smudger

Well, this is my last missive. I’m outta here next Wednesday after 6 years in France. Not going back to Blighty or even to Spain but, strangely, to Northern Ireland. It’s going to be a great place to live in the next few years. But any newcomers/aspirants to living in France might do worse than note (or ignore) my own hard-earned experiences.   Consider seriously your own needs and requirements. If you regard moving to France as a way of resolving unsuccessful UK business, financial or personal relationships, you are doomed to failure. A failure in the UK (or anywhere else) definitely means a failure in France. Secondly, forget the oft quoted “you must learn French asap”.  Yes, it’s useful but it’s not the key to living in France. You’ll never get your French up enough to talk fluently and eloquently as you would (hopefully) in your own native language, unless you marry a French person or have a viable business in France. You will need a raison d’etre for living in France. Fishing, golf, wine-making, or something else, that keeps you intellectually and physically challengedThirdly, the French are not very interesting. In fact they are quite miserable. You will find loads of French ‘professional’ French folk who will lament the dearth of work-ethic, etc. amongst their compatriots – but who will be as incompetent and idle as your worst English slackers. You can wax lyrical about the French countryside, cassoulet, quaint local customs (eg. force feeding geese to make make foie gras) and dubious (but cheap) wine but after a couple of weeks you’ll be yearning for a Tesco and decent vegetables (cabbage and potatoes, mostly). And remember you can get as much as you want of the French countryside by going on holiday, rather than living there.It ain’t cheaper than the UK in the long run. Housing is cheap but cost of purchase, maintenance, insurance, heating oil, electricity, taxes habitation and foncieres is way high. And if you earn decent money they’ll take it away in tax.And finally take, with a pinch of salt, those stories of idyllic bucolia that the us Brits are so keen to promulgate. Sometimes folk can over-egg their puddings.   Having said all that, I’ll still have a holiday bolt-hole in France and still love to bits my seven French friends      

You'll die earlier though, of terminal boredom.

I am. After 6 years I’m off . My reasons are pretty much the same as many of those articulated on this thread. I reckon there’s a sort of evolutionary process that’s fairly typical: Year One – An exciting time. Start to learn French, meet the mayor, and find out how the place ticks (slowly, but you won’t know this till year 2). You may even do an ‘at home’ for your neighbours but are mildly chagrined that none of them invite you back to chez eux. Year Two – French improving above beginners level. Start to have the ‘French’ experience – chat to neighbours (and are sort of pleased when some ask you to tutoyer them), do the ‘aperos’, convince oneself that the €10 menu is great (basic but, hey, it’s the ‘real’ France) and meet other expats. Exchange interesting information relating to CPAM, tax, builders, tilers, plumbers, how cheap (or not) power tools are in Castorama and where you can buy Marmite Year Three – Your UK based chums and family start to become a pain as they all insist on coming over every Summer and still don’t know the Fish rule – fine for a day or two but stink after the third. Year Four – Good intermediate French. You now realise how expensive it is to live in France, and how you’ve been stitched by builders, tilers and plumbers over the past few years – all their ‘handiwork’ starts to show its age. And you’re beginning to realise duck-fat is not good for the heart. Year Five – You finally twig that the French are genetically dull, often dysfunctional and, according to one of your only 8 French friends, still believe that they can have something for nothing. You realise also that a significant proportion of fellow expats are not, to put it delicately, the sort of folk you would have associated with back in the UK. Year Six – Your golf isn’t improving and you’re on the verge of being blackballed at your local club on account of drinking too much and goosing the female staff.  You then start to learn to ski and find the food in French ski resorts is even worse than where you live. And there’s no snow. But you’re not surprised.   And then you move to Belgium, for a more exciting life.        

But if Sego gets in, it'll be much higher.

www.quechoisir.org It's not run by the government.

For what its worth I've had an average of 1.5 hits per day on Green Acres, ad has been in since December, and 1 hit per day on French-Property.com. No contacts from either except from agents pretending to be buyers. I've re-edited both ads and reduced the price, but this has had no effect. Conclusions? Well, the price could still be too high, in spite of it being regarded as very competitive by my local agent. My photos are fine and my copy factual and non-sensational. So maybe the market is overwhelmed with sellers at the moment. Regarding the two sites in question, I think the GA one is pretty well laid out but the FP one is very clunky and looking like the work of a fifth former doing a sub-standard IT project for O level (if they're still doing them.)

Has anyone had any success selling their French property thru sites such as these? It seems that there are literally thousands of properties currently available for sale, which suggests that it would be very difficult to find a buyer at the present time.

Like all Living France forumites, it seems, I am scrupulously honest and would never, ever, seek to pull a fast one over a French estate agent or mislead in any way their purchasers. And the idea of pulling out of an agency sale to sell privately just would not compute. No, the change of heart was just that. The situation is just interesting in a number of ways. The fact that I got the first offer within 6 hours of signing the mandat, thesubsequent signing of the C de V by the purchaser after the agent had received my ‘reneging’ email, the failure of the agent to tell me that the full offer had been made in the first place and the absence of any information on the mandat pertaining to the ‘must sell at offer price’ law just smacks a tad of skulduggery. But, of course, it cannot be, so slap on the wrist for peeving off my now official purchaser and giving us 'Honest John' Brits a bad reputation.

This is the contract one signs with the immobilier to sell one’s property in France. I subsequently received an offer below the asking price – which I declined. I suggested a compromise and expected the prospective purchaser to come back with a slightly higher mutually agreed offer – again below the asking price. I didn’t get anything so decided to withdraw the property from sale by sending an email to the said agent on Day 1 at 4:58 PM. Day 2 I received an email from the agent saying that they had received my email but that the property was subsequently sold. Apparently the original interested party had come into their office at 5 PM on Day 1 and had left at 7PM after signing a Compromise de Vente for the full asking price. Apparently it is the “law” that a full asking price offer must be accepted by the vendor. I have subsequently, Day 6, received a bagful of documents to sign and return, toute de suite, to the agent to proceed with the sale. Notwithstanding the intricacies of French property law, I’m inclined to ignore everything and see what happens. Does anyone have any views as to my fate? Possibly being sued by the purchaser or the agent, or both? Arrested by the gendarmes? In reality the property is dead cheap, a ruin really. I don’t live there and don't mind if it sits there for a year or so, if I am arraigned by the hussars, cavaliers or whatever it is they do around here.  

Yeah but, no but, but does anyone personally know anyone who has actually paid it?

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, Buleven Ferengis.

Just try getting some info and a quote from Belevin Flunks and you'll understand why they try and put the fear of God and the French Taxman inti everyone. Are they actually French registered accountants? Or just financial 'advisers'?

There's quite a lot of talk where I live (SW) re the wealth tax - the €700,000 + one. I suppose anyone with a house plus maison secondaire is probably over this threshhold and that they should voluntarily submit this return every June or July but does anyone actually know of any Brit expat who has paid this? Obviously I'm not asking for personal details but just would like to know if such folk exist. Whilst we have 'investigators' from the Social Security making short notice appointments hereabouts to 'discuss' whether the everyone has paid their full health contributions, it seems the local impôt really does keep themselves to themselves re tax. I mean how on earth would they find out about other assets in the UK and overseas? Would they even bother and would anyone in far flung places actually co-operate with them?