P

Contemplating buying a house from which we could do B&B - but only part time. We shall be taking early retirement and thought of offering B&B for only a couple of months - say July and August. Looking at previous posts it seems to us that we could be setup as a microbic. The idea of doing this is to give us a little extra money for perhaps an additional holiday etc. We are not that optimistic to assume that we would be 'full' for the whole of the two months (would contemplate accommodating 2 couples). Is what we are contemplating viable. Thanks in advance for ALL replies Paul & Yve

If I may add my twopenny worth. On my discovering this forum and then placing a post on here I got torn to shreds. On reflection is deserved it. If someone has been monitoring this forum for a number of years then they will know that to a question posed you will get all sorts of reply - from fully supportive to fully against. I have been doing some research and shall, after submitting this, place a question on this website. Interestingly, during my research I discovered that one of those who provides a sort of guru role now was asking questions a few years ago and Miki seemed to be providing sound advice. Miki does seem at times to speak his mind but readily takes any brick bats thrown at him. It is also so easy to 'type your mind' when using a computer so diplomacy rarely rules as would be the case of speaking to people. Therefore, rudeness should not be questioned and just taken as plain speaking. Perhaps people need to consider in more depth contrary thought - it is so easy to be swept along by people saying 'I totally agree with you' that wrong decisions can be made. If Miki should repsond to the question I am going to post I get a sharp reply then I will take note of that and reflect on it. If anyone watches Dragons Den on the BBC where people with ideas etc look for investment from financial backers they will see the investors give some of those a very hard time - however, if those people reflect on some of the sharp comments then they will learn a great deal. So thank you to all of you who have ever replied to any of my questions and keep up the responses whatever they might be. Myrtle - dust yourself down and keep posting - but be ready for anything. Miki = keep your advice and comments coming. Hopefully, we have left kindergarten and can hack it in the real World. Paul

If you look on the website: www.savastore.co.uk You will find that you can purchase a notebook and delete the o/s option (save £11.40). They have been operating for a number of years (Watford Electronics). Personally, for the sake of £11.40 I would have th new disc. Paul

We may have found a property in France (need to check a few things out) or we will be back in to the search soon. We do have a French bank account and, at the moment, exchange rates seem extremely good. Any views on whether we should go with the current rate and place the money into our French bank account and let it earn a little interest there or, keep it in th UK earning far better interest and 'chance' the rate when we need it. We have just been quoted a rate of 1.4707 now and 1.4617 in 3 months. Difficult decisions as I am not really a gambler. Paul

Grays - not a very unpleasant epsiode for you. However, look on the bright side. It would seem that the mother is the real tyrant and, whilst you will not be troubled by them any more the father is probably still being troubled.

Was in France last week and, on one of the Autoroutes overtook a car towing a caravan and, attached to the caravan was a trailer. French plates were fitted.   Now, I am aware that two trailers can be towed subject to the driver having a Showmans licence.   Is it legal for an ordinary driver in France to tow two trailers – not that I want to.   Paul

Is it worth it - well, I can only speak from a potntial buyers perspective. I will be going to the exhibition and I will be looking on the private sales boards and if I see something of interest will follow it up. We did phone up about a property a little while after the last exhibition and it had sold. The September exhibition is essentially just about buying so those there will be buyers. As for types of properties - there are all types of properties advertised, just as there will be all sorts of buyers present. Paul

Nearly Retired Great that you have done the research and found out for yourself - might be useful to others if you put what you found out. Paul

Vickybear From the replies you have received it would seem to me that, if you do decide to proceed, you need to put in place the means of borrowing the shortfall in case it is needed. Paul

Thanks to our GP Yve now has a date - 10 September. Yes, the NHS does seem to be a lottery. At the moment there is the controversy about a drug for bowel cancer that can keep someone alive for longer. Seems a little bit like euthenasia by not giving it but where the patient is unwilling to die. I suppose the phrase 'the doctor will see you now' will b replaced with 'the accountant will see you now'. Many thanks for all the kind words. Paul

Surely the main threat is the driver exceeding the speed limit

Has anyone any indications of the cost of running electricity over a distance - say per 500m. Seen a place advertised but no mains electricity - unsure exactly how far it would need to be run but keen to get an idea before going any further. Thanks Paul

One night a few weeks ago Yve woke me up at about 1am in terrible pain and said she thought she needed to go to A&E. We went there and she was taken to a room and blood was taken. About 5:30 a doctor came and said that he now had the results of the blood test. If one of the stones had been blocking a duct then he could have admitted her as an emergency. As it was not he could not. He gave her some stronger pain killers and that was that! The GP is now on the case so if he draws a blank then it will be private. As for diet she is getting totally fed up with eating bland food. Recently, it was a big birthday for her (do not tell anyone, 50). She had been planning a party for ages. I suggested cancelling until after the op but she wanted it to go ahead. So whilst everyone else was tucking into all sorts of food and drinking plenty of wine and beer, she ate a small bowl of boiled rice and drank water! Paul

You might find it useful looking at Asurance Vies in France, which have tax advantages. Paul

Mary - we do not have a place in France yet - still looking (what a task, we thought we would have a large shortlist of properties but struggling to find the right place). Russethouse - Yve is going to speak with the GP today. I am also looking in to having it carried out privately (£4,500 - £5,500) which, if it cannot be done very soon we will go for. Tempted to try getting it done in France but would probably be easier if we were actually had a place there for the recovery. I actually work for the NHS and for many many years I have defended it. Having now first hand experience from the other side I will join in with those who feel that it does not provide what is required, i.e. treatment for patients. My sympathies go out to all who have suffered. Reading the comments on here about the level of pain I can fully understand why Yve wants it done asap. She is finding that it is not just the pain but the severely diminished quality of life that is a problem. Many thanks Paul

Sorry, only picked up on this topic again - thanks for all the replies. My OH is following a strict as low as possible fat diet. However, this might be easing things some of the time but at others she is in great pain and severe vomitting. She had an OP appointment and was told that she was being put on the 'emergency waiting list'. She has just phoned the hospital and spoken to the Consultants secretary. 'Oh, he is having a lot of leave at the moment so it will not be until October at least bfore the op. When she mentioned the 'emergency waiting list' the secretary just laughed. She was told that they were trying to get another surgeon (this is an NHS Trust is severe difficulties) and if they do it might be September. Working for the NHS and always defending it, having found out what it is really like from the other side, my attitude has now changed. Have been researching having it done privately in the UK but will look deeper into having it done in France. Thanks Paul

And to find out my secret of why I will send you 1000 euros send me 2000 euros and I will let you in on my secret. A little while back I saw a bumper sticker on a car saying 'call this number to find out how you can earn £100 per hour'. The car seemed as though it would have trouble making it to a breakers yard it was in such a state. Obviously, the owner of the car was not interested in making £100 per hour. Personally, if I knew how to make a load of money from an enterprise would I want others muscling in on my territory - unless the enterprise consisted of flogging guides to enable people to make money that it was not possible to make

In the UK the normal survey is for a mortgage which at the least might mean the estate agent proving to the surveyor that similar properties within a half mile area have sold at or above the price. If a full survey is required these, as those in France will normally contain the clauses that say that nothing was dismantled during the survey - therefore you only have the surveyors eyes and intuition to go on. Perhaps what the surveyor has is time. You walk into a house have a quick tour round and decide to buy - or you go back a second time to confirm that this is the house. Now, when the surveyor visits he will spend time closely looking at all aspects. The buyer could have done this but would probably feel uncomfotable spending a coupl of hours scouring over the property looking as to its condition. You can see broken or missing roof tiles. You can see cracks in walls. You can look in fuseboards to see the condition of the wiring. You can look at the plumbing to see its condition. Perhaps we should feel less uncomfortable in thoroughly viewing a property and, in the first instance making a thorough inspection of the property and only then calling in an expert if we want reassurance or do not feel that we can rely on ourselves. Paul

Roger My sympathies are with the dealer - it is the bank that is at fault. Banks are wonderful institutions. Look at how long it takes for money to be credited to an account - a wonderful interest free loan to them. My wife opened a savings account with a UK bank. She had to provide proof of identity tc and was told that she could take it in to a branch, which she did. She also asked if she could pay money in or had to wait (she had the account details, i.e. account number etc) until the identity proof had been accepted. She was told that she could pay money in now, so handed over 2 cheques for £55,000. A couple of weeks later, she phoned with a query to be told 'the account has been closed' and no record of any money being in it. Naturally, they said they would phone back but did not. She phoned again and had to keep epeating the story to each person. She eventually tired of this and wrote to the CEO. She eceived a call asking her to obtain copies of the cheques from her bank so that they could track down where the money was! The account was eopened and the money credited along with interest from when she opened the account. Then a letter, of which the Monty Python crowd would have been proud of, in which the CEO (or whoever wrote it on his behalf) apologised most vigourously stressing that this had been unacceptable etc along with a cheque for £100 for the inconvenience. All in all a little frustrating. So Roger, this was a bank doing everything themselves. To draw an analogy with the currency dealer and my wife. The dealer and my wife both paid money to the banks. If it is the currency dealers fault then it is also my wifes fault for paying money in to the bank. Paul PS I appreciate how frustrating it is.

Pat Hopefully you will be pleased to know that we have seen some properties on the Internet in 32 and that we are coming over for a few days (arrive morning 11th, fly back morning of the 13th August to look at some of these). Would be interested to know 'what makes life great in 32'. Kind regards Paul

Painterman You certainly seem upset. However, I find it somewhat difficult to form an opinion about where the fault lies without knowing the whole story. Paul  

SD - I think that you can learn an awful lot by attending to sign the Compris. We discovered that all that the Immobilier told us was not true! We found that the Notaire explained everything in detail and made sure that we understood - he had excellent English. As signing the Compris legally binds you, subject to the 7 day cooling off period, I think that unless you have a legal advisor in the UK who is proficient in French law then you CANNOT afford not to attend the signing. After all, if it cost £600 what is that compared to the price of the property. Paul

Quillan Mainly happening in the 65 area but some occurences in 09. However, the house that I referred to having signed the Compris was in 11 and the agents in 09 near to 11 - and they were abysmal with communications as to be non-existant. We have been mainly going through French agencies that seem to emply an English person on a part-time basis. Have found at times that trying to see the properties that seem of interest can be difficult at times - agents want to show you what they want to show you and often it nothing like what you have said you are looking for. Paul

Quillans remarks are interesting. Sitting on the other side of the fence - i.e. trying to buy - we have found that some immobiliers lack any form of motivation. Emailed one as we were planning a visit and wanted to arrange a meeting - no reply. A few months later saw a property that looked interesting. To make it easier asked a French colleague to phone and make enquiries. Got some answers but, in reply to 'have they any more photos I was requested to send an email and they did have an English person working for them (when it coms to properties my French has greatly improved but sometimes easier in English). Sent an email - no reply. Another agent had visited a couple of properties with their English rep - who requested I use his home email address as it saves time in them not having to be passed on. Was visiting a fw weeks ago and emailed him about a couple of properties - no reply. Not even when we visited the agency, spent 45 minutes there with a non-English speaking agent. We said that we would be returning soon. He took our email address but nothing from the English agent. On the other hand, other agents have kept in touch - normally in a non-pushy way and, indeed, we are flying over next week to view some properties with one of these. If immobiliers are having a bad time of things then, fo some, they are bringing it on themselves. We have the money available and all ready to buy the right house (in fact we had signed the Compris on a house whilt the vendor failed to sign, will write on this soon). Paul 

We are searching for a house to purchase as a main residence. We did find a house and ven got as far as signing the Compris only to have the vendor 'disappear' (will write about this experience soon). In order to find this house we visited about 60. We have ecently had a few days in France looking at some other houses. Two were nice, but the gardens did not suit (large areas but very little usable). We are planning to eturn for two weeks either in September or October. Our experience has taught us that what you see on the Internet way not be the whole story and that a house that seems to meet much of the criteria on a screen does not in the flesh (or should that be stone / brick). So thought turned to property search agents. Our ideal areas are 09, 31, 65 by or into the Pyrenees although we think we may have to resort to 32. Has anyone any experiences of agents operating in these areas? Any feedback on their worth would be most welcome. Thanks Paul