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[quote user="monaco"]Paul, there must be tens of thousands of mobile homes in France - have you heard many tales of woe?   Do you have any positive suggestion  to make to me, or are you just saying that no-one should ever buy a mobile home? [/quote] Monaco, I have not heard any tales of woe in France because I am not interested in. I have heard a few tales of woe in the UK when the ownership has changed hands - in fact, there was a case highlighted on the TV a couple of years back of a site in Kent where a father and son had bought it and then put the screws on the existing mobile home owners - i.e. you have to buy a new home from us and exhorbitant siting fees - and their methods were not very pleasant. People who I know who had mobile homes only have them for a few years before they decide that they are a very expensive luxury. Close to home, my sister and brother-in-law were dead keen on buying a mobile home but decided not to when they a) worked out how much it was going to cost them (van with limited life as had to be changed at set intervals and rent) b) some of the small print in the agreement. But this applies to the UK, France might be different. I am not saying that no one should buy a mobile home - just that things can change. Perhaps most times they will not be detrimental but in a few cases they might be. The unexpected does happen - just as you experienced with your daughter. I believe in looking at the whole picture and that includes the different possibilities. My comments were meant to be constructive - i.e. things can change. Paul

We viewed about 200 houses - some visits were for 2 weeks, some for a long weekend. Second the torch and compass - binoculars can sometimes be helpful for looking at roofs. Often you will find that it is not a case of wandering into an agents and immediately being taken to be shown properties (some will already have appointments) - use the web to find properties you like the look of, then arrange with the agent an appointment for viewing. Do not just concentrate on agents who can speak English. If you wish to buy and they wish to sell then you will communicate - if necessary, use something like Google to translate your English into French - it might not be perfect but it will contain the gist of what you are saying and if you have a little bit of French so much the better. Beware though, what you think looks good on the Internet might not be that good in the flesh - or is that brick/stone. You might also find that your idea of what you want changes when you do actually view properties. Beware of the agents who then whisk you off to view other properties that you have not asked to see. Our experience was that some think they know what you are looking for and show you appropriate properties. Others seem to think they have you in their grasp so lets show them anything and everything. For our visits, we would scour the web selecting suitable properties, look at the most logical route to follow, also calculating the distances and hence time required between agents and then made appointments allowing sufficient time to get to the area where the properties were and also view. The did manage to view anything up to about 9 houses a day but they were long days. We would return to a property in the evening if we felt it was a possibility - looking at its situation etc. We also found that some agents only work on a Saturday morning so it would give Saturday afternoon and Sunday to look at the various areas where properties were a possibility. To be truthful though, out of 200 properties there were only a handful that were given serious consideration. The agents will hopefully be looking for feedback from you so that they get an idea of exactly what you are looking for. Best of luck Paul By way of a PS - we originally started by trying to save money and used Balladin hotels, which are cheap and basic. We quickly discovered that we wanted something more relaxing of an evening after a long day looking and therefore used Kyriad or Campanile hotels (still seems strange driving in to Tarbes and not heading for the Kyriad where we spent many many nights).

[quote user="Patf"]Yes there has been so much rain. Sorry to say it but you will get a shock when you see how much the grass has grown at your house. I haven't forgotten about the book and have sent you a private message. Pat.[/quote] Thankfully someone is cutting it for us - so no need for pith helmets and elephnant guns Paul PS no hurry for the book Pat - thanks

Whilst counting down the days to our next visit to our place in France (in 31) I normally look at the weather on Meteofrance. What I normally see are symbols depicting lightning and rain. In our many visits last year looking for a house we usually had good weather. Is this year a little strange or was last year? Paul

When we were flying in to Carcassone I found it slightly cheaper booking via Ryanair than direct with Hertz - or using booking sites and the Ryanair prices were lower than using other hire companies. The disadvantage of booking Hertz is that there are many other people on the flight that have a booking with Hertz and quite a queue builds up outside the cabin. Our trick was that I would rush ahead, leaving the OH in the 'baggage' hall and be one of the first at the cabin. Having got the car keys, located the car, would normally have time to go back to the baggage hall and get the case (security seems to be very lacking there). Having got the cases we would walk to the car and see the mile long queue outside the Hertz cabin - not the way to start. Paul

Reliable, reputable companies running things is all well and good until they run in to financial difficulties, feel that profit levels are too low, wish to change to another direction. Then, the business is sold and the new owners might not be all that the old company was. They may wish to maximise profits by insisting that you have to buy a new van and pay exhorbitant siting fees etc. What you see today [:D] might not be what you will see tomorrow [:(]. Paul

[quote user="ErnieY"]And they're still advertising it on Telly............[/quote] Yes, and funnily enough I was going to post today about it in which they make the firm statement that no charges apply. Paul

[quote user="hoverfrog"]I've just had my bank statement from NW, and the leaflet enclosed said that visa debit cards on a flexaccount would no monger be 'free' to use abroad. Credit cards still are though, AFAIK.[/quote] Well, we opened an account last Saturday (26 May - and already have received cards and cheque books). I asked the question about cards not being free to use any more and was told, by the branch manager, that she had no knowledge of this. However, chrages are made for 'abuse' but would not affect normal use. Paul

On a slightly different note, the house that we bought had had some additional sockets installed, being of the 3 'pin' French variety. On closer inspection, the electrician who had carried out the work had simply wired them in to the existing live and neutral of the existing 2 pin system so that there was no earth. Further inspection has revealed that, although the breakers in the board are two pole it is only the live that is fed through this. The neutrals are all fed from a busbar. Nicks valid point about requiring an earth does need confirming that you actually have one. Paul

I will admit, that when we bought our house I was very suspicious of anything and everything (we had a bad experience with a 'vendor' and agent previously). Unlike in the UK there is not a questionnaire detailing everything that will be left so, I will admit I was a little concerned whether things that had been agreed would be left were. A few days before the signing of the Acte I informed the agent that I wished to inspect the property on the day. I was informed that she had appointments and the only way would be for a couple of minutes prior to the signing OR the vendors (English) would be there the day before and we could go in the afternoon. When we arrived, the couple were hard at work cleaning the property. We were given a tour, and it was esplained how things worked. In addition, there were frequent 'we will leave you this' statements. The following day, at the signing (we had opted to use our own Notaire who spoke English) we were very relaxed and looking forward to taking on the house. If we had not visited then there would have been certain thoughts in our minds (or at least mine) and it would have only been once the signing had taken place that we would have found that there was no cause for concern. In addition, it was the first time we had met the vendors when we visited and, I do not know why, but it was good to be able to put a face to them. Perhaps as well, forums such as this can be a problem because many people post their problems and it is far fewer occassions in which people post of good experiences. Paul As an addition, the agent probably found me a pain - I had become very untrusting. Some of the agents we came across tried very hard to find us the house we wanted whilst others would show us anything they had even if it was not remotely like what we were looking for. The strange part is that the house we bought sold itself on 'location, location, location' with the house etc not exactly ticking all the boxes.

Some of the Immobiliers sites have a calculator on them that enables you to calculate the fees - but cannot remember one at present!

Or invest in satellite navigation (money very well spent) and just do what you are told

[quote user="Gardengirl"] I'm trying to get a refund of taxes for an unused flight with Ryanair. Can't find a number or address, just a reservations number; can anyone help on this? Anyone managed to get a refund from them? Jo [/quote] He are some telephone numbers (from www.saynoto0870.co.uk) Main Database Company Name 0870 / 0871 0844 / 0845 Geographical Freephone Other Information RyanAir  0871 2460000    +353 18121212    Head Office, Dublin, Eire; Fax: +353 18121213; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar ~ Website RyanAir  0906 2705656    +353 12497791    Bookings, Eire; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar RyanAir  0906 2705656    +353 12497700    Customer services menu - Eire; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar RyanAir  0906 2705656    +353 18121228    Customer services; Fax: +353 18121230 - Eire; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar RyanAir  0871 2460000    01279 664210    Stansted Airport (STN) Baggage enquiries Also for: 0870 0000303 Ryanairhotel.com  0871 2460004    +353 12750233    Cheaper to call direct to Eire; Reduce cost using 1899 or similar Stansted Airport (STN)  0870 0000303    01279 662966    RyanAir Baggage Enquiries only; ask 'Left Luggage' for a number for other Airlines Unverified Numbers Database Company Name 0870 / 0871 0844 / 0845 Geographical Freephone Other Information Ryanair      +353 1 8121212    Number of Caroline Green, head of customer services - email: [email protected] RyanAir  0871 2460000    +353 12497791    Reservations; press 8 for reservations. cheaper to use a phone card then dial 0871!! Ryanair  0871 2460009    01292 473100    Premium number to book MBNA promotion flights.Got a call back from this team on 01292473100.Haven't called it back to check. Ryanair  0871 246 0000    0035318121212    Phone above number, press 1 for knowing an extension, then any 4 digit numer starting 12. I used 1244 and it worked, I spoke to someone who could answer my query

I certainly do not condone what La Roche is suggesting - he signed for the card and agreed to the terms so honour them. What gets me though, is companies that go bust and people who have paid by credit card get their money back from the card company. The bust company starts up using another name, normally very similar to the original and away they go taking credit cards (which they have an agreement with the card company) until that company goes bust and the next company is set up. This makes credit superior to cash - and no doubt the loses are recouped by the card companies by higher interest charges to users.

Milly, I can only give you a view from someone who was using the Internet to search for properties from the UK and then making visits to view. We would often find a house and think 'that looks interesting'. Normally, the photos were limited so we searched for another agent with the same house and a different set of photos - which would sometimes curb our interest. Sometimes we would not be able to find another agent with the same property, and the sole agent might have, at best two photos and sometimes one photo - email requests for more not always bringing many more. There were a few agents that showed us houses with whom I would possibly put a house on a sole agency basis. But, there is little difference in cost when using either a sole agency or multi-agency. In addition, as well as number of photos, some agents are easier to find on the net than others - as well as some having excellent websites and others being very basic. As for desperation, we found that some agents would tell us who was desperate (as well as telling us that far lower than the price would be accepted). We did find at times we would be in an agents and they would suggest we looked at a property and we would reply that we already had an appointment with another agent to view it - interestingly, with one property, the agent was enthusing about it until we told him we would be viewing it with another agent. He immediately started to tell us what was wrong with the property - something that we would have spotted without his warning. So, in a very long winded way, from my viewpoint, it is sometimes helpful to the long distance buyer if the property is multi-agency. Paul

Personally, I find www.mappy.fr better than multimap. Paul

Very recently did a trip to the US. Going out, at Gatwick, we were asked all sorts of questions about what was in the cases and, as normal, the hand luggage screening was pretty thorough. On the return, there were no questions, just told to take our suitcases and hand them in over there. The screening of the hand luggage was low key, the only problem, which normally occurs, the OH set the alarm off. Having removed all jewellery and shoes still set the alarm off. We have Samsonite cases with combination locks. On collecting the cases I noticed that one was not set at the numbers I normally set it at. At home, unlocked the case and inside was a leaflet saying that they had opened the case and tough luck if the lock was broken! Which it is not. On the return from a visit to Cuba one of the cases had been plundered (but in Cuba or the UK?). They had removed 2 bottles of rum and the chargers for the video and digital camera. I reasoned that, as there are 1000 different combination, if they spent 1 second to each number they could have it opened in 15 minutes. However, I am now wondering if there is another very quick method of opening Samsonite cases and, if so, is there any point in locking them.

Clair 'State regulated tarrifs' - that is new to me. How does it work and what is it based on - i.e. is there any state subsidy or is it a case of if EDF wish to increase profits they have to do this by charging commercial users more. Paul

[quote user="monaco"]I found myself deeply in debt through no fault of my own.  My daughter had started a clothing business which was going very well and I had let her raise some of the capital on my name. [/quote] Sorry Monaco, I do not wish to seem harsh but I cannot understand how it was not your fault. You allowed your daughter to raise capital in your name - essentially, you were investing in the business. Unfortunately, there is no law that states that 'any business that starts up will be profitable'. It might be unfortunate that an illness meant the business failed - obviously, this was not considered in the business plan. The percentage of businesses that fail is quite high so anyone investing in a business should consider it a risk. Paul

[quote user="Jonzjob"] Has no-one yet realised that the most efficient way to travel in a car is to get a tow off of the car in front. If you get close enough to the car in front the vortex created by the car is enough to drag you with it. Blimey, you can improve your fuel effiency by a conciderable amount by being dragged along by the car in front. [/quote] Lorry drivers do this - especially the owner operator ones. It is fine until the one in front suddenly stops. The one being 'towed' cannot stop then crashes into the one in front normally resulting in the towed driver being killed.

What is it with books - you keep books that have been read on the shelf (and some that have not) which will never be reread and you are loathe to throw them out. Utterly illogical. I still regret my OH convincing me to throw out some of my books the last time we moved - she will have no such luck when we fully move to France

Methinks some of you have not been back to the UK in a long while. Personally, I find our visits to France provide for relaxing driving - the opposite to the UK. I do not get cut up, no one exceeds the speed limit by very much and the volume of traffic is much less. The other big treat is that virtually nowhere charges for parking. Paul

Presume it is the same for all buyers as it was in our case. The legal documentation clearly outlined the amount for the house, the immobiliers fees, and the amount for the notaire and taxes and, for the signing of the Acte, the difference between the total and the deposit had to be paid into the notaires account. No real difference to the UK - the buyer pays over a sum of money to their solicitor, this is then passed to the sellers solicitor, who pays the agency fee and hands the remainder to the seller. At the end of the day, whichever country you are in, the buyer actually pays for the legal fees and taxes, the agency fees and the sellers money - just that it is dressed up differently. Paul

Hasn't IKEA started to sell wooden houses? If so they may well offer a construction service (probably uses slightly larger allen screws than the furniture).

We have only driven down to the SW once so far (and it was with a LWB Luton). We hit Paris at about midday on a Saturday and had no problems - the traffic flowed well and there were no arguements with the navigator - because we had invested in a TomTom One Europe. This device made sure I knew where I needed to be on the road for slip roads etc. Without it I am sure there would have been a lot of confusion and rows. Our return journey saw us sail round Paris with very little traffic BUT going the other way the traffic was nicely jammed. Invest in a £200 navigation system and driving will be so much easier. The other advantage is if you want to stray from the route you can and it will just keep recalculating the route. Especially handy when roads are closed for markets etc. Paul