Buying in Morocco

[LOUKIC]

Hi,

It has been a long time we has interesting posts in Morocco.".

This type of investment can be very profitable but requires personal involvement.
You need to have good contacts a notaire, an architect, an accountant and also a legal advisor/lawyer. Due diligence (deeds, survey) must be carried out on the property. You also need to consider the purchase structure (individual name, company name...).

The most difficult part in terms of procedures is the application for authorisation to run the property as a guest house or "chambres meublées". The Town Hall requires list of documents such as plans, habitation licence or "certificat de conformité", deeds, "avis favorable de la protection civile". The Town Hall is very slow to process applications.

[bess]

The medina in Tetouan is like was Marrakech twenty years ago, some wonderful riads just falling down for lack of interest. I hate to see it and hope somone interested in restoring them would see what a bargain they are and catch them before it is too late.

[goldcoast]

Originally Posted by LOUKIC

Hi,

It has been a long time we has interesting posts in Morocco. I am a French legal advisor. I have been assisting clients in purchasing properties in Marrakech and setting up guest houses or "chambres meublées".

This type of investment can be very profitable but requires personal involvement.
You need to have good contacts a notaire, an architect, an accountant and also a legal advisor/lawyer. Due diligence (deeds, survey) must be carried out on the property. You also need to consider the purchase structure (individual name, company name...).

The most difficult part in terms of procedures is the application for authorisation to run the property as a guest house or "chambres meublées". The Town Hall requires list of documents such as plans, habitation licence or "certificat de conformité", deeds, "avis favorable de la protection civile". The Town Hall is very slow to process applications.

Absolutely I agree, it is a very profitable investment; the catch is that it does require personal involvement. More than notaire, architect and accountant you need people you can trust, people that would work towords your interests and somebody else's. I also believe that, even if you decide to try to be compliant 100% with the law, you would still have to be prepared to face corruption and still buy what you feel it is your right. Everything I have done so far to build up my business in Fes, I have done it following the rules; it did not help much and still had to bribe people to get things done. I have waited one year at eight months to get my title from the "Conservation Fonciere". I have followed by the letter the "Dahir du 9 Ramadan 1331" which regulates the immatriculation of properties and nothing was happening. I hired a lawyer and sent letters to the head of Conservation Fonciere" but nothing. I simply needed to pay the person in charge of my application (which so far had refused to do) to magically unblock everything and get my title.
When it came to getting an "authorisation pour construir" (building permit), I presented my plans and all the paperwork required and the commision from the City hall ( Baladia or as I call it Shfaradia from Shfar that in moroccan means thief) kept on denying permission based on some inexistent ground. All it took was a bribe to reach all the members of the commision ( like throwing a piece of meat at hungry wolves ) and again, like magic, permission was granted. I can carry on like that and bring the examples of few other people that did none of the paperwork required but just bribed their way through their project; they got to the end, faster than me saving time, money and health.
I would still do things the way I did though, I guess it's a personal matter based on personal beliefes and attitude but the bottom line is that that's how things work in Morocco.
When it comes down to getting an authorisation to run your investment as a business you will definitelly need all the paperwork to be presented to the commision that will asses your application; more than anything people will need to understand that it is one of the last chances the authorities will have to make money out of you and you can be sure that no comliance to the law will stop them from milking you. Quite recently a friend of mine had the first visit of the head of the commission that was going to grant authorisation for his newly restaured riad in Fes. Whilest walking in his beautiful garden, the head of the commission pointed out at some of the fruit trees in the garden and commented:" It sure looks like your trees will bring you lots of fruits for you to enjoy...you better be prepared to share them with your friends here"

[goldcoast]

Originally Posted by bess

The medina in Tetouan is like was Marrakech twenty years ago, some wonderful riads just falling down for lack of interest. I hate to see it and hope somone interested in restoring them would see what a bargain they are and catch them before it is too late.

I know how you feel but I also believe that Moroccans should take some of the responsibility to save their history and heritage. UNESCO has pumped in a lot of money and the King himself has launched many programs of restauration of old riads and dars throughout Morocco. Most of the funds have gone into the pockets of greedy people and not much has been done to condamn and fight corruption in this sense. On the other hand when a foreigner embarques in a restauratin project, he gets no support from the authorites but only aggravations and attempts to make money out of our love for Morocco.
True is that a lot of foreigners restore old properties to make a business (maison d'hotes and boutique hotel) but the bottom line is that those houses brought back to their former glory will stay in Morocco for the future and always be part of the country's heritage.
God knows how many houses in the medina of Fes restaured by the ADER ( Agence pour la Dédensification et la Réabilitation ) have collapsed and killed people just because most of the money available for the work has gone into the pockets of greedy officials, entrepreneurs and engineers. I even had an ADER engineer working on the restoration of my XIV century house to find out that all the work that he had done was compromising the stability of the house ( use of low quality wood, cracks in the wall being hidden by cheap plaster instead of being fixed by using traditional bricks and harash. All because it was better to put the money I was paying in his pocket and not on the house...it didn't really matter if after few months a wall collapsing could kill people or destroy a part of moroccan history forever.
I have finally finished restoring my house and after 5 yeras of work I have a great sense of accomplishments and fulfilment. It was not easy, it was not a bargain but at the end it did work out and I did accomplish something amazing. It does hurt not feeling apreciated for what I feel I have done for the community (whilest restoring my house I carried out some work on all my neighbour's homes) but I have somehow lernt to get over it. Someone wanting to invest in Morocco restauring an old house should try to feel emotionally detached from it; it's very difficult to do so when we appreciate the opportunity we have to contribute to the heritage of Morocco more than the mare financial advantages of running a maison d'hote in a small palace.

[bess]

Does anyone have any experience of using Moroccan insurance company? There only seems to be one insurance company in England that insures overseas properties - advertised under different names but the names all seem to lead to the same company.

[rainer1]

The King tries very hard to improve Morocco for the Moroccan people. I feel sorry for those who have had to use bribes to get authorities to do what they are paid to do. From the moment we set foot in Morocco, we have been taken advantage of, from the taxi drivers to the sales teams. There should be ways to report taxi drivers who rip off foreigners, bank staff who accept bribes or refuse to look at a case without good reason. It is a continuing battle when you are there and I'm not sure it's worth it.

[camel]

Are you related to the Kiing ????

[Tangier]

Originally Posted by bess

Does anyone have any experience of using Moroccan insurance company? There only seems to be one insurance company in England that insures overseas properties - advertised under different names but the names all seem to lead to the same company.

I use to own a house in Tangier Morocco now i sold it thank god '' insurance '' is not worth the anything one person i know was robed of all the things in her home and thay took over 3yrs to payout its not worth the paper its on......think again

[Tangier]

Originally Posted by rainer1

The King tries very hard to improve Morocco for the Moroccan people. I feel sorry for those who have had to use bribes to get authorities to do what they are paid to do. From the moment we set foot in Morocco, we have been taken advantage of, from the taxi drivers to the sales teams. There should be ways to report taxi drivers who rip off foreigners, bank staff who accept bribes or refuse to look at a case without good reason. It is a continuing battle when you are there and I'm not sure it's worth it.

I used to own a house in Tangier Morocco thank god i sold it and would never buy one again, we have no rights what so ever nothing you do or say will get what you want but if you are Moroccan its doors open thay only want your money thay look at us as banks lots of money ... you can pay no matter what ???

[Tangier]

Local/ garbage tax is exempt for 5 years, however what agents do not tell you that unless its your main residency you will have to pay every year. The local authority will not send you a bill they simple add a fine to your amount each year.

I sold my apartment in May 2011 for what was a good price and better than most. I worked out how much capital gains tax I would pay, then was told that I needed to pay an extra 11500 dirham tax because some one in authority had decided that I had sold it to cheap. It appears that a log of all purchases is kept and that if you sell below the most expensive one then your taxed. There is no consideration for the position, condition or if it was sold furnished or unfurnished, JUST PAY UP!!!!!

Then the notery takes 5000 dirham for paying the taxes for me (so kind)