It could be a long time

I’ve had questions several times about the French system of viager. Martin in the Var says it sounds “interesting”.  

Well, it works like this: a buyer pays the owner of a property a lump sum of usually up to 40 per cent of its value plus an annuity, at the moment 8.5 per cent of the purchase price. The advantage is that the buyer gets the property at a price lower than — in a buoyant market like we have here — he would pay later. All he has to do is hope that the seller will die off at a not too advanced age. It doesn’t always work out. The famous case is that of Arles notaire Me Raffray who in 1955 signed a viager with 80-year old Jeanne Calment. He died in 1995 … having already paid the lady twice the market value of the house. Mme Calment — who put down her longevity to a regular input of chocolate, port and “not being poor” — died two years later aged … 122. 

From Reporter 106 - Dec 2004

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