frexpt

I think there is also confusion as to whether properties already on the market require an energy report or just those coming to the market after 1 January.  Our house is on the market with four agents, two French, one UK and one Dutch.  So far, only the UK agent has contacted us to say that we might require an energy report............speaks volumes!

[quote user="woolybanana"] And how do you measure the efficiency of walls that are two feet thick and composed of heat retaining stone? [/quote] The reports are created by software which makes general assumptions about the efficiency of various constructiion methods and materials, coupled with the age of the property.  They are at best a generalisation.  The software is certainly not infallible, as we found in Scotland when our surveyor contacted us to say that he couldn't produce energy certficates for two flats we were looking to let.  One was 100 years old, the other less than 10, but in each case, they had rooms which were over archways, with a loft space above.  The software was not able to cope with the fact that part of the properties had nothing above and nothing below, as by (the software's) definition, a flat must either have a property above it or below it. The surveyor had to fudge the input to achieve any result, which sort of defeats the object of the exercise!  The system in the UK is riddled with other anomalies and I think its true value was refelcted by the speed that the HIP disappeared after the General Election this year.  The Sellers Pack in Scotland had been introduced much later than in England, so the feeling is that it will take a little longer for them to be withdrawn. To me, the French reports look even more wishy-washy than the UK ones, in that they make no recommendation as to how energy efficiency can be improved.  That means that, in France, the energy report provides even less ammunition for a purchaser to use to argue against a selling price. Where property is concerned, most purchasers are ruled by their heart rather than their head, so IMHO the new requirements will be seen, in time, to be largely irrelevant  to the decision making process. 

[quote user="Judith"][quote user="crossy67"]You need it for marketing your house so prospective buyers can see how much your house will cost to run. [/quote] Surely, like many other things, this should also be "buyer beware"? Don't know about anybody else on here, but I think most of us can get a good idea of how difficult the house will be to heat (etc) simply by knowing the construction material and the layout.  If not new build, or newly renovated to good insulation standards, most houses will cost an arm and a leg to keep warm in the winter- it's just the way it is.  Conversely, of course, they will stay much cooler in the summer.  You pays your money and you takes your choice! And I must admit, I could have done without this - we have just put our "old" house on the market, having finally almost moved out, and it is obvious to all but the most stupid that as an "old" village house, with woodburners (which make a huge difference) there is no way it can have modern energy saving possibilites - but for all that it is not that bad at its energy efficiency - even last winter (which most of you will remember was very cold) the woodburners did an amazing job, even if we did go through about twice the normal volume of wood .... and we survived extremely well.  Bit namby pamby if you ask me - like the HIPs in the UK which did very little to help sales. ...... [/quote] I don't think the diagnostique reports will make one iota of difference in a country where a large percentage of buyers can't be bothered to instruct a survey to establish whether a property is likely to fall down in the near future.  We have experienced these in the UK with the now-defunct HIP in England & Wales and the pre-sale pack introduced more latterly in Scotland.  We have been involved in buying and selling and the letting of property for many years (this is our pension) and all that matters to most purchasers (tenants) is where the property is and how much will it cost to buy/rent. For the energy report, the vast majority of older properties are going to fall within catagory D or even E.  A few newer properties may climb as high as B, but at the end of the day, if someone has set their heart on a traditional French farmhouse, they ain't going to buy a pavillon box because the energy report is more attractive..............[;-)]

[quote user="sweet 17"]I thought you'd sold, frexpt!  If not, may I wish you all the best with your sale.  It's tough these days whether you are a buyer or a seller or, as in most cases, both![:)][/quote] Not yet!  A couple of offers from local families, but dependent on their own sales, a "yes - no" couple from Paris (hence the diagnostiques) and sundry other viewings.......such is the market at the moment.....!

[quote user="sweet 17"] Bubbles, you need to be careful as some of the tests are only good for 6 months! [/quote] The chap who did ours pointed out that the termite report was the most time limited, but he would come back and "top up" the report at no further cost, if we had not sold within that period.  The way things are just now, I imagine he might become part of the furnitiure eventually![:)]

[quote user="idun"]Shop around, I had loads of quotes for the surveys we needed doing a couple of years ago and they varied by 100's of euros. I would have liked to use the bloke in my village, but he was just too dear.[/quote] I fully agree, prices vary greatly.  The immediately local firm was not as competitive as the chap we finally used, but he was within 20 kms, so still a fairly local job for him.  Furthermore, the latter promised to send us the full report, by email, within 24 hours, which he did.

We had the full set (except lead) done at the beginning of November for 396 euros.  "Surface au sol totale" was 172.15 sq m, "Surface Habitable totale" 163.55 sq m.

I don't think so.  These critters don't have any legs.  They are completely cylindical......

I've been splitting some ash logs from our own wood and they appear to be the home of little beasties like this......... [IMG]http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee448/frexpt/woodgrub101215a003-1-1.jpg[/IMG] Compared to others I found before I had a camera with me, this is actually quite a small example.  I think they may be Horntail (edit) larvae, but I have read that they seem to favour pine rather than hardwood.........whether that is because the hardwoods are becoming scarcer, I don't know, but I'll bet that someone out there will know............. Many thanks

[quote user="New Life"]So the way I see it, particularly with the potential volatility right now…I feel I’m better reducing my short term currency risk in relation to the purchase price (where a swing against me could be very costly) and run the longer term risk month on month, which, after allowing the cost of exchanging, then euro/pound could reach parity…and I’d be no worse off. Hope that makes sense…or am I wrong in my thought process?[/quote] With an 85% sterling mortgage and assuming a capital input of say 15000€ (15% equity) I think the greatest risk to the investment would be longer term adverse currency movements, i.e. against sterling.  The equity will always be at risk with a steling loan, whereas a Euro mortgage would eliminate that consideration. A further thought is that, IMHO, French mortgages are far, far more competitive that anything that the UK lenders are willing to put together at the moment.  Margins over French base or Euribor are far more realistic than the unjustified margins of the UK financial institutions. Not so many years ago, I was arranging commercial loans for clients at rates between 0.5 - 1.5% over bank base (a payable rate of up to 2% in today's money).  Banks still made a profit on those margins, so how can they justify BBR plus 3 or more percent for residential loans now...........a rhetorical question only, they can't, but we know why they do it........... Finally, affordability of the monthly payments for a worst case scenario must be factored in from the outset.  I don't know what capital you might have as a fall back , but often with cases where capital was tight, it was prudent to arrange a larger than required loan (say 90%) and hold the balance on deposit as a hedge against rate movements. As I said previously, a good broker should be able to guide you through all of that[geek]  

[quote user="New Life"]Hi again, We are now nudging towards concluding a deal on purchasing our Maison Secondaire ( with the C de V being drafted now - fingers crossed). We are now shopping about to find the best French mortgage deal and would appreciate input. We’ve got an offer from BNP & I’m taking a quote from Banque Populaire...but would welcome comments, observations or suggested alternatives. Better still, any idea of what terms would represent a good deal borrowing say 85% on a 20 year Capital & Interest basis? Many thanks in advance.[/quote] I'd suggest consulting a good broker and have PM'd you details of someone.[B]

I know that this is not going to sound very encouraging, but after months of trying to source decent quality shower units in France, we bought ours in the UK and had them shipped.

[quote user="dave21478"]Any UK insurance policy should cover him in France for the minimum level of cover required for any length of time, which is equivelant to Third Party Only. The 90 day limits imposed by companies are only applicable to whatever level of cover he may have at home. ie if he is Fully Comp at home, he would be FC in France for 90 days and TP only beyond that. If basic cover is ok for him, he need do nothing more, otherwise it may cost him to change to a different insurer mid policy who can offer higher cover for longer periods. This has applied to every UK policy I have had, but obviously he should check the exact wording of his own policy to verify this. [/quote]   Understood, but we are looking to perpetuate FC cover and perhaps I should have made that clearer.  The M&S policy kindly suggested by PierreZFP only offers FC for 90 days, then Third Party after that.

Our son will be staying with us in France through the winter and has brought his (UK reg) car with him.  His present insuruer has told him that they will cover for up to 90 days.  He's probably going to be here longer than that, but other than Saga (he's too young for them) and the Stuart Collins AXA scheme, I am not aware of any other UK insurers that will cover extended stays. I was wondering whether anyone knows of any other companies out there........? Many thanks

[quote user="stella"]If  the  floor  moves/bounces  at all,  then  so  will  the  tile, then  crack.  Large  tiles  will  crack faster than  smaller  tiles...but  to  do it  right  pull  up  the wood floor and  pour  cement  or use a  cement  type  of  floor  board.  Or  build  up the floor  to make a step into the  bathroom ?? [/quote] We have already bought the ceramic tiles for this upstairs room, so would like to find a way of using them, although we are happy to look at whatever adaptations might need to be made.  There is no question of cutting corners with this property just to save a few Euros.  We also enjoy the luxury of not having to live in the property whilst work is being done, so if it takes a little longer, that is not a problem. The house is divided vertically into the original part, dating from 1900, with a newer two storey extension at the rear.  From the outside it is difficult to distinguish between the two phases of building, as they are well matched.  The internal floors of the older part are old oak boards and we were not expecting to find something as new as Placosol when we took up the laminate in the "newer phase".  I'm guessing that the age of the extension (or at least the fitting out of it) must be much more recent than we anticpated, probably 2000 - 2002.  A trip to the Mairie next week might clarify matters. Anyway, it occurs to me that Placosol must be rigid, as by its nature, one would expect a plaster based product to break up internally if there was any give in the boards, given the amount of foot traffic it would have endured over 8 - 10 years.  There is no evidence of that, the boards look and feel perfect. Given that the entire first floor area of the extension was fitted out with the same laminate, it is reasonable to expect to find Placosol throughout.  As all the laminate will be taken up eventually, I think the way forward will be to raise the entire floor level with plywood (maybe of varying thicknesses), then put down whatever floor covering we decide on, but maintaining a consistent level.  So far as the present bathroom is concerned, I like the look of the Schluter product to add a further layer of waterproofing. Many thanks for all of the replies.........[B]

Done a little research and it appears that this is plasterboard flooring product, designed primarily for dry areas........bit of a blow! Rather than rip the whole lot up, I think it ought to be possible to apply a waterproof sealant to it to get around its porous nature.  Any tiling going on top would have flexible adhesive and grout anyway, so I don't see that much risk. Question is, will I need anything else between the (sealed) boards and tiles?

I have read the earlier posts on this and very helpful they were.  However, I have found a slightly different set of circumstances now and I wonder whether the advice will differ......... The plan is to convert one of our upstairs bedrooms into a bathroom and replace the laminate floor with ceramic tiles.  Having taken up the laminate earlier in the week, we find that the floor underneath comprises sheets of something called Placosol, which appears to be a plasterboard product. The sheets are all stamped "02/2 PLACOSOL 13HD", followed by what looks like a production time and date reference, then "CONFORME A LA NORME NFP 72302C"......the final numerical reference differs from sheet to sheet. It all looks lovely and level and feels rigid underfoot, but I wonder whether this product needs any special consideration for tiling, or should just be treated as a wooden floor?

Thanks again Danny, but any further thoughts perhaps? My son has just picked up a suggestion from an "Orange Problems" website to turn off the security on the livebox.  This done and everything works perfectly.......Not entirely happy about running with no security, but we are geographically remote enough not to have to worry too much.  Cheers

Thanks for all that.  We've spent the past couple of hours checking everything that has been suggested through in sequence, done a factory re-set and re-configured the Livebox.  We have also updated the wi-fi adaptor drivers on the respective machines, but still no joy.  The wireless adaptors on the troublesome devices work fine with non-Orange wi-fi.  My son has just worked through all of the channels on the livebox, but none of them work with these computers. I don't really want the Orange disk, but the two machines that do work without a problem do have the full Orange software installed.  Having said that, my wife's laptop is similarly configured, but won't maintain a connection.......I'm beginning to wonder whether we might have a faulty Livebox......[8-)]

[quote user="bmt"][quote user="frexpt"] ... although the PC can see the livebox wirelessly, it will not log on.[/quote] These can be symptoms of the Livebox using a wifi channel that the PC can't use. Using a wired (Ethernet) connection, go into the Livebox administration panel and change the channel to 11, in the wifi settings. [/quote] Thanks for that advice.  I have tried that, but with mixed success........   My PC (XP) wifi will connect to the Livebox whichever channel selected, no problem..... Wife's laptop (XP), sited next to Livebox will connect on channel 11 for a few minutes, but then loses connectivity again...... Daughter's laptop (Vista) connects no problem...... Son's PC (XP), as before doesn't want to connect, although it can see the connection..... Son's new netbook (Windows 7) won't connect either on channel 6 or 11, very much like his PC.   I have adjusted access settings both ways, i.e. to allow Windows to configure the wifi connection or not, but don't seem to be getting very far........[:(]

There are plenty of potential pitfalls, so we won't be commiting to anything unless feeling completely secure. An old cliché, but selling a house really is like waiting for a bus.  Months go buy with no sign, then suddenly viewers appear from all over the place.......[:)]

[quote user="parsnips"][quote user="frexpt"] We have prospective purchasers who are waiting on the completion of two separate sale transactions to give them the total capital they need to fund the offer they have made for our property. The bulk of the capital will be available on completion of their first sale, so we are considering a completion date of our tranasction to coincide with that, with the balance of funds being owed to my wife and I on what we would consider to be a something like a private mortgage.  The purchasers' other sale transaction completes within two months, so this is likely to be a short term arrangement. My question here is to ask whether anyone has any experience of something like this in France.  We would be quite comfortable under UK law (either Engalnd & Wales or Scotland), with this type of arrangement, but I just don't know whether this might be possible in France.  I am aware of the recent post on Legal Agreements, but I am not sure whether ours are quite the same circumstances. I'm going to try to speak to the notaire tomorrow anyway, but any comments in the interim would be welcome. Many thanks [/quote] Hi,      A friend of mine was selling her house when the purchasers found that they could only come up with half the price at once. They arranged a system of periodic payments (in effect a private mortgage ) via the notaire who recorded the debt with the office of "hypotheques" (the equivalent of a charge on the register in the UK) .  Later when the purchasers sold, before paying off all the loan , the notaire dealing with their sale could not proceed until they had agreed the sum still owing with the previous owner and the notaire then took this from the sale proceeds and sent it to the previous owner, and had the "hypotheque" lifted.   [/quote] Yes, that was exactly the sort of thing we had in mind.  We'll see what our notaire has to say later.  in the meantime, many thanks for the info.

[quote user="Sunday Driver"] If the purchasers can't pay the full sale price upon completion, then they should be obtaining a bridging loan to cover their two months funding gap.  No risk, hassle or cost to you.   [/quote] I agree that would have been ideal, but not possible in this case in view of the purchasers' circumstances.  I can't give any more details on the open forum, but we are satisfied that bridging was not a viable option.

We have prospective purchasers who are waiting on the completion of two separate sale transactions to give them the total capital they need to fund the offer they have made for our property. The bulk of the capital will be available on completion of their first sale, so we are considering a completion date of our tranasction to coincide with that, with the balance of funds being owed to my wife and I on what we would consider to be a something like a private mortgage.  The purchasers' other sale transaction completes within two months, so this is likely to be a short term arrangement. My question here is to ask whether anyone has any experience of something like this in France.  We would be quite comfortable under UK law (either Engalnd & Wales or Scotland), with this type of arrangement, but I just don't know whether this might be possible in France.  I am aware of the recent post on Legal Agreements, but I am not sure whether ours are quite the same circumstances. I'm going to try to speak to the notaire tomorrow anyway, but any comments in the interim would be welcome. Many thanks

Very interesting!  We are UK resident and our present French mortgage is with BNP Paribas .  This is backed up by a UK based life policy with NU, albeit taken out iin 2001.  I was speaking with Banque Populaire about another mortgage arrangement in the Spring of this year and, at that time, they were happy for to accept either the NU policy or a new UK policy as cover for the loan, provided it could be assigned to the bank in the correct French form.  We also spoke to BNP as a back-up and they didn't want any cover at all, just an illustration for their file.  As it happens, we didn't proceed with either. I think it is probably the assignment that would have been a potential stumbling block for some insurers and what the lenders are keen to get right.  Nevertheless, from the conversations with Banque Pop I mentioned above and, having been involved the such things for many years, I wouldn't have envisaged too many problems in putting together what was needed. As to your void French policy, it seems to me that the lenders the whole world over are the same, in that whatever they can sell you as a bolt-on they will do, irrespective of whether it is suitable.  I spent a good proportion of my career putting such things right for clients.......and very satisfying it was too!!   PS.........pool behaving itself very nicely since your advice, thank you![:D]