Scooby

[quote user="Dog"] Lol greedy people at the bottom of the foodchain were demanding banks sorted them  a cheap fix of cash to ascend the property dream... [/quote] So all those who lost out did so because of their own greed and stupidity - that's exactly my view!!  I knew you would come around to my point of view!!

Likewise Frenchie - one of my work colleagues died last Sunday of breast cancer ..aged just 33.  She also 'lost' the 'battle'. Some of the accepted terminology is crass in the extreme.

We own our (modest) house in the UK - having bought it 23 years ago.  We purchased our house in France to (eventually) release capital to fund our retirement (unlike my OH I have little pension to speak of - courtesy of GB). I may be head of tax at the bank I work for but I don't earn megabucks.  My NHS scientist husband earns a lot more than I do.  Dog, I think you confuse clearing banks with investment banks... Everyone blames the banks for the crisis but, without the greed of those desperate to finance themselves to the hilt in their efforts to climb the property ladder, there would have been no crash.  I agree Maggie T does carry some blame - given it was she who fostered the culture of 'everyman for himself' and dismissed the concept of society and community...

[quote user="ebaynut"][quote user="Scooby"]The home ownership concept is a uniquely British mindset.  Most other cultures have a very different model either renting or staying with family and then inheriting the family home.  The current (British) demand that it is your right to be an owner occupier from your early twenties reflects the materialistic / greedy outlook of our society. [/quote] Is it greed or ambition to want a better house /car/ life ? [/quote] Both.  As your post said - it's about what you want not what you need...the culture of greed.  As an aside it's interesting to read so many supporting the property ownership culture - having moved to a country where it is more usual to rent and where children often move into the homes of their parents.  How many times has it been said on this forum that the french have a different attitude to property?  Most don't aspire to make their home look like something off the front cover of 'home and garden' in an effort to finance their next scrabble up the property ladder.

The home ownership concept is a uniquely British mindset.  Most other cultures have a very different model either renting or staying with family and then inheriting the family home.  The current (British) demand that it is your right to be an owner occupier from your early twenties reflects the materialistic / greedy outlook of our society.

http://www.fsa.gov.uk/Pages/Doing/Regulated/tcf/index.shtml I have no vested interest - I have more integrity than to work for an organisation whose principles I do not support.

Dog, you are clearly trying to establish which bank I work for which, for obvious reasons, I cannot disclose.  I posted on this thread to give some encouragement to those with homes in the UK that the market is turning.  You are welcome to stew in your bitter juices on the wrongs, as you perceive them, of my employer.  All I can say is that your presumptions are very wrong.

Think what you will Dog - I think your posts just demonstrate your lack of intelligence.  The properties are bought at auction, the third party valuation simply sets our maximum bid. Just to add - our bank has received no government support - in fact we have contributed substantial millions under the FSCS to support other banks (which HMG has claimed credit for!)

If you are french resident and on holiday in the UK then that is different..

[quote user="Braco"]Scooby Just out of interest is the driver to set a floor on prices to stop them falling further or a long term property investment?[/quote] To minimise mortgage losses.  There is no intention to hold the properties long term and the rental income barely covers the costs.  If a property goes into possession it has to be vacated by the mortgagee.  However, until it is sold and the debt is cleared, the mortgage is still outstanding and interest is accruing.  Add the fact that a significant proportion of empty repossessed properties are trashed (so reducing their eventual resale price) the action taken is in everyone's interest - borrower included. In fact it can only help house prices to stabilise.

[quote user="Dog"][quote user="Scooby"]I work for a bank that set up a subsidiary entity to purchase it's repossessed properties that would otherwise have been sold at auction to third parties at knock down prices.  This subsidiary entity has always bid on the basis of third party valuations.  Over the last year or so the company has purchased approximately 50% of the properties it has bid for.  In recent months this figure has dropped to around 25% as more people are prepared to take a punt and offer over the expected value suggesting the market, at least here in the UK, is turning.  (The company has bought approaching £900m worth residential properties across the UK in the last 12 months - so the figures are probably representative).   Nevertheless, we expect to see repossessions increasing as the impact of the recession on unemployment lags considerably. [/quote] What an incredible admission - exactly what the banks did in similar ways after the last recession. Totally without an ounce of integrity.  Banks dangle cheap money to the market - they overlend to the mesmorised sheeplike punters, the bank then pulls the carpet  and the bank buys back assets from borrowers left high and dry at forced sale prices. This sort of action gives capitalism a bad name. It makes me sick they use my money for this disgusting type of profit making. I have no wish to make money from money but the banks create a society where it is impossible to keep your cash under the bed. I would be glad if the bank involved in this type of activity caught a big cold - but they will expect the sheep to supply hankies and a remedy.   [/quote] I think you need to reread what I wrote Dog.  The properties are being bought at third party valuations, and they are frequently rented back to the mortgagee so that the mortgagee is not made homeless.  Buying the properties reduces the loss to the bank and stops interest accruing on the outstanding mortgage - i.e. stops the debt mounting up for the borrower.  Everyone wins.  As an aside banks are governed by the TCF rules so cannot buy at a price that isn't fair nor before every step is taken to avoid a repossession.

I work for a bank that set up a subsidiary entity to purchase it's repossessed properties that would otherwise have been sold at auction to third parties at knock down prices.  This subsidiary entity has always bid on the basis of third party valuations.  Over the last year or so the company has purchased approximately 50% of the properties it has bid for.  In recent months this figure has dropped to around 25% as more people are prepared to take a punt and offer over the expected value suggesting the market, at least here in the UK, is turning.  (The company has bought approaching £900m worth residential properties across the UK in the last 12 months - so the figures are probably representative).   Nevertheless, we expect to see repossessions increasing as the impact of the recession on unemployment lags considerably. Btw - surprised what you say about the prices two years ago - we bought 3 (and a bit) years ago - a 5 BR 3bath house with tower (250m2) in Dordogne in reasonable nick for 252k euros (£168k).

[quote user="DerekJ"]Having a Godin woodburner installed next week... the final payment is due after successful installation.  Could do with the rate being a bit kinder.[:(][:'(] [/quote] Ditto, Derek, ditto [:(]

Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand why you are viewing a property in a location you know so little about?

Schools by us aren't being closed.   A few of my son's friends had the virus and, although poorly at the time, have recovered well and quite quickly.  I think there has been a lot of hype about this.

Any experience like that is terrible Clair, but, putting things into perspective, one incident on a site with 1.5m participants and 3m positive experiences isn't bad going.  At least with CS you have the benefit of checking the references of the person you surf with - something, I believe, the person in Q didn't do.

If you like to travel, mix with others and don't mind helping your host out in reciprocation you could always try www.couchsurfing.org.  You will have more luck finding a couch if your profile is completed, if you are verified and if you have been vouched for. Nevertheless, it's a good way to meet up with people when you are in Paris (even if you aren't surfing their couch) and it could get you vouched for another trip. There are 22 pages of events / meet ups in Paris and many couchsurfers will meet you for coffee etc.

I don't know of any french classes in Hautefort but there is a weekly class in Cubjac (on a Tuesday I think). I'm not sure where they are / time etc but I imagine if you ask in the local shop/ bar / pharmacy in the village someone local will be able to point you in the right direction.

The bizarre thing is that the credit scoring tool on Martin Lewis's site doesn't take into account your assets, income or net surplus each month. Looking at behaviours may give indicators of creditworthiness but common sense would say that these are in addition to income and net worth not instead of it!

There's not enough information in your post to comment, Sue.

As an aside - the patients in the unit my sister works on pay £3k per week for their care.  They are fed instant smash, mince and corned beef.  She is constantly battling to get better food for them.  It's also interesting to note that a number of the 'better' students (i.e. those who were great with the patients) pulled out of the higher level qualifications because they were 'always getting the wrong answers' - i.e they were thinking too much like carers (what was best for the patients) and not enough like managers (what was cheapest and maximised profit).  Care is not a vocation anymore - it's a cost / profit centre. This is why the carers are on minimum wage and the owner (a property developer by trade) drives an Audi convertible.

Clair I know the what a carer is and what a nurse is.  My husband is an NHS consultant, I was a clinical scientist, my mother, aunt and grandmother were nurses, my daughter trained as a nurse (and walked out in disgust!) and my sister is a carer. I have also been a seriously ill patient who has been fed drugs but starved of food and basic personal hygiene. Any nurse who has a patient in her care and has no idea (nor, apparently, any interest) that her patient has not eaten - is, IMHO, incompetent and should be struck off.

[quote user="Clair"][quote user="Judith"]... can anyone give any information about how this works in a French hospital, do nurses help to feed patients here, or is there also a problem in French hospitals?[/quote] Nurses nurse. If or when a patient needs help to eat or wash, there are aides-soignants (carers). [/quote] And that just about sums it up...too many nurses now consider themselves above 'caring' - they think that they are 'mini doctors'.

[quote user="Jako"]In mean worthless pound naturally. Your 50 Euro might equal 100 Pound and 100 Dollar by December.[:D] [/quote] I hope so - we'd sell up in France and make a mint.  We already made nearly £100k on the exchange rate movements to date...  We could buy several Cornish thatched cottages with the proceeds and then retire on the income - with decent food and decent English pubs nearby [;-)]

We had our granite work tops made by a funeral stone mason and he did an excellent job - they were also a fraction of the price the big kitchen companies were quoting.  Our work tops were just put straight onto standard kitchen units (not solid wood carcasses) and they have been fine - installed seven years ago.  [img]http://www.homeforexchange.com/newUploadedImages/bunch/16698_17113_large_200705121131563007.jpg[/img]