Purchasing buy-to-let in French border towns near Geneva

Real Estate
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Hi! Looking at the investment opportunity of buying a house in French towns near Geneva - it appears great, but am I missing something?

First I should say (to give context) that I did, but I no longer live in Switzerland. I have a couple of properties in the EU, and I myself live in the EU. This has also made it relatively easy to get a French mortgage. I lived in Geneva, so I know the surrounding area. Have done 4 property purchases to date, but never in France. Already have shares… but we choose property as our primary investment strategy. If the rent pays for the mortgage and costs, we see it as a ‘free’ house in 20 years. I know that will raise controversy to say :blush:, but it is our strategy we have been doing for some time now.

Upsides to the strategy:

  • Much lower cost to buy that in Switzerland. Can buy a house for 800k euro (approx. our budget)
  • Geneva has a huge expat population for the non governmental organizations. People are often there for a few years and therefore want to rent, not buy - good rental base
  • Mortgage terms appear good. Low deposit required, good interest rate
  • Could also look at some of the more touristy towns to give an AirBnb option (where there are no restrictions)
  • Various methods for French taxation that can allow to deduct mortgage interest and others: Revenue fanciers, micro-BIC, régime reel
  • No double tax issues with France.

Cons:

  • “Zone tendue”, in many, but not all towns, can only increase rent by inflation. This one concerns me the most.
  • Not super landlord friendly. Can get more flexibility by making it furnished, and therefore 1 year lease options. Or even AirBnB, but less friendly these days (Annecy no longer an option it seems.)
  • Most tourist places, e.g. Yvoire are too far for commuters. Hard to find ‘best of both worlds places’
  • Capital growth???

There are many people on this forum who know more about this than me, and can probably advise what I might be missing… or that this is a good strategy?

Thanks :blush:

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AirBnB in France is on shaky grounds these days.

Bought an appartment near the border years ago which has been on AirbBnB (not the original plan, but I disgress…). Business is there but the regulatory environment is getting more hostile year after year. The much advertised cancellation of the “taxe d’habitation” (while keeping fonciere) - well, it didn’t happen for “secondary residences”, to the contrary, eyewatering surcharges were levied because supposedly you are taking housing off the market (or perhaps the lost revenues had to be made up for somehow). Registration requirements coming in. Maximum revenue threshold (€23k p.a., dependent on the tax scheme) before you fall into another scheme with frictional costs attached. No yearly rental limit yet but communes can introduce them at will, it seems.

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That may soon change… https://lenews.ch/2025/08/15/international-geneva-in-crisis-where-do-we-go-from-here/

(by itself is an interesting topic for discussion)

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