Buy with confidence

[thetwoofus]

Hi all

"Buy with confidence" or so the add say's , has anyone used Tee france for guidance and purchase for thier dream property, (good or bad ) ? ?      They are local to us so seems the best place to start (Hertfordshire) if anyone can recommend a company we'd appreciate it,

Thanks

 

 

[Nick Trollope]

[quote user="thetwoofus"]

Hi all

"Buy with confidence" or so the add say's , has anyone used Tee france for guidance and purchase for thier dream property, (good or bad ) ? ?      They are local to us so seems the best place to start (Hertfordshire) if anyone can recommend a company we'd appreciate it,

Thanks

[/quote]

I'm only guessing at what you are talking about, but I reckon you are alluding to the use of a UK-based "Agency" to buy a house in France.

If so, in a word; don't.

 

[thetwoofus]

Hi Nick

Not exactly  tee france are  a firm of lawyers( with resident french lawyer) and advise on the whole ball of wax so to speak, doing the legal stuff for the purchase and inheritance issues etc.On thier team they have a guy named Charles Davey who is the author of "Buying property in France" (no plug for the book or firm intended)

I  concur that buying through a u/k estate agent would be a little fool hardy and open to being ripped off so we wont go down that road .

thnaks

 Thanks even

[Cassis]

I think you'd be throwing your money away.  Why might you need them - is it the inheritance angle?  A notaire will do all the 'legal stuff' for the purchase and you can find probably find an English speaking one, if it's language issues you're worried about.

[Cassis]

By the way, I misread your name first time.  I thought you were called 'The Woofus'!

[thetwoofus]

Hi Cassis

Near  enough's good enough[:D] what we was looking for was advice  really and as we are not sure of what area in France  we shall be locating too a notaire maybe not the best option at this point and besides we are here and they are in France ,long way to go just for a chat.

Before you say look on here we have read so many threads and still not sure whats what, always seems to be a conflict of opinions, ever decreasing circles  as they say, not knocking the forums I find them very interesting.

guess I'm just a fussy old hector

regards : you know who

[Benjamin]

Looking at your responses to the replies already given I think you've already decided what to do.

Go on.......give Tee france your money (whoever they are).

Benjamin

[Sunday Driver]

What is it you want to know about moving to France?

If you can be a bit more specific and name some issues you might like information and guidance on, then Nick, Cassis and Benjamin are all very reliable sources of accurate advice.

 

[thetwoofus]

Hi

well ok lets see , Inheritance seems to be the biggest stumbling block , if I set up a company in france myself and wife have equal shares(ie directors) in the company ,property etc owned by the company. When one of either dies could the surviver become sole director thus giving them the choice to stay or sell up and that way avoiding the inheritance problems or the sole survivor could hand over directorship to the hiers . Would this then be subject to inheritance taxes ?  I have read on here that micro bic is one of the best ways to go if you dont expect to make bundles of money ( I wish)  and that a course has to be attended for certain businesses , would that apply to a fishery business?One other thought just came to mind how would I buy a property in the name of the company when the business wont exist untill we have found the property. ( I hope this makes some kind of sense ).At the end of the day it all boils down to the surviving spouse being able to remain or sell up and return to the u/k should they choose

Then there's money exchange ,how does that work (although I guess an easy answer to this is to ring them) charges made and who is the best, I hear moneycorp(I think it's called) is a good  bet.

As I dont wish to bore the pants off anyone (as if I aint already  ha ha ) I'll stop at that

thankyou  everyone

 

[Cassis]

Only got a minute (get back to you later).

Money - definitely use a FX dealer, don't use your bank.  They all offer the same sort of deals. 

What is your family position (marital status, previous marriages, children etc.)?

Employment status?

[Will]

Buying through a company is often recommended by lawyers - they profit from setting up the company for you. However it is not necessarily the best option. There are possible tax implications if you remain UK resident, and if you are French resident then using a company does not avoid inheritance tax or succession law, though it is usually the best option if a number of people, particularly when not blood relatives, purchase together.

A lawyer is unlikely to be able to advise fully on the ins and outs of setting up an enterprise, such as your proposed fishing business. Lawyers may not have the span of knowledge covering taxation and social security issues - you would be better off consulting an accountant with knowledge of French and British systems.

[thetwoofus]

Hi

We both have two kids each(grown up) from previous marriages I am actually a widower ,does that make any differance ? and we are married  we shall be looking to set up a company in france  and become resident no attachments to the u/k at all other then the families,  ie, properties etc.  The main reason I had Tee France in mind was because they have a French barrister on there books , obviously we dont want to waste our money but do need some advice with regards inheritance issues/taxes/company set up etc. Could anyone recommend a uk based accountant  perhaps  ,I guess it  is'nt a problem where in the uk  ( herts/nth London area would be better). It's all about finding the right channels to go down and getting the right advice ,we dont want to kick off on the wrong foot as Im sure you've all been in the position  we are in now , do we, dont we situation but all the time really wanting to.

It will be a whole new way of life for us albeit a scary one to start

[Cassis]

Hi again - we seem to have moved on a bit from where we started,

which was just talking about buying a house!  As you're now talking

about setting up a business then you do need to consult someone to advise professionally on the legal and financial issues attached to

your proposed enterprise.

As regards foreign exchange transactions, a very good alternative to Moneycorp is Foreign Currency Exchange.  It runs on lower margins than some of the other exchange houses.  Telephone 01442 241 850 and, if you can, talk to Ciaran McVeigh.  He is very helpful and will explain how it all works.  Basically, you can either buy your euros at a 'spot rate' on the day, or you can put in an order in advance if you think the rates are favourable now but you are not ready to make the exchange yet - so 'hedging' against a possible adverse move in the rates.     The pound sterling is very weak against the euro at the minute so it's not a very good time to put in an order, so a third option is that you can ask them to purchase for you when the exchange rates hit a certain point.  Which of these is your best option depends on whether you have the money for the exchange available or whether you have to wait for a house sale etc.

[ali-cat]

[quote user="Cassis"]
Money - definitely use a FX dealer, don't use your bank.  They all offer the same sort of deals. 
[/quote]

Do you think that avoiding banks would also apply to the likes of Abbey (International), who offer a UK Stirling account (with 4% interest) & a French Euro account (only about 2%)? 

As I said we've just started to look at them, but haven't been able to reach them by phone yet to check their charges & exhange rates - so not sure if they fall under the "avoid bank" catagory.  Having our pensions etc. paid into an account in the UK, which we can transfer to France, over the Internet, seems very appealing. 

We have also been looking at Moneycorp, who were offering a good rate last week - & will let you buy ahead for 6 months. 

[Benjamin]

ali@ards

Could you just expand a little bit on your ability to transfer money from your UK bank to France via the internet please?

Benjamin

[Cassis]

Hi Ali

One thing to note about 'buying ahead' (ordering ahead or hedging) is that it is a two-edged sword - you have a guaranteed rate but it will be lower than today's spot rate and you are basically gambling that the rate will not move in your favour in the meantime.  Only worth doing if you think that today's rates are particularly advantageous and will not hold up in the intervening period.

FX dealers are only worth dealing with for large amounts of FX; minimum is normally several thousand pounds (used to be 3000 pounds equivalent for FXDirect).  Transfers are free on amounts over 10,000 pounds equivalent.

As regards commission, FXDirect make their money by knocking about a penny off the spot rate - we bought a sum when the rate peaked at 1.505 and so we got about 1.495.  This is miles better than any rate quoted to us by any bank at the time.  We also hedged a large amount for 3 months because the rate was so good.  On the same spot we got about 1.480.  When the time came, the rate had dropped to 1.460 so we were lucky - we had made the right choice.  If it had stayed at 1.49 or above our gamble of ordering ahead would not have paid off. 

[ali-cat]

[quote user="Benjamin"]ali@ards

Could you just expand a little bit on your ability to transfer money from your UK bank to France via the internet please?


Benjamin
[/quote]

Actually, no!!  The OH does all this - & he's out at the moment.  Will come back to you when he knows more about it, although it may be a while, as we're only at the early stages of our investigation & haven't managed, yet, to speak to the bank in question, about their system.    Sorry  [:$]  .

[Benjamin]

Thanks for the response. I take it therefore you're referring to Abbey International.

Whenever I've mentioned to any bank about making transfers abroad via the internet  they seem to want to run a mile. I look forward to the OH's return.

Sorry for continuing to take this off thread.

Benjamin

[Benjamin]

Right, back on thread.

Hi thetwoofus

Looking back on the posts trying to answer your questions I think you have already said it all in the second paragraph of your posting at 16:09 yesterday.

The topics that you need answers to are just so vast and complicated you will find it very difficult to get a definitive answer on any forum never mind this one.

You clearly need professional advice. I don't know how you initially came across Tee France but as nobody seems able to recomend another company why not give them a try?

Benjamin

[Hagar]

[quote user="Benjamin"]

Whenever I've mentioned to any bank about making transfers abroad via the internet  they seem to want to run a mile. I look forward to the OH's return.
[/quote]

HSBC offer internet transfers from/to UK accounts in sterling to French account in Euros. If you are a premiere customer then there are no charges for any amount of transfer. It is quick as well - although they stipulate within 3 days  every time I have used them the funds appear in France within 24 hours - normally same day.

The actual exchange rates are pretty good too - perhaps not quite as good as the 3rd party exhange companies but given the speed and security I much prefer the bank.

rgds

Hagar

p.s - no money laundering issues either.

[Cassis]

Banks - fine for small sums.  But you're throwing money away if you use them for changing large amounts of currency like a house purchase, which is what we're supposed to be talking about here.

[WJT]

Unless things have changed, our bank (Lloyds) charged us nothing when we transfered a large sum twice to purchase our house two years ago. Not to mention offered us the best exchange rate as well.

[thetwoofus]

Hi Benjamin

I think your right, I've been intouch with Tee France today and they are sending details etc incidentally I got them from French property news. We shall give them a go and keep our fingers crossed it's not wasted time and money, would be a lot more cash wasted if we got it wrong . Will let you know how it goes

live long and prosper

[Hagar]

[quote user="Cassis"]Banks - fine for small sums.  But you're throwing money away if you use them for changing large amounts of currency like a house purchase, which is what we're supposed to be talking about here.
[/quote]

Simply not my experience Cassis. When we bought four years ago the bank offered better rates/service than the two currency exchange specialists  that I contacted could offer - particularly on a forward contract.

rgds

Hagar 

 

[Juswundrin]

"Banks - fine for small sums"

I've not seen them mentioned much recently, so...

Best option for small sums, unless you have a Nationwide account, is probably moneybookers.com