Real estate investment is often seen as an indivisible whole. However, French civil law offers remarkable flexibility through the mechanism of the division of ownership. Understanding the separation between usufruct and bare ownership is essential for anyone wishing to diversify their assets. This concept allows the owner’s prerogatives to be divided into three fundamental rights: the usus (the right to use the property), the fructus (the right to receive its income or rents) and the abusus (the right to dispose of the property, notably to sell it or give it away).
Legal mechanisms and the sale of bare ownership
The division consists of a temporary allocation of these attributes. Within the framework of the sale of bare ownership, the investor acquires only the abusus. For a fixed period, generally between 15 and 20 years, the seller retains the usufruct: they continue to live in the dwelling or to receive its rents. In exchange for this temporary deprivation, the purchaser obtains the property at an immediate discount on the market price, often between 30% and 40%. This discount mathematically represents the value of the rents that the investor will not receive during the entire duration of the division. This arrangement, made possible thanks to the sale of bare ownership, is secured by an authentic notarized deed that fixes the duration of the usufruct.
Why choose this wealth-planning strategy with Skarlett?
Investing in bare ownership is a top-tier wealth-planning strategy for several reasons. By relying on expert players such as Skarlett, the investor gains access to high-quality properties in areas with strong rental demand. The main advantage is fiscal: since the bare owner receives no rent during the period of division, they are not subject to taxation on rental income. Furthermore, opting for the sale of bare ownership allows the property to be excluded from the tax base for the Real Estate Wealth Tax (IFI), which constitutes a powerful optimization lever.
Practically speaking, investing via the sale of bare ownership removes the constraints of rental management, such as unpaid rent, rental vacancies or routine renovation work, which remain the responsibility of the usufructuary. At the end of the division, the bare owner automatically recovers full ownership of the property. They then become free to sell, occupy the dwelling or rent it out, thus benefiting from a mechanical capital gain corresponding to the reconstitution of full ownership, without having had to bear the maintenance costs for two decades.
In short, this form of acquisition is ideal for investors with capital they wish to grow over the long term while preparing for retirement. It is a capitalization solution that combines legal security and economic performance. By mastering the ins and outs of the sale of bare ownership, you give yourself the means to build a lasting real estate portfolio with an optimized saving effort, while avoiding the hazards inherent in owning a traditional property.
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