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2 Families on the move


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Glad to see you back Miki. I agree with you, but I certainly wouldn't be able to look at a lake, particularly as most lakes are pretty oddly shaped, and tell you how many acres it was. So if I asked the seller and the seller told me it was ten acres (particularly as I would be more familiar with hectares if I was a French agent) I would tend to take that at face value, but put a note somewhere to say that the details were not verified. Not quite the same as the number of rooms, which even I can count.

But it's academic anyway because we now know that this so-called agent was selling his own lake, so should have known something about it.

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[quote user="riff_raff"]

... as i was not in a million years going to leave hundreds of pounds of fishing tackle behind a bush to take a guy back that had obviously tried to joop us already ! what chances do you recon there would have been if we had left our gear there being there when we got back ?

[/quote]

Or maybe lock it in his broken down car where it would be safe ?

[quote user="riff_raff"]

Please dont forget i did tow him out of the place and also got him and his car out onto the road free of charge, or should i have charged him or left him in the ditch where he had broken down.

[/quote]

Sounds like you are just too kind and helpful. How come you did not charge him. A fellow human in trouble - you could have made some money there. I really can see why the French have a thing about some Brits. I was always taught to treat others as you would like them to treat you but hey, it might have taken you a few minutes to run him to the local garage and "time is money". To be honest I suspect you will not like life in France that much.

Ian

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One really important lesson in life is to run with your first impressions. Many times I have ignored that and given someone the benefit of the doubt only to have it come back and 'bite me' later. I formed an opinion on this thread when it started and am now pretty convinced that I was right.

Maybe, Riff & Raff, as other have said, France is perhaps a place where you should just visit for your holidays.

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I'd probably be fairly cross if I had taken a 4x4 across the channel on a wild goose chase, and I know that Carp fishermen are very, very careful about their rods (BIL & nephew are a carp fisherman)

My only concern is that riff raff mentions consulting a lawyer to see how the partnership could work but doesn't say in France or England ?

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Hi, this is Mrs Riff now as Mr Riff doesn't seem to explain himself very well[:)] I understand what you are all saying in reply to Riff's posts but the fact is that he was in touch with this 'seller', agent  or whatever you want to call him for a couple of weeks before hand.  They had spoken on the phone on numerous occasions and the photos sent of the lakes were fantastic, although no one could estimate the actual size of the lakes from the pictures...we just had to take his word for it!! To drive 500 miles at a cost of £100 in diesel (sp?) to view the lakes I can fully understand why they were upset about the agent fabricating the sizes.  Never mind it is all in the past now and we are expecting to have quite a few fruitless trips in the future, but will avoid this 'agent' like the plague[:P] Like Riff mentioned they met some great french guys at the fishing lake that belongs to a friend that they all happend to be fishing overnight and have swapped email addy's and are in touch by email.  They are also going to keep their eyes open for us too as they are carp addicts as well.

The lawyer mentioned is a lawyer in Portsmouth who is a Frenchman and specialises in French law.  He was brilliant and I think we have all the inheritance issues covered now too.  This lawyer works in a huge firm of solicitors in Portsmouth, so that is very handy for us too.  We will not be put off moving to France, ever.  Like we mentioned before we are not out to make our fortune just to have a peaceful life and more importantly enjoy life with the children in far better surroundings than we could ever hope to find in the UK. As long as we can pay our bills, food and clothes we will be happy.  BTW Riff's French is comiong along great he's having two lessons a week and is making real progress.  Myself and the children will be learning at a later date as we cannot afford for us all to have lessons at the moment. Riff is teaching us what he is learning as he goes along.  Also let me also stress that he can speak better french than he can spell it!!!!!!!!!!! Bonsoir??????????????[Www]

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[quote] One really important lesson in life is to run with your first impressions [/quote]

Another one is to take a little more time in getting to know someone. Mine is simply,don't judge a book by it's cover, stood me in far better stead than first impressions ever have, although I too often get first impressions spot on, other times they have been miles out.

My bet is those that are seen as a bit iffy, yep you may all include me if you wish, will end up being better than the fluffy ones who in my experience, are all too often the ones that will turn and bitch with fellow fluffies against their own. Seen it happen in real life and on forums all too often.......




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Mrs Riff, sorry the first trip didn't work out, but the best thing to do is to learn from it, put it down to experience and, as you say, be very wary of that particular breed of agent.

Don't be put off by negative comments here - we all get them from time to time. As far as I am concerned you say you want to move to France and won't be put off. That's the best reason - indeed the only reason - to move. Not because it's 'cheap' (it ain't), or because you don't like Tony Blair (have you looked at Sarko?) or you object to various things in England. Wanting to move to France is the right reason, wanting to get out of where you are doesn't mean you will be any happier in another country once the honeymoon period has passed.

Another thing is don't assume all agents are like that chap. Most are decent, honest and helpful people, and all too many British come to buy a house in France convinced that the agent they will be seeing - all estate agents in fact - will be a shyster and they can muck him/her about as much as they like. Those are the bane of Mrs Will's (an honest agent's) life. So perhaps Mr Riff will see where I am coming from.

The problem is that few of the agents (or notaires or private sellers) will have a 10-acre-plus lake for sale, so you won't be able to pick and choose between the good and bad ones. But I am sure you will find a lake, so please try to enjoy looking and don't expect too much too soon, because these things do take their time in France.

 

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I think that is an excellent idea, as long as you could find an agent willing to give the information. For many reasons, most of all because that's the way it has always been done in France, you will seldom get location information from a proper French agent, or at least not until the agent actually takes you there.
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Its human nature after all to exagerrate,you only have to see some of these places for sale and their write-up and when you see them in real life it can be a real shock for the worse. At the end of the day, the seller wants to offload something and is going to do all he can to make it sound so wonderful, buyers tend to find out all the problems when its too late here in France and there is no comeback usually. The local mairie should have the exact details of the size of the property and so would the local Trésor Public for calculating the taxes etc.
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My BIL goes via BF to somewhere in the Dordogne The rods are not cheap, to the extent that they were moved separately and my sister drove them with her Crown Derby to the new house. Then there is the separate fridge for the bait, the tent and outdoor weather gear. A cheap hobby it isn't !
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well Mrs Riff moi petit chickadeeeeeee [:P]   now i think my spelling was correct on that occassion ( others im sure its not hehehe)

Hello all, im sure id make a cracking ambassador for forum conflicts lol.....

Thanks all for your comments, even the neg ones but thats life [:P]    Kathy the distance was a problem if that was to be the region and the cost was also a problem as it was wasted money, if there was a fishery there then no it wouldnt have been  for obvisous reasons.

i have fished in France for some 20 years and have traveled north south east west and for a lot more than the milage i covered that day.

Horses for coarses really.

Im glad soem of you enjoy my posting and we will endever to keep you all up to date with the ups and downs of are mission.[:D]

It really is fun believe it or not.

Regards ALL

Mr Riff

 

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You are not wrong about the price of tackle nower days, im having rods built at the mo and they are costing some 425 each to be hand made.

You have Crown Derby left ?  he must have only just started on ther very expensive sport carp fishing is lol [;-)]

Oh wish us luck as Mr Riff and Mr Raff are in the British Champs next month so if your very very lucky and we get through this round you can all oggle us on Sky Sports lol now that will be a treat for you hehehehehe

Mr Riff

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  • 1 month later...
Hi everyone, its been a while since our last post but there has been progress[:)]  As I mentioned before we have sold our house on the first day on the market[:-))] I have to confess it has been a very stressful time as we sold our house straight away and everything has been smooth sailing but....Mr Raff had to endure 43 viewings to his house before he finally got an offer last week[:D] To say we are thrilled is an understatement.  We have all been worried as we complete our sale on the 27th April and have nowhere to live for a week until the rental house is ready on the 7th May!!  So we are spending a week in our tourer caravan in the sunny climes of Chichester for a week!!!! Thewn moving into the rental on the 7th.  It has been stressful all round as we are thinking 'what if they can't sell???' They have been thinking Oh my god what if we can't sell???' With our house sold and us paying somebody elses mortgage with our rent is not my idea of fun....but....it has all turned out well and as from next week we will be in a postition to seriously look and posibly buy a lake.  I am in the process of packing up our house while Mr Riff is fishing a competition!  Oh yes and BTW they didn't have any luck in the British Carp Championships so don't worry about watching sky sport fishing!!!!!!!!!!!Mr Riff's french lessons are coming along great and soon the kids are to have them too.  Me??  Well, I am last in line but I am fine  with that as I am happy to learn later and hopefully off the rest of the famiily too.  I'm sure Mr Riff will update you all soon on any other developments.  I cannot wait now I am so excited and am totally prepared for the culture shock and homesickness that I may experience.
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In order to cover yourselves under French inheritance laws, you would need to set up an SCI whcih is basically a French property holding company.  In this way you become shareholders of the company which owns the property.

It is not as complicated as it sounds.  Notaires are often required to set up SCIs as part of a property puchase.  It can be done relatively quickly, once you have found your property and costs approx 1000 euros.

Depending on where you are looking for a property, there is usually at least one English-speaking Notaire in the area.

Good luck. 

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