Jump to content

timc17

Members
  • Posts

    167
  • Joined

  • Last visited

    Never

timc17's Achievements

Newbie

Newbie (1/14)

0

Reputation

  1. Does France have the same duty limits as the UK with regard to individuals bringing stuff back from the USA like ipods etc?
  2. Just to put the record straight for ams who has jumped to several wrong conclusions. 1. Our current French house was bought in 2003 as a holiday home. 2. We moved here in 2005 and started our Property Finding / Maintenance business in July 2007. 3. In December 2007 we bought a second house here which requires renovation and will when refurbed double-up as a home and a B&B. 4. This second property was bought at the full asking price within hours of it being available as we knew there was significant interest in it and having been searching for the best part of a year did not want to lose it to someone else. 5. The architect's opinion that the property was undervalued is more a reflection of the availability of this particular type of house locally rather than sucking-up to a new client.    
  3. [quote user="ams"] What a very strange question to ask.   Did you pay the asking price when you bought. ?   Did you overpay ?   Why would i know anything about the UK property market. ?   Of course you could use the services of a property finding company and ensure that the price you end up paying is substantially more than it should be. !!!!!     ams [/quote] We bought in December and paid the full asking price. No we don't think we overpaid and our architect agrees. Your previous comments led me to believe you always offer 20 - 25% less than the asking price, i was just curious as to whether this technique only applied to buying in France or could be used anywhere. 
  4. [quote user="ams"] Your price offer could be spot on. I prefer to go in low and work upwards, so many people that we know have had their first offer accepted.   before going back with a counter offer i would let the matter rest for a week or two.   ams [/quote] Would you use the same tactics in the UK or is your magical formula strictly for the French market?
  5. Are you trying to bag a bargain for a profit or buy a house that you might keep for many years? A difference of 4% does not seem very much so if you're happy with the house do the deal if not keep looking.
  6. Am i correct in thinking that box AJ (form 2042k) is the right one for putting my meagre micro earnings for 2007?
  7. Without wishing to ask the obvious if the French mortgage is in joint names not only will your husband still be liable for the monthly payments but will he also not be still be joint owner as shown on the deeds? I would get the advice of an english based (or english speaking) French lawyer before you go any further. Can recommend one if you want to pm me.
  8. Having been through the French buying system twice now i would offer a few suggestions. 1. Choose a different notaire to the sellers. 2. Check for yourself exactly what you are buying and whether this ties up with the cadastre (this should now be possible via the net). 3. If you can't speak French employ a translator. 4. Make a French will. 5. Don't be afraid to ask questions during the final signing because afterwards is too late. 
  9. We are signing for our new house today and had a good look round the property a few days ago. We noticed a water leak on the property side of the meter and promptly called the agent. He arranged for a plumber to repair the leak and the vendor will bear the costs. A pre-signing inspection is vital!
  10. [quote user="Val_2"]Just a warning that if you ring EDF to talk technical or to arrange for an engineer to visit to change heures creuses/plein etc you can end up with an extra phone charge of 35€ as we did recently when liasing on a client's property and change of hours for the aforementioned. Also should you ring the breakdown number in case of power cut, you will also receive a seperate invoice for going via Alcatel, usually about 6€ to listen to a recorded message of what areas are affected. This is Brittany by the way and you get diverted to Normandy.[/quote] We have just had EDF re-connect the electricity supply to our new house. Whilst they were doing this they noticed the cable from the pylon had been damaged and promptly repaired it. We were not asked to sign any paperwork when they arrived or after they had finished and my wife was not told about any charges when booking the rendez-vous. I'll post an update if we too suffer additional phone costs and a repair charge.
  11. We also use eau de javel and it's very effective. Please be careful as it will burn anything. We tend to get togged-up like spacemen if we've a big area to do.
  12. As far as i'm aware every recognised track or path is normally assigned the same Land Registry number as the land on which it's sits or is classed as a Chemin Rural (for the use of everyone in the commune). Our neighbour has a CR running past his back door and people do use this to reach the fields behind his house. The CR is clearly marked as such on the cadastre so it's not in dispute. As from Jan this year the cadastre for most of France is now available online. Perhaps this would be a good starting point for researching the path's history. It would appear your mayor is under pressure from the locals but unless he can prove that the path is a CR he might well struggle to have your terrace demolished. My advice would be to consult a Notaire or Avocat a.s.a.p.
  13. A couple of questions - Was your land purchase dealt with by a notaire and what was his/her take on the mayor's demand? 
  14. [quote user="ams"] The legislation has not changed. essentially the majority of fiscal authorities make the difference between capital expenditure for tax purposes and repairs and renewals. Thus if one has a very old bathroom and you change it and put in a state of the art bathroom costing throsands of €, even with gold taps etc, it is revenue expenditure. On the other hand if you add a small WC to the house that would be capital expenditure.   From a taxation point of view, the majority prefer to be able to write off costs against income taxation, thus try to get the expenditure classified as revenue costs, for those that the house represents a principal residence no problem exists. For those were the house is a secondery house or holiday home a genuine problem exists in terms of capital gains tax exposure. generally speaking with a little bit of planning most of the major costs of renovating an old house can be allowed as a cost for CGT purposes.   ams   [/quote] My understanding of the original post was that renovation costs such as re-wiring cannot now be offset against CGT. Are you saying this is not the case?  
  15. Where does this leave British holiday home owners who are in the middle of major/minor renovations?  To give you an example - Mr G is currently spending around 50k (euros) with my macon colleague re-wiring, re-plumbing, re-roofing, replacing windows and replacing the bathroom and kitchen. This expenditure will double the value of the property but as a non-resident he will be forced to pay CGT should he ever sell the house. He will not be best pleased as he was assured that as long as he kept bona-fide receipts from registered artisans these costs could offset against any increased value and would lower the possible CGT bill. I think a trip to our local Impots office is required a.s.a.p.
×
×
  • Create New...