ClaraQ
-
Posts
18 -
Joined
-
Last visited
Never
Posts posted by ClaraQ
-
-
My local supermarket (the one Sharon Osborne advertises as Britains cheapest) sell DVD players starting at £24.97. In fact the next model up is only around £26 and the model up from that is again only around the £30 mark!!
Are they as cheap in France or should I bring one over with me?
Clara
-
Hi Dave
We bought the Franklin woodburner from Machine Mart and brought it over last year. It has been a godsend! Our living room is large and has high ceilings, but this stove gets it lovely and warm AND stays in all night. Highly recommended, especially for the price. At the time, the only one we could find in France that could throw out the same amount of heat was around 850 euros.
Clara
-
Yes, we are UK residents and tax payers at present, but are hoping to move permanently to France in the next year or so. Would it, therefore, be better to delay the sale of the house until we move and then we would only be liable for the 16% French tax?
By the way, thanks for all the replies. It's really helpful.
Clara
-
What if we sell the holiday property and pay the 16% CGT in France and then use the money left over to buy another French property? Surely, the UK tax office wont get involved?
Clara
-
Thanks Will,
Can you tell me what the percentage of tax payable is if selling within the first 5 years of ownership?
Clara
-
Hello
I know there is tax to pay on the profit you make on your maison secondaire if you sell it within 21 years, and that this tax is on a sliding scale depending on how long you have owned the property. What I don't know is by how much this tax is reduced year by year of ownership. For example, how much less tax is due for a property that is owned for 5 years as compared to one that is only owned for 4 years.
Does anyone out there know?
Thanks
Clara
-
Our French neighbours thought it was hilarious that we were planning to use an architect when we realised our property was over the 170m. ruling. They told us that no-one ever checks the measurements (especially if the location is quite rural and over 15km from the french planning office) and that unless you have a huge property that is obviously over 170 metres you just juggle your figures a bit until they come in at around 165ish.
It might have been a nit naughty, but it worked for us and we got our permis de construire by just drawing up our own plans on graph paper. They wanted drawings of the front, back, both sides and how the property stood on the land (i.e. if the land sloped).
We also just gave room sizes and not the overall house size just as Sasha said and this also saved us quite a few square metres. The minimum 1.8 metre room height ruling he/she mentions rings a bell as well.
Clara
-
We bring all our paint over from the U.K. French paint (especially emulsion) is either total rubbish or very expensive.
Clara
-
Hi
We have a hornets nest in the Chimney of our gite which is now closed up for the winter. Is it worth getting the pompiers out to remove it or will the cold kill them off over the next few months?
Do they return to the same site year after year?
Thanks
Clara
-
I'll third it. Apart from the sparks that an open fire throws out, there is also the smoke. No matter how big the fireplace is, you will still find yourself sitting in a grey fog which creates a dusty ash in the atmosphere.
In addition, with a good log burning stove, you can keep it going all night and come down in the morning to enough life in the grate to start it up again with ease. With an open fire you have to start from scratch every morning - not much fun when it's really cold.
Clara
-
It is possible that we may have to move to Bordeaux next year. If so, my husband will be working in the south west of the city, so it would make sense to look for a house somewhere between Arcachon and Bordeaux.
Does anyone live in this region? And if so, can you tell me anything about it? I have thumbed through loads of previous posts, but most are about the Dordogne region. Any info. would be most welcome.
Thanks
Clara
-
We now don't bother to heat our stone house during the winter months as the rise and fall in temperatures seemed to cause more problems with mold and damp spots.
Since we invested in a mid-range dehumidifier, the problem seems to be solved. We sit it on a small table above ground level and leave it on a timer to come on every night with the extracted water draining into our ground floor shower. One weekend we left it to drain into a bucket to see how much moisture it actually extracted. Big mistake!! We were away for 3 nights and the bucket was overflowing on our return.
Clara
-
Just spoken to BMI Baby and was told that the Manchester to Bordeaux flights will stop running over the winter period (which we already knew) and there is no news about the route being dropped for next year.
They say to take a look at the web site towards the end of October for more news.
Clara
-
The BMI Baby Manchester to Bordeaux flights are only usually available between March and mid October - they don't operate this route in the winter months.
Whenever I have used this service it has always seemed very busy, so I would be surprised if they are planning to stop it altogether. Are you sure they said they were definitely cancelling this route?
Cheers
Clara
-
If I am not mistaken, this is a thread directed entirely at Ryanair. Having just looked at their website, I can't see them operating a single flight to a French Airport from either Birmingham, Liverpool, Newcastle or Liverpool. But from Stansted you have the choice of over a dozen locations in France.
Surely, isn't that what Sashabel is getting at?
-
One of the biggest helps for me was the fantastic neighbours - both French and English. Everyone has been so kind. Our French neighbours sent their son around to play with mine in the second week because she knew he wouldn't know anyone here. Neither could speak the others language, but that didn't seem to matter and and they have become great friends since.
Clara
-
Unfortunately, the Bordeaux International School is a fee paying school, so it probably wont match your friends needs.
Clara
Negotiating rental prices
in Finding/Owning French Property
Posted
Hi
Does anyone know if it is normal/expected to make an offer on the monthly rental of a property in a city. We have found a lovely (small) appartment to rent in Paris which we intend to stay in for the next 2 years at least. The agent is asking for 1200 euros per month. Do agents expect you to just pay the asking price or would an offer of around 10% less be considered?
Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Clara