peterw

An interesting post which brings up a lot of issues. I know it is hard to be philosophical when in the middle of such a situation but it pays to be aware of human nature when entering into any form of "business relationship" whether it is formal or informal. Basically whether we choose to admit it or not, most people will look out for number one when in a partnership dissolution. If  we recognise this when going into a partnership, then far more attention would be placed on how to execute a get out clause. As a starting point, I  am firmly of the belief that the party wanting to "get out" or sell should realise that this should be at no cost to the other party. Deciding what is at no cost is the hard part. The point is illustrated well by the wild variations that agents can provide. The agents of course are driven by wanting to get a listing which is more likely if a big price is set. Thus any set of agents valuations will be biased upwards. Part of an agents job of course is to manage buyer and seller expectations, to help establish a market price. The market price in reality is only dependant on what another party will pay for a property, not what a seller will sell for. Perhaps a method of resolving such mismatches of expectations is for the partner "wanting out" to find a buyer at his expense- Valuation fees inspection fees notaires fees etc to be borne by them. Once a buyer is found  that becomes the sale price. No discount on the sale price, this is effectively given by the fact that the seller pays for the fees etc.

I think it is dangerous to assume that the ECB will be on continual upward revision to rates(which your comments imply) The ECb have been very clear that they are there to target inflation only. This is in direct contrast to greenspan in the US who has shown by his actions that he wants to act to stop the housing bubble. In any case there is a world of difference between the US with its lax lending standards and that of the eurozone particularly France. Hence the Eurozone housing increases are more sustainable than in the US. I very much doubt that the ECB then will be targeting the relatively mild housing boom of the eurozone. Germany housing has in fact declined in real terms; France whilst it has moved substantialy, was due for a sustained move in housing prices due to the depression in housing prices in the early to mid 90's . The netherlands are an exception where there clearly is a bubble- but it is hardly the engine room of the Eurozone and thus will not be driving rates. The ECB will be looking nervously at the oil price from this point trying to see whether the rise in oil price will flow through into higher cost of goods and services. My prediction is that the Oil price will not move much above where it is now thus its impact on inflation going forward will be minimal. The economic growth rate of france and germany has been pretty anemic really considering the low interest rates, and IMO reflect the huge problems that these economies face without restructuring. Of course there must be the political will to do this restructuring something that Chirac has shown to be completely lacking in leadership. So whilst normal economic cycles of the past would predict further interest rate increases I think this time it is different. Dont panic into making decisions based on the past. Remember by fixing there is a certain "insurance" premium built into the rate by the banks which is only worht paying for if you feel that rates will continue higher.

Thanks Opel for a timely post. I am no expert but have often thought about most of the points you raised. I have just inherited a rather large system and am still learning its "personality" Do you have any idea how much heat loss can be attributed to non insulated pipes? Approximately 70% of our living space is not occupied and yet we seem to be heating these non occupied rooms indirectly with the pipes that supply the radiators and go between the levels. On the surface the heat control mechanism seems sophisticated with measurement of the outside temp dictating the flow temp inside. I am yet however, able to work out how the system is able to recognise the insdie temp (ie I havent seen a thermostat device inside) The outside one is obvious. What should i look for for an inside thermostat? If one were to change the valves to thermostatic, would this necessarily mean draining the whole system? Not a nice though if you want to do some changes in the middle of winter!

It sounds like there are fioul suppliers out there taking advantage of people during these times of high oil prices. They rely on the fact that everyone knows that the price of oil has gone through the roof and so many will not question them if they add 10% to the price. it is only by comparing what other suppliers are paying do you really know what the "real" price is. Perhaps we can encourage others to put their prices paid up on the forum and have a data base that is reasonably current.

Just an update my original quote from DMS 61.8 TTC. I then rang their competitor LCN who gave me a quote of 59.1 TTC. When the DMS truck arrived i told them about the competitors quote and they then gave me  57.0 TTC.  A reduction of 8%!  

Thanks Les, What you have advised, means going to register with the French Health system which is just ONE PART of there SS system. I would have thought that this would only cover the Health aspect and not his pension, unemployment, sickness etc etc which is all part of the french social security system. So is it possible that there are other registrations that need to be done as well? Or is it simply a matter of just registering with CPAM/CMU as you say

I would be interested in anyones feedback on what the current heating oil price is for say 1500 litre delivery. We have been quoted 61.8c/l which seems high given the recent  falls in the oil price- last time we filled it was 66 c/l but at the time gazoil at the pump was 1.30 euro. It seems that the price of the heating oil has not come down as much as pump prices or are we being taken for a ride?

I want to employ someone under the cheque de emploi system. They are from the UK but obviously would not have a french social security number. I have been told that i need to quote their French social security number under the Cheque de emploi system. Can anyone advise what how they do this? The complicating factor here is that the person concerned has not been living in the EU for the past 6 years so has no way of getting an E form from the UK. Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Nev Thanks for the info. Looks like I will have to dust off the Netgear and give it a shot. Thanks

I am currently using wanadoo adsl with their livebox. But I cannot get full coverage for our property because of thick walls, multi-floors etc. What i do have is an old  netgear router and another wireless modem. The question is ,does anyone have any experience with "extending" the livebox's coverage by adding additional modems and routers? Or very simply, does anyone know whether wanadoo allow a non livebox setup on their adsl system? Obviously this is very different than the dial up service so I really only need to hear from those that have their adsl on.

Go to www.pagesjaunes.fr/pj.cgi?lang=en enter Matériaux Anciens and your region This should be a good start

A utility bill merely proves that someone with the name on the cheque book(Joe Bloggs) lives at an address in france. It does not at all prove that you are Joe Bloggs. Surely the issue here (for Carrefour) is to prove that you are Joe Bloggs and that you have the right to write the cheque that you are presenting. Clearly, ID with your photo and your name on it gives Carrefour what they need to prove that the person standing in front of them matches visually with the name on the cheque book. A passport or DL with photo has both name and visual ID and both are much harder to forge than a utility bill. A utility bill can be found in rubbish bins etc, passports as a general rule are not thrown out in the rubbish and are guarded by their owners -as is a drivers licence.So to my way of thinking, this emphasis on where you live is completely irrelevant(especially in todays "eurozone" environment). What is important is that you can prove who you are. Surely a Passport and DL is sufficient. But there again they are French......

"Another good reason for using Carte Bleu!" Which we normally would use, but when you are spending fast and furious (setting up costs etc) the CB limit is easily exceeded and then you cant use it

Unfortunately it was not a once off with carrefour. My wife had a similar experience 6 weeks ago. Then she only had a drivers licence. This time I was prepared with passport DL and, because our titre de sejour has not been processed yet, our temporary TDS which was issued by the local mairie.This of course had our french address on it.    

I went to Carrefour today to pay for some white goods, when I got to the caisse they asked for 2 forms of ID as I was paying by cheque from our french bank. To my surprise they would not accept my passport and drivers licence as valid form of ID because they were not french ID. I tried to point out that ID should be ID irrespective of where it comes from and the fact that I had been issued with a cheque book by a French bank should imply that the bank had already satisfied themselves of my identity. Has anyone else come up against this problem? Is it legal in view of new eurozone laws that are meant to promote free trade within the zone. I mean how can you have "free trade" if everyone is meant to have french ID if they want to pass a cheque for over 300 euro. I would expect a small trader without the sophistication of Carrefour to behave in this manner. A multinational conglomerate should IMO be better organised to meet the new world.  

I agree with mpprh, Better to create the web site yourself (although it can be a steep learning curve) . The template solution is ok for very basic sites but lacks the creative elements that you may wish to add- eg forms etc. It is important to have a clear objective in mind for your web site. Are you going to rely on potential customers to find it via google etc, if so then the use of key words meta tags etc are crucial. To add to the confusion each search engine has different ways of finding your web site and some eg google change the way they do this all the time. On the other hand, if all you want to do is use it as a source of further information, for example if a written media add mentions your website in it then the marketing is being done in the written media and you are using the website just to expand on the information with photographs etc

I suggest if you want to try to create your own that you download Dreamweaver  http://www.download.com/3000-2048-10013427.html This gives you a 30 day free trial. It is very easy to use if you are sticking to the basics. If you cannot get anywhere with this programme in 30 days then i would suggest that you would be better getting someone else to do it for you. Once you have created your web site you need to find a host and also register your domain name. In my case it was more cost effective for me to spend some time learning Dreamweaver than getting someone to create, then keep up to date a web site. As an alternative, there are many web page template vendors out there eg http://www.crystalgraphics.com/frontpage/templates.main.asp?p=zzgoop&cgss=frontpage+templates but try googling "web page templates free" and you will get many results. Hope this helps  

We had the approval of our Notaire to serve them with this letter I think that this sort of letter is better prepared and sent by your notaire. Many people will try to bluff their way through a dispute when there is only letters between the 2 parties. Once the dispute involves a member of the legal proffession, they may change their tune. Is your Notaire unable to do this for you? Who's Notaire holds the deposit? Yours?

Was it an unconditional offer? Or was it made with conditions? I would imagine that if it was conditional, that there are certain proofs required before the deposit would be handed over. Did they sign the cooling off document? If not then they have a week from the date of its signing. They may have elected to cool off and you just havent been told about it.

The Australian leg will happen instantly. The bank of france then get it, sit on it to collect interest and then pass it on -on average they have it for 4-5 days. Your friend should have the money by the 12th assuming no holidays etc intervene. But it is cutting it fine. Transfer charges should be a flat fee about $30-50 AUD. Where the bank will try to make money is in the exchange rate. This can cost quite a lot depending on the relationship with the bank. But it will still certainly be cheaper than travellers cheques for instance. I assume they want to do it this way because the amount of money may justify trying to avoid travellers cheques

Mix the saw dust with PVA glue. The PVA dries clear and the saw dust should be a close match to your boards.

Thanks for the clarrification Sam. Did they ever suggest sprinklers were or may be necessary?

Brilec, I have no problems with Motorcyclists with your attitude- you obviously are a responsible road citizen. You are right there are bad drivers driving all sorts of vehicles- motorcyclists included. It is those motorcyclists that my comments are directed, they are the ones that think that I must have my eyes glued to the rear vision mirror 100% of the time so that I dont endanger the Cyclist going 150km through 80km traffic(this does not mean that I dont use my mirrors by the way). Should I be expected to ignore all my other road responsibilities ie looking forwards sideways and actualy driving the car, just so that I can accomodate the selfish needs of of a few Cyclists who bought their bike thinking "Ahhhhh.... thats the end of queues for me!!!!" Like everything in life it is the selfish few that take things to the extreme(The no queues for me brigade) that spoil it for the rest of us(The responsible riders).  

Motorcyclists don't own bikes to sit in queues. That quote just about encapsulates the whole problem. Do you really think that people own cars to sit in queues either? The concept that a motor bike gives you special rights on the road is flawed.  

"I guess that your just one of the car drivers that sits in a lane in a queue of cars and that’s the only time you use your mirrors , Then you see a bike coming and think WHY  should I have to sit hear and the bike just gets to go down the middle of all the traffic ."   No I dont think that. If you took the time to read my posts you would see that ...... You have ignored much of what I have said.