Athene

Your prices are so low for the lovely accomodation you offer and the meals too are very much below what I have seen advertised elsewhere! I should think you must run on full all the time and as such are bound to make a profit comparable or more than other establishments who charge more and are not always full. Being curious but why are you selling up? Are you going back to the UK for a quieter life?

We have Wanadoo(France Telecom) 'debit max' would be able to ask for free calls to the UK too?

Pink mobile phone that held the numbers of all his little 'pecadillos'! 

It is SDS and it is cheaper than you can buy in France! We are not newcomers to France or French DIY establishments! Why do you think I posted this? I was trying to be helpful by passing on good advice!

Also check to what depth the treatment has to go into the big beams as it maybe necessary to treat hugely thick beams from both sides to get the protection. Get your ladders ready to check they have done this! Our company had to come back! They assumed that 'anciens anglais' would not get up the ladders and check!

We have to lower the level in our new room and the floor is solid granite, really tough stuff! Also we have to rip out an old wine tank. We bought one of these things with us instead of hiring the pneumatic drill and huge compressor from the local hire place. This is by far better, the pump action rips through it all far better than anything we have previously hired. If you want to know where we got it you can send me a message and I will reply as we are not allowed to advertise here. Excellent value Hammer with powerful chisel function and soft-grip handle. Supplied with 1 flat chisel and 1 pointed chisel. 1700W Vibration 13.68m/s² Impact Rate 1300bpm 1 Flat Chisel 400mm 1 Point Chisel 400mm Carry Case £180

harness up her 'trotter' or trotting pony to his carriage and away they would go to the darkest of the dark woods, whilst Mde Le Boeuf sharpened her carving knife and with a knowing grimace got ready to...

I have researched past posts and although other people have been interested in this system in 2005, I wonder if anyone actually installed it? If so I would like to hear from them as to whether it is as efficient and cheap to run as the installers claim. If what they are saying is true then after three years one would make up the initial outlay as compared to what would be the cost to continue with propane!

Vincent Le Boeuf, who had on such occasions been known to demand payment in kind! Yes he was not averse to...

Hello Moya, your tale is not unusual sadly! I have a friend who is having to go to court to contest a claim on her later mother's inheritance. It seems that a man who had preyed on her mother for two years at the end of her life has produced a will that proports to leave her mother's worldly goods to himself and to her two grand daughters, thus cutting my friend out entirely. The old mother was being treated for Alzheimer's and was very confused and her solicitor is prepared to go to court to say that at the time this last will was signed, he personally had his doubts as to whether it was her decision to change her will or whether this leech was railroading her into it! Now this lady had a considerable amount of money so the leech stands to gain big time if he wins, so he is going to court with a barrister! All this is so stressful and it seems you have the same situation! I do sympathise!

Thanks Pat. "We discoverd the little local guy was charging us for all of the documentation to start up a new tenancy and we were losing almost a month's rental each time " In our area, paying out the first month's rental direct to the agent for the set up is standard. When I say 28% for the management, I have included this fee in my calculations. Now if the same tenants continue renting after the first year, I would hope that we would not be into paying another month's rent directly into the agent's pocket as there would not be credit checks needed; this is something to check out. Once again thank you everybody, you have helped enormously!

Thanks to everyone who has posted! It seems there is a lot to consider! Pat -"I don't know where you heard that the agent takes 28%" I have got the booklet and that I can assure you that is what is charged by a large agency in Brentwood Essex for a fully managed property! It does not include the rental insurance but does include them chasing up defaulters and claiming on the policy. It also includes all the checks and drawing up an inventory.

Hello everyone! We intend to rent out our UK house when we come to France. Reading the estate agents 'information' booklets I am filled with doubts as to which way to proceed for the best and would like to tap the experiences of people here as to which way is best. My first thoughts have been to take our furniture with us and put in its place reasonable secondhand items. Now I have had some luck with this and have bought a lounge suite and dining room suite that is probably better then my own. However, I am fond of my own furniture; so mine will definitely come with us as it will add to the comfort factor of being in a new country.Things like my washing machine and dishwasher I am undecided about. As I have posh Bosch ones, I have debated getting new ones for UK and taking these too as new ones would be under guarantee if they go wrong for the new tennants. What do you think? And do I leave a television do you think? My daughter who has rented before says this is expected in a furnished rental property. Yet the estate agents' blurb says it is best not to leave anything like TVs and Hifis as if they go wrong, the tennants will come back on us for the repairs. Now this latter seems to make good sense to me. I have also heard that it is much more difficult to extricate tennants if the house is left unfurnished - is this the case?  Then there is the paintwork -  I do not want this changed as it is neutral and all newly, professionally done. Can I specify that this is not changed or at least put back to what it was professionally when they leave?  I have a wonderful garden and I intend to continue paying our gardener for its upkeep as it is a good selling point for the house, should we decide to go down that path at some future date. Bottom line is that whilst the house still belongs to us and there is an outside chance that we might end up back there, I cannot bear to see it fall into a neglected state after all my hard work and the gardener's too! The other really thorny question is what level of management do we pay for with the agents? I think it is 28% of the rental if you have full management, this means they call out repair people if things go wrong or they will chase up payment defaulters and claim on the rental insurance for us if rent is not paid. I have heard that they will only use their own tradepeople and this involves paying high prices for work done as it includes a 'kick back' for the agents themselves, so I have wondered about getting a neighbour to call trademen out who we know will do a good job. Also we could pay the neighbour what the agent would have got for this. However as for lapses in paying the rent, we could not expect a neighbour to chase this up and it remains to be seen as to whether this would be more difficult to do ourselves from a distance. Has anyone had experience of this difficulty? Yes, a lot of questions I know but I would really appreciate your advice and guidance in these matters!

CUs last one year.

Hi Pat from one Essex girl to another, our UK house is in Brentwood and although there are bad goings on in Britain, I still do not dislike our area!

It seems to be the case too that Brits buying houses in need of renovation think that because they have not paid much for the house itself the renovation will be at a price lower than UK price! This is just not the case! Artisans' work is not cheap and if for instance a new roof is required then it would be wise to call in a local builder to give  a price that could be added onto the house price before a decision is made as to whether it is feasible to continue with the purchase. Our stone mason friend says he is fed up with Brits calling him out for 'devis' and then trying to beat him down on the price of the work. He says he knows of many cases where Brits have sold small houses in the UK and bought huge ruins in France and then proceeded to live their lives in a caravan on the land as they just cannot afford the renovation costs! Again it is a case of buyer beware!

I think it is a good idea to cover your options and keep a UK property if at all possible. Besides it is a 'nice little earner' rent-wise to top up the pension! However not everyone can afford to do this and with property prices ever rising in the UK, it is wise to consider the future if you are a certain age. If you feel that you could not face life alone in France then the sooner you are back in Blighty maybe the better as if you leave it till later, it may not be an option open to you! I agree with Monaco that living on your own has its compensations. I was married for 24 years then divorced and dreaded facing the world alone! However, I was pleasantly surprised how well I adapted to it. I played tennis and bridge and had a social life around those. I liked being able to eat what I wanted when I wanted and go to bed and get up when I wanted. However this regime did not last and my younger daughter moved back home for two years. Again I had become set in my ways and was not looking forward to it - again I was completely wrong! We had the most marvellous two years and spent quality time together as two adults that was completely different from the last time she had spent at home as a young adult fed up of home rules before going off to university.Having had this experience, I am not fearful of living alone and know that I would be happier alone in France than alone in the UK. I agree with what Gastines says that life is becoming quite difficult in the UK! Rubbish collections are going down to once a fortnight and you have to be so so careful what you put in what bag - you are to be fined if you make mistakes! Also twigs going into green garden waste bags have to be a standard size and the bags will not be taken if the twigs are even a couple of centimetres over - the collection men carry rulers! I know, I have transgressed! The postal system is a nightmare with packages disappearing! Everything of value you send must be insured! And the hospitals... I have just had a friend who went in for a routine hysterectomy die after catching a 'superbug'! She was 45! I have a friend who does bank nursing in the local hospitals and what she has to say about standards makes your hair curl! I have visited a neighbour in the local French hospital and I have seen for myself their cleaning regime. Yes 'superbugs' will get through but with proper cleaning with disposable wipes and all new for each room and corridor, it is cut down to the minimum! Just why they cannot do the same in the UK is beyond me! You see the same mop and bucket trailed from one place to another spreading everything in its wake! Yes the thrust of this thread has changed but it is very interesting!

There is a system you are right! It depends on how incapacitated you are as to how much help you get. Also you have to have the right amount of 'mutuelle' top up to qualify. Our neighbours' old mother who lives with them has a lady (not a nurse) who comes to get her up assist with her washing and sit whilst she has breakfast. The old lady can only walk short distances with a vimmer frame. Also she calls for herdaughter's help to go to the loo several times in the night and our neighbour looks shattered every morning! As well as her old mother, our neighbour childminds too and has to be up with the lark to receive her charges, so life for her is far from easy! Another set of neighbours who had more insurance had a lady who came twice a day to their old mother! What a nightmare growing old is!

We have had our house in France for seven years and we are just about to leave the UK and make France our main home. Everything Gastines says is true especially the bit about the necessity to speak French. The social life as he says is having the long long meal with French neighbours and the lengthy chat about everything under the sun. We also laugh a lot and have a shared sense of humour. In some parts of France going for a meal is very formal affair or so I have heard, I think we are lucky with our neighbours! I think missing family is a big contibutary factor for people coming back to the UK. I thought today as I was with my daughter and little grandson that I will certainly miss out on being with them and watching him grow up! At the moment in the UK I am an hour and a half's drive away and can be with them twice a month. However, we all have to live our own lives to live and in my opinion it is not good to live in anybody's pocket! Also we are not moving to the other side of the Moon, we can and will come back to the UK for visits! We also hope our family will come and visit us! As for the cheddar cheese... Well Le Clerc sell Irish cheddar no and that is a big plus! However no English bangers yet! LOL! No, you are right it is English shops I personally will miss and even though I am not a shopaholic, I do occasionally enjoy a spree, I guess I will do that on my trips back! Trouble is you are limited weight-wise as to what you can bring back on a plane! I also enjoy an English boot sale, I will miss those - these are not to be compared to the French brocante where I have yet to see anybody buying anything from! Living near London the air here is really polluted and in SW France I breath better with clean air! In France I love the calm of the country and get a lot of pleasure from my garden. Yes I do have a garden in the UK but getting things to grow in London clay is much more of a struggle than in the lovely rich dark loam of the French garden! It gives me a buzz to be able to grow my own vegetables! I also really enjoy all the plant fetes in our area and love to go and buy a new addition. I have been lucky in that my French neighbour has watered my garden and cut the grass whilst we have been back in the UK and we come back to find everything pristine! We have always paid him to do this and we are all happy with the arrangement! I also think that we have had a lot of work renovating our old stone house and even though some people may say is it not too much when we are 60 to keep on doing  this, I think they are wrong as it gives us a challenge - a goal in life! We can look at the house and see what we have achieved together and feel proud! This spurs us on to our new endeavours! I have a cousin who is three years younger than me and she and her husband have just moved into their two bedroomed retirement bungalow. They have a rigid tele viewing routine, they go to the tea dance on Fridays and have an annual holiday.They could not have pets as everything is so tidy and perfect! They occasionally holiday with us in France and I see real concern in her eyes for us as she feels we are missing out on our retirement! But it is horses for courses and we both race in different tracks! We are happy with ours and they with theirs, we cannot all be the same! We are glad we have had our house for these seven years as we feel we are not going into the unknown and we are well aware of the pluses and the minuses of life in France versus life in the UK! All life is compromise - you just have to add them up and go for the life with most pluses! I am sorry if I have 'rabbited' on tonight, I never intended to write such a long letter, I think you are to blame Gastines!Your letter inspired me!  

It is a bit too far away - 186km. Thanks for the suggestion though! I thought there might be someone in Bordeaux or La Rochelle.

How much an hour should we pay change over cleaners? Post moved from the vacancies section to allow replies.

Has any one got any recommendations for me please?

I need one too but in Jonzac dept 17 area. Any recommendations?

In the near future, we are going to let our English house and live in France! As we have never done this before We would really appreciate any advice you guys out there might have for us. We know there are insurance policies that cover rented houses, has anyone had experience with these? I spoke to the insurance company we have our building and contents insurance with at present and the guy there said very honestly that we might be better off with a company who specialise in these landlords' policies. He would not elaborate on why, just said they would cover more than they could! Also we know we must take out a policy to protect us against tennants who default on their rent. Has anyone had experiece of these? We also intend to keep on our gardener as we would hate to think of that slipping back to a wild state! We might have tennants who love gardens but we are not prepared to take that chance! Also we are debating whether to pay our neighbours what it would cost with the letting agent to care for the house if things go wrong - eg if a plumber is needed. That way we could ensure the house is looked after by trademen we have faith in and not be serviced by someone who adds on a cut for the agent in his bill! Also they would be right there to deal with problems as they arise! As you can see we are trying to get things right! Any advice you can give us would be really well recieved!

Here in leafy lane Essex, a garden centre had a piece of land and applied to the local council for building permission. It was refused so they sold it to travellers! The travellers (well that is what they call themselves even though they do not actually 'travel'!) moved in with loads of caravans and connected themselves to water and electricity! There have been protests from the community and reviews from the council but recently the travellers have been granted a stay of 5 years! I cannot see what it is like on this land but all the people in the area have put their houses up for sale and no-one is buying! So they have lost out big time on what is probably their main investment in life! Do not buy this house!