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Just a general rant :-p


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Hi Matty , you have started a good one here [:D] ......always good to hear from the colonies [;-)]

Just to balance things up I had a good selling experience in the UK . We found a buyer who bought our home as a buy to let , he let it to us for the time (3 months) that it took for our French purchase to go through.So no hassle putting furniture in storage etc.

Now 4 years on we have our French home up for sale .....not going back , but heading for pastures new.

p.s. are you looking for number four  Q ? [Www]

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re. how long it takes for Fr. house purchase to go through.

We signed the compromis in April and signed final papers in July (same year), received the keys there and then and moved ourselves in for a holiday visit the next day. I think that was a fairly standard time for the notaires etc to do their work and quite reasonable.

Be aware that the French tradesmen / notaires et al all like to holiday in August so not a lot happens then.

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Swissie,

I wrote nearly all. What is your guilty secret that you assume that you are included?

Also my hatred is not based on race just on where people live. Surely that is still allowed?

sweets

No deposit deals only exist because sellers allow them. I would not dream of trying to sell something to someone with no money.

John
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[quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="pachapapa"]I've found that cash purchases can be quicker than the hassle of mortgages.[/quote]

Absolutely, we have just bought three properties to rent out as our pension, we found them through agents and approached the sellers direct and offered 30% below the prices for cash. Actually got them for between 23 and 25% off in the end and paid half through the Notaire and the other half in brown envelopes. When they are sold it will be because we are dead so our daughter will have to pay any CGT but then what she never had she will never miss. Cash is King as they say. [:D]

[/quote]

I think if I had committed multiple offences which carried a custodial sentence ( conspiracy to defraud, tax evasion, etc etc), I would not be posting on an open forum about it.  [Www]
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Iceni I never for 1 minute imagined I was included, despite living in England for the majority of my adult life.

 What proportion is 'nearly all' in your view? 90%? I have met some pretty nasty people in the UK, but the great majority of those I met, in many parts of England and from an extremely wide social and cultural background - have been great people in their own way. What difference does it make to say 'I hate most of the people who live in Iceland' or 'the majority of those who live in Iceland'? (I've never been to Iceland and don't know any Icelanders).

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[quote user="Iceni"]Simon When one has access to snippets from The Sun and Daily Mail one does not need to meet each and every one to form an unreasonable opinion. Stereotypes rule. John[/quote]

Just getting back up off the floor laughing.  Someone who form their opinions based on what they read in the Sun and Daily Mail, really says more about them!

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[quote user="ebaynut"][quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="pachapapa"]I've found that cash purchases can be quicker than the hassle of mortgages.[/quote]

Absolutely, we have just bought three properties to rent out as our pension, we found them through agents and approached the sellers direct and offered 30% below the prices for cash. Actually got them for between 23 and 25% off in the end and paid half through the Notaire and the other half in brown envelopes. When they are sold it will be because we are dead so our daughter will have to pay any CGT but then what she never had she will never miss. Cash is King as they say. [:D]

[/quote]

I think if I had committed multiple offences which carried a custodial sentence ( conspiracy to defraud, tax evasion, etc etc), I would not be posting on an open forum about it.  [Www]

[/quote]

 

I think you will find EB; that unlike us mere mortals,  people who live in fantasy land don't have to pay fantasy taxes. [:D]

 

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[quote user="NickP"][quote user="ebaynut"][quote user="Quillan"]

[quote user="pachapapa"]I've found that cash purchases can be quicker than the hassle of mortgages.[/quote]

Absolutely, we have just bought three properties to rent out as our pension, we found them through agents and approached the sellers direct and offered 30% below the prices for cash. Actually got them for between 23 and 25% off in the end and paid half through the Notaire and the other half in brown envelopes. When they are sold it will be because we are dead so our daughter will have to pay any CGT but then what she never had she will never miss. Cash is King as they say. [:D]

[/quote]

I think if I had committed multiple offences which carried a custodial sentence ( conspiracy to defraud, tax evasion, etc etc), I would not be posting on an open forum about it.  [Www]

[/quote]

 

I think you will find EB; that unlike us mere mortals,  people who live in fantasy land don't have to pay fantasy taxes. [:D]

 

 

[/quote]

Sorry busy watching the Xacobeo Celebration from Santiago de Compostela but "cash" did in effect in practice mean depositing the "cash" with Credit Agricole and receiving a guaranteed check for the Notaire during the Acte de Vente. You may be unaware that there were and there are limits to the amount that a Notaire can receive legally in especies. However the amount deposited during the Compromis de Vente ceremony was LESS and "cash" was acceted without further ado.

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[quote user="Cendrillon"]

sweet 17 wrote

"...................this woman is a lying git and we can discount everything she says"

IMHO Sweets, you are not a "lying git" [:)] far from it!
[/quote]

Thank you, Cendrillon.  It's given me a lovely, warm feeling to know that there is someone out there who has such faith in my integrity![:D]

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[quote user="Gemonimo"]Meee! You don't think I'd schlep for 800k with someone without integrity, do you?[kiss][/quote]

Gem, perhaps less stress on the 800 might be an idea?

The equipment list is getting longer by the minute.....gotta do some shopping on t'internet!

Wools, why don't you come along in the CC and let us put our packs on the seats with the dogs?

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NickP - You are probably aware of the following but just in case I will explain.

Under new UK law you are no longer obliged to buy an annuity with your pension 'pot'. The growth on pension 'pots' has been quite small for the last 4 years, sometimes even zero not to mention people like Brown raiding them.

Currently annuities are at the lowest yield in a lifetime, around 5.5% to 6.5% per year depending on age (source). There may also be some tax and charges to be paid.

Having 'talked' to other forum members (I posted asking about buy to let some months back) it seems that yields in France on buy to let are currently around 10% and in some places even higher after tax, insurance etc has been paid which I am sure you can see is higher than you would get buying an annuity in the UK or investing in bonds and savings accounts there. Plus the value, we hope, of the property will also increase over time.

In our area there are many Brits selling up and quite frankly are willing to accept most reasonable offers especially as nothing is selling and the months roll by. Also in our area there is a big demand for renting single bedroom flats. Buying a property for less than €100k, dividing it to a couple of flats or indeed three as we are just about to do with our latest purchase is a very good opportunity to make money and thus provide a pension. As to the legality of paying for things like 'furniture' already in properties and getting a proper receipt even if the property is sold to you far under the market price is not illegal. Of course the seller should declare any money but that's up to them. From the renting point of view we are declaring every penny or should I say cent just as we have done with our B&B. Having actual cash has an advantage, show somebody who is desperate to sell a pile of physical money and you always have their attention which makes it easy to make a deal which helps both parties get what they want.

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[quote user="Iceni"]

An exchange of contracts equates pretty well to the French compromis and that gives similar protection to the buyer/seller. [/quote]

Only just caught up with this one ..... surely the real problem in England is that UNTIL exchange (and that can be some weeks/months down the line from original offer) nothing is certain.  The relative security in France is that the "exchange-equivalent" (ie the compromis) is signed much earlier in the whole process, hence the increased security.

I realise that this does not help when people pull out after exchange, but in the UK it is getting to that stage which is the nightmare.

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Exactly, Judith.  This was our problem - one takes the house off the market long before one has any legally binding document.  To be fair, that's one incident.  The second buyers were honest and all went smoothly.  As were the couple who bought our first house.  Luckily, we're only on our third so have not had to go through this process too often.
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It must be, I mean the French President has been giving each of his cabinet one every month since just after the war to keep them 'loyal' (so the book 60M Frenchmen Can't be Wrong says and I am sure if it were not true you would no longer be able to buy the book). Failing that do what your French accountant suggests and they would never suggest you do something illegal or am I being a bit naive? A brown envelope is a figure of speech if you come from south London, goes back to the days of the Richardsons (and probably beyond) when they used to give the old bill a brown envelope to make a problem go away.
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