Tax on buying an apartment should be around 7.1%, and this includes all taxes and solicitors fees. I do not see where you get VAT issue from, the 85% mortgage covers the price of purchase including agency fees. Thanks to strict French credit controls, there shouldn't be any more problem getting a mortgage this year over last year (though variable rates are higher). You need to show your repayments are less than 1/3 of your net income though. I got my mortgage through mortgagefrance, one of the posters below, and they took care of all the paperwork for me.

Yield should be about 8% if you get a good deal. This is renting via seasonal lets. It depends on (a) your purchase price and (b) the rental management company you use. You can estimate 4-5% yield if you want to be safe. Of course you can increase yield by buying a complete wreck and renovating it yourself. Example: if you buy in the Carre d'Or (the most rentable part of Nice) then a one bedroom 45-55m2 is around 250,000 euros. The prices vary between 4,000e/m2 and 6,000/m2. The latter will be a completely renovated apartment in a prestigious road. You should be able to rent this out at around £550 (700e) per month at peak and £400 (500e) off-peak (figures from HolidayLettings web site). A reasonable management company should be able to rent out 35 weeks per year, so let's say 25 per year to be conservative. This will pull in 16k/annun. This gives you a 6.5% gross yield. If you get the right advice on choosing the property you should be able to improve on this. Out of that a rental management company will take between 15% and 25% depending on the services you ask for.

I would say it is still a good time to buy in Nice but there isn't the same urgency as when prices were rocketing up a couple of years ago. Prices will still go up but more slowly. To answer ady, no you can't get anything any more for 65k. The cheapest rentable place you can get in the Old Town is about 115k. I personally wouldn't recommend Old Town at the moment as the price/value ratio isn't as good as many of the other areas.

In response to Camel's last post, I would say that it's hard to say how long it would be best to wait. If you wait then the £ may increase (though if you are getting a full mortgage this does not make that much difference) though on the other hand now there are some bargains to be had whilst the French hold off buying until Sarkozy's new house-buying-friendly laws come into effect.

Phillip.
Disclaimer: I work for the independent Nice property broker Med In Heaven