Pangur

The same house is offered for sale in one agency at 100k and another at 130k.  As I understand it, the vendeur is obliged to sell at the asking price.  But which is really the legal asking price?  Luckily (?) we signed the bon de visite with the lower priced agency.  However, we know that there is another buyer interested in the house and until now, we have been offering under the asking price.  We can afford the full price and are prepared to offer it.  Are the vendeurs obliged to accept our offer, even though a potentially higher price can subsequently be offered?  Or is it just a race to see who gets the comprise de vente signed first?  Or have we got bad advice and there is no obligation to sell at the advertised price?  

I really don't understand your argument Fritz.  So you should dive in and buy before you get a chance to realise it's not for you, as you'll be able to get out of it too easily if you're renting?  Surely it is better to rent for a few years and leave if it is not for you, rather than have to sell up and find a new house back in England? Personally I don't understand how people can plough lots of money into buying a permanent residence over here without living - not holidaying - in the area first. We are renting and househunting at the moment.  We have plenty of time to view a wide range of houses, in different areas and decide on what it is we want.  And, we don't have to rely on one or two agents, we're free to make appointments all over the place.  We've seen the winter here and the summer and believe me, the weather can make a big difference on the area in which you want to buy.  Going throught the househunting process, it amazes me that people expect to buy while on holiday and without speaking any French.  Obviously it can work, based on the number of people on here that seem to have done it, but it is certainly not a risk I would be willing to take.  

We find www.paruvendu.fr and www.seloger.com very useful for finding property to look at.  Paruvendu updates every thursday I believe and we haven't come across many that have been sold by the time we've called.  We also found our current rented house through paruvendu. It includes houses from agencies and private bids.  Its usefulness may depend on the area you're in, but is definitely worth a look....

Have you tried your local tourist office?  We got fantastic VTT maps from ours.  Here in 74, mountain biking or VTT is hugely popular and there are very well mapped routes all over Savoie - I'm sure it's similar where you are. VTTfrance.com also gives information on routes across France and links to bike shops...

Surely both sides have a point?  From what I understand, the rebate was negotiated when the UK was in dire economic straits in 1984 - the conditions have changed dramatically so the rebate probably does want to be looked at again. And I'm not an agricultural expert, but it sounds like CAP also needs a bit of tinkering with, especially in the light of a renewed effort in making trade a bit fairer worldwide.  France are not on their own here in resisting CAP reform - most European countries have a much more influential farming lobby than the UK. This all strikes me as typical Anglo-French posturing, fighting out the same old ight, harking back to the days of Empire.  I'm sure both sides will re-negotiate, they don't have much of a choice....   

Hello??  We're here already.  It's just that unless we are acting like something out of Darby O Gill, you Brits think we're actually British. France has always been a favourite holiday destination for the Irish (when I was a kid in the 80s, camping in France was extremely popular) and lots of us have emigrated here, whether through necessity or through choice.  I know Irish people living in towns scattered over the Rhone Alps for a start, and there are quite a few on the forum already.  Perhaps it is just that there is a French property show going on in Ireland that it has come to your attention...  Plus, despite the fact that Ryanair are an Irish company, they don't do a lot of non-UK connections from Ireland. In any case, there are only 4 million of us in total - there's no way we can push up the price of property up in France, so it's ridiculous to think that even an increased interest from Irish buyers will push up prices in such a large country. However it will be interesting to see if even a perceived increase in number of Irish buying maisons secondaires will change the French attitudes towards us.  When people ask if I am English and I tell them I am Irish, they give a big smile and say, Ah, much better   

The figure of 250,000 French in London is interesting. I wonder what they all do? I would imagine many of them are French people under 35, working in financial services, advertising and marketing.  London is a world city and it attracts people, especially young people, from all over the world.  Also, I know lots of French migrants working in the high end of hospitality.  It's not just the French, there are lots and lots of young European migrants in the UK.  London's a pretty easy place to get a job if you have a decent education, speak English and are willing to work.

Practically, how feasible is a yearly trip to France for your daughter?  Is she the kind of child that won't mind making such a long journey on her own or spending her entire summer holiday in a strange, far away country?  Will there be any problems financing it every year?  Do you have the kind of relationship with your ex that he will help make this trip happen and support it, or will he be putting obstacles in the way?  Will he be upset that he doesn't get to spend holidays with his daughter?  I would imagine his support for you might make the transition easier for your daughter. Best of luck, it's a tough call - can you not leave it a few years until she is a bit older and will be able to understand a bit better?   

Thanks v much Hegs - that's a really useful website

From Eurostat, a detailed per country breakdown from March 03.. http://epp.eurostat.cec.eu.int/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/PGP_PRD_CAT_PREREL/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2005/PGE_CAT_PREREL_YEAR_2005_MONTH_04/2-18042005-EN-AP.PDF    

Quantum, my sister has spent the last two years working in public and private primary schools here in France as the school English teacher.  She had to pass an interview and test with the education body in the départment, which was very straightforward (and mostly in English:laugh.  She is not working as a full time functionnaire - although she has good French, it is not good enough to teach French children subjects other than English so she cannot expect a full time position as a class teacher. UK qualifications are accepted, but there are language requirements, as is normal.  For example, a UK qualified teacher who wants a permanent job in Ireland is required to pass a test in Irish.      

I can't help with a Scottish contact, but the following info might help... My husband is working in France, as the employee of a UK company, and we are in the middle of sorting out the paperwork.  He will be a legal representatvie of the company in France and will pay French social insurance using Article L243-1-2 of the Social Security code.  While looking for info to give the UK company, I came across this site.  No idea if they are any good or not, but you might find some useful information or contacts on the site?http://www.intertax.org/index_en.php      

Does anyone know which tax law kicks in when receiving an inheritance/gift from one EU country when you're a French resident? In Ireland, there is no tax paid on family gifts under about €400,000 while in France, the threshold is about €50,000.  If we receive a gift from Ireland, do we have to pay the French gift tax?  I have a feeling the answer is not the one I'm hoping for

I know in Ireland the traditional communion gift is cash! I'm not sure why, and it's not very sacred, but you generally receive cash from neighbours and friends, while godparents or close relatives will give communion medals, a prayer book, rosary beads etc, but certainly not presents that you'd give for a birthday Perhaps a children's book on the life of saints would be appropriate - there are some pretty gorey stories in some of them that might appeal to a small boys' imagination.  I know I used to love a collection of stories about women saints, many of whom lived and died in v interesting ways      

I moved to London as a graduate and certainly a degree is a necessity for many if not most white collar jobs in London.  As another poster pointed out, it's not the subject of the degree that matters - getting one is (or should be) proof that you've shown you can process, analyse and disseminate information, skills that are required in most white collar jobs.  In fact, to get your CV noticed these days, you need a 2.1 and a postgrad.  Anything lower is just bog standard.  I think it's pretty much accepted that a degree is generalist - if you want academic specialisation in any subject, you need to take it to a higher level. A degree isn't necessary to be successful or happy, but if you want a white collar job with promotional prospects, it certainly is in the UK.  Of course a few very talented hardworking people get through and there are some exceptions (e.g. city traders) but by and large, it's necessary. In countries with higher levels of unemployment, employers can afford to raise the qualifications bar.  If you've got two 24year olds with no experience, it's to be expected that the one with more certificates gets the job, even if their certificates have no relevance to the task.

It will end if the UK voters swallow the tory and ukip anti-eu diatribes and the UK begins to withdraw from full participation in the EU  (I love that UKIP was born in a Spanish villa.  Just how easy would it have been to buy without the EU) Or if the UK housing market crashes, or the currency valuation changes dramatically.  All these elements have contributed to the popularity of France and Spain as places you can realistically live in.  British emigration has traditionally concentrated on the ex-colonies.  Much easier to do as the laws are pretty similar, don't have to worry about the language and you can still see queenie a lot.    Now the laws are similar, the EU is more viable than in the past. EU legislation has made freedom of movement so easy, and for (most) EU residents, you don't even have to worry about currency changes.   It's easy to buy your house or a car, vote, get a job, collect your pension etc etc and you have essentially similar basic rights in each country, all thanks to the EU.  You only have to read accounts from US citizens to see just how difficult moving to another country can be in terms of legalities. Emigrant groups traditionally stick together.  I know  Brits like to think of themselves as expats rather than emigrants...but a  lot of the characteristics are similar and the creation of anglo enclaves is definitely one of them.  Look at the UK - there are pockets of emigrants scattered around specific areas.  Looking at the Brits arrive in the Dordogne or Brittany or whereever is no different to being Irish in Kilburn in the sixties and wondering why all the Irish end up in the same area.   It may seem like there are a lot of British moving, but I would imagine that if you look at emigration figures across Europe, or even just France, other countries would rank a lot higher.  I think the key differene is, you notice the British more as so many don't work as they're retired or do the tourism thing.  Most other emigrant groups are at mainstream work (the main reason for moving), whether it's in Britain or France, therefore you don't notice them.      

We bought a new car and the Renault garage organised all the paperwork so when we collected the car we also received the carte grise, and the permanent plates were on it.  Totally hassle free . Basically it was worth our while buying a new car as the difference in price between a new and 2/3 year old car wasn't that great. We got a few quotes from different insurance companies and went with GMF who were extremely helpful.  We went into the office with all the available paperwork before the collection of the car so the insurance was sorted from the outset.  We just carry around a folder with any document they could ask for... First car, so no real no claims bonus, but they accepted letters from Irish insurers stating my husband had been on his dad's insurance with no accidents for a basic no claims bonus, and also wanted our marriage cert - this was probably just because we have different surnames.   The also called the garage when the car arrived to update the insurance documents  with the correct number plates.  Hope they are as helpful if we ever have a crash

[quote]It's all been said above. I can only reiterate what I've read on this forum so often. Remember the three Rs - research, research, research. Please do so thoroughly before going to Spain - there's a do...[/quote] I'd like to add another R - rent.  I know it is difficult for people who plan to use their home as their income to do this, but renting in the area you plan to buy before selling a house in the UK and buying anywhere might be a good investment.  Our first winter in the Alps has taught us a lot about the type of house we'd want to buy and where.   Rather than looking for a hideaway, I'll be looking for houses near roads that are bound to be cleared of snow, looking more closely at central heating, and while stone houses with lots of windows may look gorgeous, they are bloody expensive to heat, as we have found to our cost.  I wouldn't mind coughing up as much to EDF if I'd actually been warm! Best of luck kd

I'm sure the location of your house will contribute greatly to dictating what kind of let to do - if you're in or near a town with a large mobile population, a furnished 6 month rent might work, but remember that you're going to continually have to find new tenants, which is going to affect your rental income greatly.  So you probably can't afford to be too fussy about the tenants' nationality  With that kind of churn, you're probably going to need an estate agent if you want to keep up occupancy, but I am sure they will take a hefty chunk out of your rent for doing that.    

[quote]It makes you wonder doesn't it? I got several issues of the English language newspaper from the Nice area inviting me to subscribe and we had only been here a year or so. I don't know about France b...[/quote] Where they get it from in the first place is a mystery to me except that they may offer employees of EDF, mairies,La Poste etc etc some sort of commission for this sort of information. I assume it works in the same way as the UK - unless you specify that you do not want your details passed on to other companies for marketing purposes, your name will be sold to these mailing list companies.  It's not that difficult to target people - for instance they might have mailed to everyone on a list with an English sounding name, or have bought names from an English company who has addresses for British residents in France.  The Data Protection Act has it a lot harder for UK companies to give your name without asking you first, but I'm not sure to what extent France has rolled it out.  Think of all the times you have given your name and address out - whether it is to France Telecom, Orange or perhaps to get a loyalty card for your local supermarket.  It can be impossible to trace where exactly it came from once you get put on a commercial list. I got a charity mailing within 2 months of moving here    

Same in most countries and always has been as far as I can see.  Locals generally don't want to work on building sites and it's can be a pretty good earner for someone who wants to earn a bit of money and is prepared to put the work in.  I have friends who've worked the sites all over Europe, the UK and Australia, but there is no way they'd do the same back in Ireland.

We signed up with France Telecom, simply because it was the most straightforward option for us when we first moved.  We went for their extense Debitmax, which is €30 pm for the first 6 months and then €40 after that.  We don't get the full 8 meg, I think it is about 2, but it is pretty speedy and we don't feel the need for more.  We're just outside a town with about 10k inhabitants so it's not exactly in the sticks. We did have some problems with installing the Livebox so we returned it for a normal modem version and it worked easily. My husband regularly sends very large files to and from their network computer in London, and he logs into their main computer and he has absolutely no complaints with it.  The price is all inclusive regardless of how much you use it - as we are 'on' all day, this is perfect for us.

We bought from MDA in 74, although they seem to have a lot of shops in the south as well so might be worth checking your area. They sell slightly damaged white goods.  We got about €100 off the catalogue price on our washing machine and €150 from the fridge freezer because of some tiny scratches Delivery and installation of both was about €40 and everything guaranteed as normal http://www.mda-sud.com/liens.htm

Customer Service is a two way street - even the powerful M O'Leary cannot demand that his staff get personality transplants and become rude or deliberately unhelpful.  I find that if you treat the agent with respect, you'll get respect.  There is no point demanding that a check-in boy changes the rules for you alone, it is generally not in his power.  And a lot of people have absolutely no humility with customer service agents when things don't go their way, even when it is the customers' fault.  My sister works in a busy airport as a charter plane co-ordinator and the demands clients expect met are sometimes unbelievable.  People really do expect the world to stop spinning for them.  In addition, people treat groundstaff like dirt and think they should have all requests met after they've thrown a little tantrum.  She's started to call the airport police when customers get abusive, which happens a lot more than she'd like. Good customer service isn't just about bending the rules.

I'm not from the UK Georgina, but lived in London and I can totally understand why friends and family didn't want to come from Ireland and spend an expensive week there, in cramped surroundings spending a weird currency.  A short weekend was more than enough for all. Nothing to do with how genuine or not they are, or how close we are  - it wouldn't have been much fun for either party.