First published in electronic form 2008 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978 184803 264 4 Cover design by Baseline Arts Ltd, Oxford Produced for How To Books by Deer Park Productions, Tavistock, Devon Typeset by TW Typesetting, Plymouth, Devon NOTE: The material contained in this book is set out in good faith for general guidance and no liability can be accepted for loss or expense incurred as a result of relying in particular circumstances on statements made in the book. The laws and regulations are complex and liable to change, and readers should check the current position with the relevant authorities before making personal arrangements. Contents Acknowledgements ix Preface xi Country fact file xiii 1 Introduction to Morocco 1 Buying abroad and what it can offer 1 Why buy in Morocco? 3 A brief history of Morocco 7 Politics and economy 11 Geography and population 13 Climate 15 Religion 16 Language 18 Food and drink 18 The culture shock 21 Morocco’s tourist development 24 Getting there, flights and airports 25 2 What to buy in Morocco 29 Old properties and renovations 30 New properties and developments 34 Land and rural properties 42 3 Where to buy in Morocco 47 An overview of the property market 47 Morocco’s regions 52 v BUYING A PROPERTY IN MOROCCO Property focus: The Atlantic coast 54 Property focus: Fès 58 Property focus: Casablanca 63 Property focus: Marrakesh 72 Property focus: Essaouira 78 Property focus: Atlas Mountains and ski resorts 83 Property focus: Saïdia and Mediterranean coast 86 Property focus: Rabat and Salé 93 Property focus: Agadir and surrounds 95 Property focus: Tangier 101 Property focus: Plan Azur resorts 105 4 Finding a home 108 Fixing your budget 108 Researching the purchase 111 Finding an estate agent 113 Factors to consider when choosing a location 116 Trying before you buy 119 5 Finance and taxation 121 Financing your purchase 121 Opening a bank account 126 Moroccan taxes 128 6 The buying process 135 Differences between the buying process in Morocco and the UK 135 Surveys and inspections 137 The buying procedure: the basic steps to buying a property 138 Buying land 145 Buying a new build 147 Buying multiple properties 149 Final checklist 149 vi CONTENTS 7 Letting your property 151 Buy-to-let properties 151 Short- or long-term? 153 The importance of location 155 Setting a price 157 Furnishing the property 158 Marketing 159 Using a management company 161 Legal issues 162 8 Building and renovating 163 Obtaining a building permit 163 VAT 165 Renovating 165 Building 166 Employing professionals 167 9 Relocating yourself and your family 171 Visas, residency and permits 171 Removals 175 Importing your car 176 Taking your pets 177 Relocating with your family 178 Relocation checklist 178 10 Living in Morocco 183 Daily life and people 183 Cost of living 184 Utilities 184 Insurance 189 Healthcare 189 Working and the work ethic 190 Starting a business in Morocco 191 Benefits and social security payments 193 Retirement 194 vii BUYING A PROPERTY IN MOROCCO Education 195 Driving and buying a car 197 Getting around 198 Learning the language 199 Shopping 200 Post 202 Crime 202 Appendices Appendix 1 Directory of useful contacts 205 Appendix 2 Moroccan property matrix 216 Appendix 3 Useful information 221 Appendix 4 Glossary and useful phrases 224 Index 231 viii Acknowledgements My thanks go to Mark Wheatley for all his help and support throughout this project. I would also like to thank Loïc Raboteau and the team at The International Property Law Centre, and Matthew Weston and the team at Blevins Frank for all the information and help they supplied. Thanks also go to Frances McKay at estate agents Francophiles, Adam Cornwell of GEM Estates, Peter Weedon and Steve Burns of Compass Properties, and to Sarah Chambers of holiday-rentals.co.uk. Heartfelt thanks also go to Nathalie Roberts for checking my school-girl French! ix
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