Evianers

Very many years ago whilst we were still resident in South Africa, my 8 year old son and I took a trip to Calais for the day. At a bus stop waiting for the bus to take us to the Hypermarket, there was a group of very loud, dare I say, very common Brits shouting and laughing their heads off regarding one of them's [a woman] trip to a French toilet and the subsequent "b.........in' 'igh tide at Dover". We were so embarrassed we spoke together in Afrikaans!

We have been established in France for over 10 years but do not actually live there yet. We had an upmarket townhouse in a complex with a resident on-site concierge, so felt very positive about renting out our townhouse to an English couple from Portsmouth, via a local agent who automatically collected and processed the rent for us. However, when asked by us if they could also inspect the premises regularly to make certain everything was in order, they told us French law does not permit this. Bon. After 5 years the English tenants gave notice, moved out without paying the final two months rent and the state of the house was appalling. I think the common phrase is 'trashed the place'. It took over a year to set it to rights: we took them to court and won [rightly so] but it left such a bad taste as soon as the house was habitable we sold it. Notwithstanding the above, we bought another property which is also now rented to a local French family with four children and a cat, who are, according to the agent keeping the house spic and span and maintaining the garden. However in view of our previous experiences, we have taken out a 3% insurance to cover non-payment of rent and other damage by the tenants. So the answer is, you never know..... We have had a very bad experience with English tenants and are now [touch wood] having a pretty reasonable time with local French tenants. By the way, in both cases the leases were for a minimum of 3 years as the law stipulates in France.

Methinks 400 euros a month is so little you will not find anything. Try S.E. Belgium which is cheaper

Thank heavens OH and I have been disenfranchised for over 30 years. Left UK to get away from this nonsense. PS for those who don't understand the term, there's always the Oxford Dictionary......

Thank you Forum Admin. It is a small help but doesn't really answer the questions. We can no longer see who is replying to us since our computer went to be 'upgraded' but thanks anyway. Can you please explain the full procedure in words of one syllable how you did the search? TIA

I apologise in advance if this question has been asked before [do a search, they say, but where??? and how??? the system seems to be much more complicated than previously]. However, has anyone, at any time, thought about purchasing a property under the French 'viager' system? What would be the tax implications, especially if one already had a house in France. Would there by CGT to pay when the elderly person passes on? As the viager system seems unique to France there are probably very, very few who visit this site who have personal experience, but any thoughts would be welcome. TIA

No-one can actually tell you - you have to make up your own minds, but we have lived all over the world in three of the five continents. Obviously we had to move our son sometimes at critical stages of his schooling. Basically this did him no harm. He gained by the experience because he simply had to settle [as we did] and get on with it. However, in later life, he is having grave difficulty determining where he should be, UK, SA or Oz. He keeps fluctuating amongst the three and cannot settle. He is, of course, much older than your children, but if one brings them up to be bi-lingual, they have a really good start in life. That has been our experience anyway. Good luck.

My sister in law has a very lovely house for long-term rent in the Charente-Maritime area. Many people have availed themselves of the opportunity before buying. Contact [email protected]

Thank you Forum Admin - whoever you are - can't see your name. Will leave sorting out the problem to OH who is infinitely superior in computer knowledge, and hope he can find a solution.

Help! Our computer went for some necessary updates. Modern technology being what it is, when the infernal machine was returned to us, the names of helpful folk was no longer visible. No fun anymore if you don't know who is writing/replying to you. Can someone please give a step-by-step solution of the problem. TIA

Evian-les-Bains - no doubt about it

Thank you so much for your response. However, since we have had our computer 'updated' we can no longer see who is writing to us. Very frustrating. Some problem with the software as others have complained of the same thing. No longer makes it as much fun as it used to be. Have 'saved' again under favourites.

Some very kind soul once gave us the address in Lille [which is closest to where we live] of an office which gives legal information: we need to know whether our tenants can be requested to leave [with prior six months notice of course] with their four children during the winter months. Could the person who posted this address please put it in again as for the life of us, we can no longer find it under the 100s of favourites. TIA

Finally securing a beautiful Grandfather clock on Ebay, bid for in Antwerp and accepted in Zuerich Switzerland for a VERY reasonable price. Merry Christmas Other Half!

As many of you may already realise, for the time being we still live in Belgium until we retire in 21 months time and can move to the HS [yippee]. Just to let you know that we have successfully completed a bid on Swiss Ebay from Antwerp: kind friends have collected a marvellous Grandfather clock on our behalf until we can in turn fetch it ourselves over Easter in Switzerland. So, anything can be accomplished if one is prepared to go to some lengths to obtain it.

The area overlooking Lac Leman - wonderful! Near to international airport, wonderful views, mountains behind, lake in front, what more could one ask. International community already established.

Thanks for response. OH is the IT wizard - me... am just common or garden sec. Will ask him to try and fix when he's back home. Thanks

since the update of our equipment, there are no longer any names in the bar specifically for that purpose. logos are still clearly visible, but no "evianers" etc. can you please explain why?

Is it just because we have had our equipment up-dated, or have almost everyone's names disappeared? No names in the name-bar.

Yesterday was not only a typical Monday, but OH had to take this infernal machine back to the office for a necessary up-grade of programmes, fire-walls, anti-spam devices etc. etc. Boy did I miss it. Normally after rushing around doing the housework, log on and view all the interesting posts. Mooched around yesterday with almost withdrawal symptoms. Whatever did we do before computers? Hope this doesn't happen too often, all this up-grade stuff!

An amusing anecdote from the days of yore heard on My Music - remember... Steve Race. The National Opera Company all arrived in Beyreuth for the up-coming Wagner festival but were dismayed to find no sign of all their large baskets of costumes. Reason? Chorus went to Beyreuth - right. Costumes went to Beirut - definitely not right. Have a good day everyone.

Sue If you mean you have sent message to our private mailbox, we have not received anything. Please re-send. Thanks

We have a house in the Haute Savoie which is rented out. Prior to that we had a town house in a large complex which was also rented out. Be careful! At the moment, we have a French family of 6 living in our new house. Apparently, according to the managing agents who we insisted do a regular, thorough six monthly check, they are looking after the house well, and keeping it clean and tidy, despite that they are numerous and also have a cat. The lease has to be for 3 years under French law. Less than 3 years is extremely difficult to do legally and the agents are singularly non-responsive for lets of less than 36 months. In the town house we had English tenants for 6 years who were nothing short of diabolical. I think the current phrase is 'trashed the place'. So much so, and to such an extent that we had to take them to court to recoup the vast amount we had to spend to bring the house back to being habitable prior to selling. We were going to live in it ourselves, but couldn't face the prospect after seeing the disgusting state it was in. BTW, we won the case. However, there is a system whereby one can pay an additional 3% of the rental paid in insurance, so that if anything goes wrong [pity we did not know this beforehand] the company guarantee to cover damage and non-payment of rent. If you need any further information, post another message here, or send to our p.b. and we will help all we can. PS I hope the English couple are reading this.... they know who they are!

This question  has been asked before. Suggest you do a search under 'checklist' and see what it comes up with.

Thanks Will and Jane, but this is just the point: we have already purchased 18 months ago, and wonder what is best to do now, before we come to live in France. We did not know at the time of purchase it was better to change to CU. Obviously it is now too late "at the time of purchase". Would appreciate further comments. TIA