Jo Taylor

More or less - here are the 2007 rates: Taxable Income (€)    Tax Rate (%)    Tax (€)          AggregateTax (€) Up to 5,614                   0                        0.00                0.00 5,615 – 11,198             5.5                      281.40            307.06 11,199 – 24,872           14                      1,914.22           2,221.28 24,873 – 66,679          30                       12,541.80         14,763.08 Over 66,679                48.09 Two adults and one child = 2½ 'parts'. Let's take a total household income of 24,000. Divide the total household income by 2.5 = 9,600. Each 'part' is then taxed according to the table above (2007 rates). 9,600 - 5,614  = 3,986, taxed at 5.5% = 219.23 Then multiply by the number of parts  - 219.23 x 2.5 = 548.08 tax payable (notwithstanding any other deductions and allowances).

[quote user="cheminot"][Is your hot water tank (ballon) anywhere in the vicinity? I was mystified by a bad smell for weeks, turned out that the drippy thing underneath (technical term)]. Drippy thing underneath a water heater ?????????? I am very confused. Can someone elucidate? Expansion valve/chamber which allows the excess volume of water which expands when heated to escape to a drain. cheminot[/quote] Thank you, my mind was blank! Anyway, abim, if it's nearby, check it. It's like having an empty u-bend. There should be a way to let a little water out.

Is your hot water tank (ballon) anywhere in the vicinity? I was mystified by a bad smell for weeks, turned out that the drippy thing underneath (technical term [:)]) hadn't been dripping and its little reservoir was dry (and thus open to the drain). Opened the valve, let a bit of water out and all was fragrant.

I'm being spammed by them - almost every day. Has anyone had any bookings through them?

I can't agree more stromgly with the location aspect - Normandy's a big place; letting projections vary vastly according to where you are. A property within half-an-hour of the sea, or with a pool, will let twice or three times as many weeks as one at the inland end of Orne or Eure. We're 25 minutes from the coast and over the last fifteen years we've had a consistent 25 - 35 weeks with no special effort. A friend only a further 20 mins away struggles to find 10, with a massive advertising budget (and an above-ground pool). Where is your property, and how are you planning to market it? Jo

I confess - Cerise, you are not alone - I iron towels! [:'(] However, I have an ulterior motive that involves a very special folding technique. I can then tell if they've been used or simply re-folded by tidy guests... And Susan is not alone either, my favouite towels are the ones that have been washed to the end of their public life. Nice and scratchy, bracing, mmm! Jo

Bank transfer rather than a draft is quicker and easier and cheaper - the Czech Republic is in the EU but doesn't use the euro, so make sure the client pays the fee at their end (or you can make an adjustment when they arrive / receive their security deposit back, but make sure this is stated in your contract). You will need to supply your IBAN and BIC. An alternative is to use PayPal. Jo

Le Nouvel Obs used to have a calculator where you entered all the details of a property and it came up with a price - it was fun, and based on real property prices. It seems to have disappeared now but I think you can use it if you join their club at 2€ per month... (I'm too stingy to try.) http://immobilier.nouvelobs.com/calculez.php?calcul=m2 Jo

[quote user="Cassis"][quote user="KathyC"][quote user="Cassis"][quote user="JJ"] the last thing you want to do is fill your suitcase with towels. [/quote] Except for the return journey, of course. [/quote] But only if they're good quality ones! [/quote] And freshly laundered. [/quote] And not if they don't belong to you... *still cross about the family who nicked 4 towels in August* I supply two towels per person and tell them to bring their own beach towels, but have a few to lend just in case. Don't want suntan oil or beach tar on the 'normal' towels. Many don't use them (hooray!), several have 'accidentally packed' them and a few have left some really nice ones - an Australian family last year, on the last leg of Europe, left a huge pile of fluffy big towels. They're my best ones now...

[:$]

I've found my official source - it was a bit late last night [:)]. From http://www.service-public.fr/ > Vacances, Loisirs > Location de Vacances > Réservation > Caution ou garantie Pour une location conclue sans intermédiaire, le montant (non réglementé) du dépôt de garantie est, en général, de 20% du prix de la location et doit être versé à l'entrée dans les lieux contre remise d'un reçu. Le loueur a le droit d'encaisser la caution.  Pour une location conclue avec un intermédiaire (un agent immobilier par exemple), le montant du dépôt de garantie est de 25% maximum du prix de la location et peut être versé au plus 6 mois à l'avance. Une commission peut être demandée par l'intermédiaire (un agent immobilier par exermple). Le dépôt de garantie est en général restitué en fin de séjour. Le contrat peut préciser le délai de restitution du dépôt de garantie.  So the agent friend, I'm afraid, is misinformed. Owners are entitled to bank the security deposit. It doesn't state whether agents can bank the deposit but that's somewhat of a moot point as I should imagine only a tiny proportion of gite owners use a letting agent, as opposed to a booking agency. We use a booking agancy who are ostensibly UK based, but who have a French company in order to comply with various regulations. Before this change they took the deposit on our behalf and refunded it to the clients after their return if all was well, after the instigation of the French SARL they could no longer do this, so we now take the security deposit direct from the clients on arrival.

In the days when we allowed pets we had several bad experiences. One couple had a lovely Persian cat, which left lovely Persian fur everywhere. The extra cleaning was not welcome. Nor are crottes in the cupboard under the stairs, stains or smells. Another couple had a lovely little poodle which wanted chickens for its tea. Our chickens. (I do realise that the great majority of pet owners are responsible, and would be sensible enough to rent a gite with enclosed grounds, and not let their dogs poo on the lawns.) When doing B&B a couple asked if they could bring their well-behaved female dog, with its own bed. We agreed, but what they did not tell us was that she was on heat. The resulting mess on the floors throughout the house and the smell were very unpleasant for other guests - our own male dog thought it was his birthday, couldn't understand why he couldn't have his present, and howled all night...

I am told by a rental agent here that it is illegal to bank a security deposit in France unless there is a need to do so in order to pay for damage/breakages. Paolo, do you have a primary source for this? Or are we comparing a deposit taken by an agent (you are quoting advice from an agent) with one taken by the owner? As far as I'm aware, for a booking made without an intermediary (e.g. an agent), you do have the right to bank the deposit. Jo

Blimey, Miki, congrats not warranted - what I meant is we're (nearly) fully booked for those weeks that we are open (Mar - Oct inc., usually around 32 weeks). We do like to have some weeks in the year when we can sing loudly in the garden and run around nekkid if we so choose. (Unfortunately the weather's not really conducive in the off-season.) Not many people want to holiday in the muddy wastes of Normandy in the winter, we'll take odd ones if we know them, but we've found over the years it's really not worth the hassle; the heating bills in some cases exceeding the rental (déja vu here, there was a thread about this recently). OK for those with oil central heating, but we have leccy radiators plus a Godin and if guests don't have the necessary boy-scouting skills to manage the latter, the former are very expensive to keep on all the time. Paul, you're just being silly now - has ANYONE on this huge thread mentioned requiring guests to do thorough mopping? Jo

Cassis, I do hope you've not hung the teabags out on the line today, it's far too wet  for them to dry out in time for tomorrow's breakfast. Best put them in the tumbledryer with the sheets, by this time in the season they shouldn't stain too much. P said: "Nor do I want to do, as implied in some of the postings, have to cook on a 'self-catering' holiday." Good grief, the clue's in the title - what on earth do the words 'self-catering' mean to you? "according to some Gite owners I cannot do it like that I have to do it like this, i.e. clean and cook (the customer does not get what they want)." Do you actually know what a gite is? (It's a cottage / small house / dwelling let out for short term tenancies, a week or two weeks being the most usual periods. It's not a B&B, it's not a hotel, it's not an auberge, not a  logis, nor a pension.) It's not "a holiday", it's "holiday accommodation". I think perhaps you don't understand the concept - if you don't want to cater for yourself, it's pointless even thinking of booking a gite. I might add here that we let through a reputable agency (part of the largest accommodation group) whose T&C state: "You and all members of your party agree both to keep the property clean and tidy and to leave the property in a similar condition to which you found it upon your arrival". If that's good enough for them, and for Gites de France (the two biggest operators) then it suits us too. And yes, we're usually fully-booked give or take the odd week off-season. This is all most of us ask - clean up your own muck. We don't ask for a full spring-clean, but a level of hygiene commensurate with human decency - would you really expect an owner to have to cope with the situation I described a few posts back (the submarine)? Or have to remove the trail of goo made by a two-year-old armed with a handful of sticky sweets? Or pay for a duvet to be cleaned because they've used it as a changing mat? Or clean all the crockery, cutlery and pans because thay haven't been considerate enough to wash up properly? These are, of course, very rare occurences because most people read their terms and conditions. And have good manners. Jo

Well, thank goodness Miki and Cassis answered first. "P", please don't be so sanctimonious. A well-known phrase involving grannies and eggs comes to mind, and it's very rude of you to assume that those of us in the "hospitality industry" (awful phrase, but we can do business-speak with the best of 'em) have no inkling of target markets and 'having to take the rough with the smooth'. How patronising. Kathy, I for one am not at all bothered by "how it comes across" - we're not touting for custom here. We advertise in the appropriate places; which is not a Gite Owners' Forum. Here, if nowhere else, we can display our darker side [6]. This section of the forum is clearly labelled Gite Owners - we're not here to advertise our properties, simply discuss with other owners and have a good moan if we feel like it. Which we sometimes do. Ironically, the owners here are, for the most part, probably some of the more conscientious - there are still many absent owners out there who let their cottages, furnished with mouldy cast-offs, relying on each tenant to leave it clean for the next, and wouldn't even think of joining a forum. *Goes off to make faces [:P][geek][:(][:'(] at guests*.

[quote user="Gaskelldj"] I am charged 10 euros per person for laundry and 15euos per hour for gardening. Hope that helps. [/quote] 12 € per person is recommended by the agency we use. Any advance on 12€ ? Going... going... Jo

[quote user="Miki"]Ah but those lovely old Francs were so much more comfy, these new fangled Euros don't half stick in the tender bits [:)] [/quote] [:'(][:$]

Hmm. Pedant-ing back at you, isn't it more like "resting place", "shelter" or "lodging"? A sort of stopping-off place on a journey? Perhaps a native French speaker can give us the subtle nuance. However I think everyone knows what's meant by "gite", even non-French-speakers, especially since Gites de France appropriated the word in the early 1950s. Incidentally, the Gites de France contract used to set out in no uncertain terms the clients' obligation to clean before leaving. Here's Article 8 from one dated 2000 (a relatively recent one, I'm sure it was more stringent prior to that!): "An inventory is agreed and signed by the tenant and the owner or his / her representative on arrival and departure from the gite. This inventory constitutes the only reference in case of litigation concerning the condition of the gite. The condition of the premises on the arrival of the tenant must be satisfactory to the tenant. The cleaning of the property is the responsibility of the tenant during the period of rental and before his departure. The charge for any cleaning necessary is stated in the description of the gite." I don't charge extra, but I wouldn't hesitate to deduct from the deposit if it was left in an obvious state. Usually it's fine, usually you can tell from a quick glance or three, the example in my last posting was out of the ordinary. I'd  heard a distant Hoover (music to my ears), smelt the sweet scent of Cif as I walked in, and was lulled into a false sense of security... the lurking submarine came as a horrible surprise [+o(] ! Put basically, I just want people to clean up their own muck, not spring clean - I'm going to do routine cleaning anyway. Perhaps the French have an inbuilt expectation from 50 years of Gites de France; I also think that many, many Brit owners come to France, find they can make a barn into a gite or have a couple of rooms for B&B and earn a bit on the side - "that's nice, it's just like having friends to stay!" - without getting too far entangled in French regulations and bureaucracy, but haven't really a clue how the hospitality industry works and wouldn't be able to sustain their activity on a proper business basis. I used to do B&B too, but we became tired of having our privacy compromised and sleep patterns disturbed (and other earning opportunities intervened). In all fairness, our house isn't laid out in a way that enabled us to retain separate and private accommodation, then we acquired two new dogs and they ate the dining room...[blink] Jo

Unfurnished rentals are generally exempt from VAT (TVA – taxe sur la valeur ajoutée), as are most furnished rentals, as long as your business is under the MicroBIC tax regime. If you’re running a B&B business with income exceeding €76,300 and are consequently not under the MicroBIC system, your income may be subject to VAT. This applies if you offer "hotel" services, namely three or more of the following: bed linen, reception, daily cleaning and breakfasts. This means that a B&B business (generating over €76,300) is almost certainly subject to VAT, whereas most gite businesses are exempt. If your business is subject to VAT, the accommodation itself is taxed at 5.5 per cent and other services (e.g. meals) at 19.6 per cent. You will need to take advice from your accountant as to whether you must charge VAT.

Blimey. Someone a long time ago said: "I don't expect fridges, ovens, microwaves, bathrooms etc. to be cleaned" Those are exactly the things I'd like to be left clean. Don't mind them leaving the floors, I'm going to walk all over them anyway. Pun said: "I can say with both experience and understanding of what having a gite or b&b should be about. PEOPLE, Yes PEOPLE who for how ever long the holiday is will be having a change from the normal day to day routine they have all year round. If on this holiday they decided they didnt want to do any house work, but just enjoy a private relaxing time for this short break, then so be it. My interest is to give these guest a stress free enjoyable holiday and in the T &G it will say we dont exspect any guest to clean," your on holiday." (Cassis beat me to the tongue & groove!) What experience and understanding? I thought you hadn't started yet? Sorry, Pun, but I do it for the money. That may be an unpopular sentiment but I doubt there's anyone here doing it purely for their own enjoyment. If they want a pampered luxury holiday they can go to a hotel. Of course I want clients to have a good holiday. But, as Croixblanches said:  If people are so keen on a "self-catering" holiday, i.e. one where they do their own cooking and washing up (and in many cases, their own washing and ironing - God knows, they often get quite antsy if a machine and iron don't come as standard) then what's the major difference between continuing all the other domestic tasks that they "wouldn't do on holiday" and continuing to do a bit of cleaning?? Out by 10am, in by 4pm are the absolute bog standard arrival and departure times. Pun said: "REF times if people arrive after the time we expect, thats no problem, we are ready, we,re not letting anyone down and these people will be made welcome as will the people who want to leave early in the morning befor the 9or 10 am period, if needed" I'm sorry, this just made me snort. How rude of me. But do you really believe that that's where the problem will occur? It's far more likely they'll leave late and arrive early. Or MUCH later or MUCH earlier. You wait until you want to go out on a Saturday night and those nice people who said they'd arrive at 6pm don't turn up until 9.30, or 11.30,  saying "Oh, we stopped to eat!" Pun, I don't want it to seem as if I'm getting at you but you really need to get real. Please don't try to advise others until you have at least a few lets under your belt. Pun: "kingsize slay bed" [:-))][:'(] - and once you're ready to prepare your T&Cs do, please, have someone proofread your copy. Perhaps I sound a little jaded. Well, it is near the end of the season. And the seemingly perfectly reasonable people who left yesterday appeared to have cleaned, but they must have sent a gremlin around afterwards who put spent matches, waxy ear buds, snotty tissues and wet teabags in the bins after someone else had removed the liners. Then the gremlin went to the lavatory and did the most humungous big stinky sticky poo which wedged itself in the U bend, then squirted blue stuff down after it. That took me half an hour to dislodge; and an unforeseen trip out to buy a new loo brush. After 17 years of this I really dislike picking other peoples' pubes out of the bath plughole. That's the reality, not floating around in a white dress gently deadheading roses while smiling sweetly at lovely guests as some seem to imagine! Jo

[quote user="Russethouse"] When I worked in a B&B one of my jobs used to be making butter 'twirls' but I haven't seen butter served like that for a long time.[:)][:)][/quote] I have one of those things. When I was a child-labourer at my mum's seaside B&B in North Devon one of my tasks was to squidge all the butter together and make it into curls. It was lovely Rose of Torridge butter so worth eking out. *Goes off to find butter-twirly-thing and see if can still do it.* Jo

[quote user="Anton Redman"][quote user="Ann"] Hi I have got a late 2 week booking in October and think that my guests will need heating.  I advertise that heating will be an extra charge.  What is the usual amount that owners charge. Ann[/quote] I would a discount from high summer rate to BUT I would expect the rate for the gite to be enough to cover heating. Other wise you are asking me as a renter to guiess how much a French electricity is.  [/quote] Well, no. That just does not work. People who are accustomed to hermetically-sealed centrally-heated houses will put all the radiators on maximum then open the windows, whereas others will wear woolly jumpers at the appropriate times of year and put another blanket on the bed. There's no question of "guiess how much a French electricity is" - guests know in advance the terms of their rental (hands up anyone who doesn't specify heating charges BEFORE guests book?). I do 40kwh included, which covers most peoples' lighting, hot water and washing machine usage, over that I charge 0.15 per unit. (I don't charge for small amounts over ). Like Miki, I read the meter when they arrive and when they leave; they have a piece of paper detailing how it's worked out. Last year I had one family who used 150€ worth in 2 weeks in March (small baby, heating up max.), the people before them used 10€ worth in a week; they wore jumpers and went out for walks. How on earth would having a flat fee "to cover heating" make that fair?

Thanks for the responses. I haven't actually experienced it yet (pale & interesting guests!). A friend has had it happen several times, also another owner she knows. Never happened before this current season. Their dogs are also benefitting! I think she tried Vanish Oxi, but I'll pass on the bicarb suggestion. Bleach, soaking, boiling didn't work. She now has a notice in big letters to say that the cost of replacement of any stained bedlinen or towels WILL be deducted from the security deposit. Apparently there are varying degrees of staining according to whether it's the moisturiser with tanning stuff in (washes out with a bit of elbow grease), or a spray, or the bronzers contained in some sun protection lotions. Cheers, Jo

[quote user="Cassis"]Do some people really call their (paying) guests "punters"?  Sounds like one short step removed from calling them "mugs"! [:)]  [/quote] My mother used to call them her "victims"... We've had towels go missing, but have also had them sent back - often one partner packing and not realising they weren't their own. Have probably gained more over the years, particularly in the gite (we no longer do B&B). One Australian family left a huge pile of brand new big fluffy bath towels, and lots of other useful things - last leg of their European holiday!