can't stand this place anymore
Discussion
Hi Jammy-b,
It's an option but my daughter and son-in-law have rented their house near here out as they'd only had the mortgage for 6 months before bu**ering off to NZ. There are all sorts of problems when something needs fixing, they didn't take out a management contract with the agents as it was too expensive and would have left a big gap between the rent received and the mortgage to be paid and with three kids and having to pay extortionate rent in NZ they just don't have the money.
I wouldn't want the hassle of trying to maintain this property remotely, there's always something to be done and I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it and probably have to "pay through the nose" for the privilege.
Anyway, I don't want to move from here, I like it too much and hate every minute that I'm in the UK and can't wait to get out of the place. It's my wife who want's to go back and initiated the agents visit and she is now on her way to NZ so I'm living in splendid isolation for the next 6 weeks or so and can do what I want when I want and not have to worry that I'm upsetting somebody.
It's an option but my daughter and son-in-law have rented their house near here out as they'd only had the mortgage for 6 months before bu**ering off to NZ. There are all sorts of problems when something needs fixing, they didn't take out a management contract with the agents as it was too expensive and would have left a big gap between the rent received and the mortgage to be paid and with three kids and having to pay extortionate rent in NZ they just don't have the money.
I wouldn't want the hassle of trying to maintain this property remotely, there's always something to be done and I wouldn't trust anyone else to do it and probably have to "pay through the nose" for the privilege.
Anyway, I don't want to move from here, I like it too much and hate every minute that I'm in the UK and can't wait to get out of the place. It's my wife who want's to go back and initiated the agents visit and she is now on her way to NZ so I'm living in splendid isolation for the next 6 weeks or so and can do what I want when I want and not have to worry that I'm upsetting somebody.
Driller said:
Things are definitely changing in the UK but I don't think it will ever get anywhere near as bad as this in France.
Here the reasons for all the crap are cultural and historic.
On the upside (blimey!) the inlaws have been around this week and the food has been quite amazing.
I've been ill for several months with unshakeable coughs/colds and have been knackered. It's getting better now so there'll soon be the energy to join in the ranting again
Here's a nice little story illustrating the problems businesses face here:
Voilà pourquoi je n’embaucherai pas Marcel
Driller,
That should be required reading for any dreamer thinking of coming here and starting a business, an excellent summary of all that's wrong. I'm just glad that I'm retired and don't have to try and run a business here, I just don't know how anybody can.
I was chatting to my heating and plumbing man when he cam to service the heating at the end of January and he said that he had had to let his last remaining employee go as it was impossible to make any money now, he didn't make him redundant but gave him some equipment and help to set himself up in business. So that bloke went from 5/6 employees to just himself in 5 years and he is now really struggling to make a living, he said for every €1k he gets in income over €600 goes in taxes and charges. He also mentioned that he is going on some sort of demo in Paris on 9th March to protest about the charges on small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Here the reasons for all the crap are cultural and historic.
On the upside (blimey!) the inlaws have been around this week and the food has been quite amazing.
I've been ill for several months with unshakeable coughs/colds and have been knackered. It's getting better now so there'll soon be the energy to join in the ranting again
Here's a nice little story illustrating the problems businesses face here:
Voilà pourquoi je n’embaucherai pas Marcel
Driller,
That should be required reading for any dreamer thinking of coming here and starting a business, an excellent summary of all that's wrong. I'm just glad that I'm retired and don't have to try and run a business here, I just don't know how anybody can.
I was chatting to my heating and plumbing man when he cam to service the heating at the end of January and he said that he had had to let his last remaining employee go as it was impossible to make any money now, he didn't make him redundant but gave him some equipment and help to set himself up in business. So that bloke went from 5/6 employees to just himself in 5 years and he is now really struggling to make a living, he said for every €1k he gets in income over €600 goes in taxes and charges. He also mentioned that he is going on some sort of demo in Paris on 9th March to protest about the charges on small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Edited by Driller on Sunday 1st March 09:09
lowdrag said:
Marçon not far from here; a local makes parpaings, breeze blocks, and has done so for 30 years. He employs 11 people from the village. Things haven't been going so well and unfortunately one of his long term employees is now, after hurting himself at home, classed as an invalid. So the employer is required to pay him 36,000€ as compensation. The result is he's chucked the keys away and filed for bankruptcy, is on the dole with his employees, and there is no work in the area to be found. Totally logical of course.
That's terrible 
Le Pop said:
Driller, I hope you don't mind but my French is not good enough to fully understand that article, especially in the fog of a Sunday morning, so I google translated it and attach it below. The translation is full of errors, but you'll get the gist and hopefully it'll save others who perhaps wouldn't have read this excellent piece from missing it:-
Ah, thanks for doing that Le Pop, I always forget about google translate. I see it even corrected the missing "S" in Australia at the beginning!Perik Omo said:
Driller said:
Things are definitely changing in the UK but I don't think it will ever get anywhere near as bad as this in France.
Here the reasons for all the crap are cultural and historic.
On the upside (blimey!) the inlaws have been around this week and the food has been quite amazing.
I've been ill for several months with unshakeable coughs/colds and have been knackered. It's getting better now so there'll soon be the energy to join in the ranting again
Here's a nice little story illustrating the problems businesses face here:
Voilà pourquoi je n’embaucherai pas Marcel
Driller,Here the reasons for all the crap are cultural and historic.
On the upside (blimey!) the inlaws have been around this week and the food has been quite amazing.
I've been ill for several months with unshakeable coughs/colds and have been knackered. It's getting better now so there'll soon be the energy to join in the ranting again
Here's a nice little story illustrating the problems businesses face here:
Voilà pourquoi je n’embaucherai pas Marcel
That should be required reading for any dreamer thinking of coming here and starting a business, an excellent summary of all that's wrong. I'm just glad that I'm retired and don't have to try and run a business here, I just don't know how anybody can.
I was chatting to my heating and plumbing man when he cam to service the heating at the end of January and he said that he had had to let his last remaining employee go as it was impossible to make any money now, he didn't make him redundant but gave him some equipment and help to set himself up in business. So that bloke went from 5/6 employees to just himself in 5 years and he is now really struggling to make a living, he said for every €1k he gets in income over €600 goes in taxes and charges. He also mentioned that he is going on some sort of demo in Paris on 9th March to protest about the charges on small businesses and entrepreneurs.
Edited by Driller on Sunday 1st March 09:09
ked. To put that in perspective, or to match it I should say, for every €1k I make, €760 goes in charges and tax!Edited by Driller on Sunday 1st March 22:01
Edited by Driller on Sunday 1st March 22:02
Yep, it costs about 4.5k to pay someone 2k a month. No wonder people don't like to recruit!
About the lake, that may well prevent the sale of the home, but go and speak to yournotaire lawyer -- you can sell the shares in the SCI, I would think. You'd probably take a bit of a hit as the conveyancing would make it clear to any potential purchaser that re-sale would be difficult/impossible, and "régularisation" could be costly. Might be better than being permanently stuck, though...
Good luck, and let me know if I can help at all.
Edited to add: you can't really advertise shares in an SCI but see here for a bit more detail: http://www.pap.fr/conseils/achat-vente/vendre-un-b...
About the lake, that may well prevent the sale of the home, but go and speak to your
Good luck, and let me know if I can help at all.
Edited to add: you can't really advertise shares in an SCI but see here for a bit more detail: http://www.pap.fr/conseils/achat-vente/vendre-un-b...
Edited by A common lawyer on Monday 2nd March 08:55
Ahhh the ammunition is endless. Like throwing raw meat to a lion. Here is today's installment boys and girls. My son broke his mobile about four weeks ago, so after a quick internet search, we found a phone repair place in Angouleme. A quick phone call established him as the very man for the job, so I duly schlepped off with son in tow and deposited the phone with him explaining that it was an insurance claim and that we needed a proper Devis to submit to the insurers. No problem says he and says he will deal with it straight away and we will have the Devis in a couple of days. We hear nothing and receive no devis. After about a fortnight my wife phones him to ask for a progress report. He snaps "I'm doing it today" then hangs up. I feel an overwhelming urge to drive to Angouleme to punch his lights out as I get very upset when people are rude or unpleasant to my Wife. Common sense prevails and I don't. Last week I phoned him again only to find an answer phone message saying he was shut for the week and would be open again today. This morning I drive to his shop to collect the phone having run out of patience, and there it is, on the same shelf as we had left it, untouched , no Devis, no progress. He gave the phone back with out any hint of embarrasment and when I asked why, in the space of a month he had done fk all, he simply smiled like a simpleton and shrugged his shoulders. The overwhelming urge to punch him returns but common sense prevailed and I left seething, but more to the point utterly bewildered how he is actually still in business. Do they know something we don't know? Is there some sort of grant scheme that allows utter fking morons to remain in business funded by some secret government department?
k all, he simply smiled like a simpleton and shrugged his shoulders. The overwhelming urge to punch him returns but common sense prevailed and I left seething, but more to the point utterly bewildered how he is actually still in business. Do they know something we don't know? Is there some sort of grant scheme that allows utter fking morons to remain in business funded by some secret government department?Russwhitehouse said:
Is there some sort of grant scheme that allows utter fking morons to remain in business funded by some secret government department?
Yes, it is called French socialist education. Under Labour before Maggie taxation was a maximum of 98%, so Maggie chopped it to 40% over two stages and increased VAT to compensate. Corporation Tax followed the same path. So taxation was transferred to your spending habits away from your earning habits, so in some ways a voluntary tax, food being exempt. So multitudes of foreign companies (in Sweden they were worse off than us at a maximum tax rate of 103% - figure that one out) switched their "head office" to the UK and the result was that the net economy of GB Ltd prospered. Sweden have, over this century, changed their economy drastically and it also now works. But, as shown above, socialism works fine as long as someone else is paying for it. Greece are down the crapper, as are other European countries, and if one of the "pillars" of Europe continues in the same way then even Germany will let them down with a big bump. king morons to remain in business funded by some secret government department?Thought you'd like this example of French bureaucracy. A dear friend had dementia, and his driving got worse and worse until he was told to take a medical. At the medical he was told he needed new glasses. Soon after that he had to go into a nursing home. The Préfecture kept writing to him to take the medical, even though we had explained many times, but they kept sending out new appointments, to which we replied each time. Anyway, we buried him last week at the age of 82. Some of you may know him since he ran for many years the Classic British welcome at St. Saturnin. This week a letter arrived cancelling his driving licence because he hadn't had his medical. I don't think he's too worried now though.
I love France in small doses, and being pi$$ed off with the country is part of the charm. But, being there for more than a week would probably do my head in.
A friend just moved to Paris with work, and to get a bank account open was the most troubling of tasks. Anything involving admin seems to take months, quite literally.
I went over to see him a few moths ago and we popped in to a small off licence to buy some Gin, Tonic and a Lime. Found the Gin, and asked the shop keeper where the Tonic was. He was completely dumbfounded as to why we would think his off licence (shop that sells alcohol) would sell a beverage that wasn't alcoholic.
My friend told me that was a tiny example of how France works.
And now I am on the subject, I recall the reason his job moved him to Paris was to try and change the culture within the office. Apparently the French will do nothing more in the company than the minimum bare - partly through a fear of responsibility and partly because they can't be bothered. There is no such thing as taking initiative to get things done, it simply doesn't happen.
"Why do today, what someone else will do tomorrow".
A friend just moved to Paris with work, and to get a bank account open was the most troubling of tasks. Anything involving admin seems to take months, quite literally.
I went over to see him a few moths ago and we popped in to a small off licence to buy some Gin, Tonic and a Lime. Found the Gin, and asked the shop keeper where the Tonic was. He was completely dumbfounded as to why we would think his off licence (shop that sells alcohol) would sell a beverage that wasn't alcoholic.
My friend told me that was a tiny example of how France works.
And now I am on the subject, I recall the reason his job moved him to Paris was to try and change the culture within the office. Apparently the French will do nothing more in the company than the minimum bare - partly through a fear of responsibility and partly because they can't be bothered. There is no such thing as taking initiative to get things done, it simply doesn't happen.
"Why do today, what someone else will do tomorrow".
Saw this answer on Quora just now and thought about this topic!
Zulu, before you even think of buying in France (and go through this thinking process at least 100 times over the next 100 years) do what I advise everyone to do; rent for a year, while keeping your UK property. When installed, get to know the locals and discuss renovation work, extensions, building permits and so on. Get ideas of prices and availability of the workmen to do what you are thinking of. Make sure you speak French, including all the technical words.
At the end of this period you will to come to the conclusion that it isn't worth the candle because the finishing of the work might just, if you are lucky, fit in with the thinking period I mention at the beginning of this post.
I speak French fluently and know loads of people, but even though I drink with them, even though I've known some for years and years, they still shake hands, say they'll be there on Monday, never turn up and just shrug their shoulders in a gallic fashion next time I see them. It is endemic. My plumber works on the black, so does my painter/decorator, electrician, and so on. It has taken years to find decent tradesmen who are reliable, and as regards a builder, if he is honest and a good workman, works "on the books" he'll be booked up a couple of years in advance. Remember that a tradesman must guarantee his workmanship, but on the black you may get ripped off, especially if your French isn't good. They'll see "PIGEON" written on your forehead. Look it up.
ETA. Just noticed the word "chateau". Now think of taxes d'habitation, taxes foncières, chauffage, entretien, and so on. Manor houses all over France are falling into ruin because no one has the money to look after them and when people inherit they can't even give the bloody things away. Get rid of your English understanding of property and comprehend that here in France property is a liability, not an investment. My house is worth less than when I bought it 15 years ago, and that's ignoring the fortune I've spent on it. Oh, and go and see your psychiatrist while you're at it.
At the end of this period you will to come to the conclusion that it isn't worth the candle because the finishing of the work might just, if you are lucky, fit in with the thinking period I mention at the beginning of this post.
I speak French fluently and know loads of people, but even though I drink with them, even though I've known some for years and years, they still shake hands, say they'll be there on Monday, never turn up and just shrug their shoulders in a gallic fashion next time I see them. It is endemic. My plumber works on the black, so does my painter/decorator, electrician, and so on. It has taken years to find decent tradesmen who are reliable, and as regards a builder, if he is honest and a good workman, works "on the books" he'll be booked up a couple of years in advance. Remember that a tradesman must guarantee his workmanship, but on the black you may get ripped off, especially if your French isn't good. They'll see "PIGEON" written on your forehead. Look it up.
ETA. Just noticed the word "chateau". Now think of taxes d'habitation, taxes foncières, chauffage, entretien, and so on. Manor houses all over France are falling into ruin because no one has the money to look after them and when people inherit they can't even give the bloody things away. Get rid of your English understanding of property and comprehend that here in France property is a liability, not an investment. My house is worth less than when I bought it 15 years ago, and that's ignoring the fortune I've spent on it. Oh, and go and see your psychiatrist while you're at it.
Edited by lowdrag on Wednesday 4th March 16:23
I'll second , third and fourth everything said above , I'm a builder and when I looked in France I did the typical , look at how much you get , chateaus , land , mansions , and i bought a 2 bed holiday bungalow off a Dutchman , comfortable , well insulated and cheap to run , but most importantly , saleable if I didn't like it .
Everyone living in huge property's ridiculed me but I put 2 small extensions , a garage and a pool in and enjoyed it then sold it as I got bored , but kept a crap piece of land next door and built a new house on it .
I made a very small profit on the first house after tax , if I sold the new one I would probably lose out , and that's after building the bloody thing myself ! But I like it for holidays and don't need to rent it to be able to keep it .
Renting in your chosen area is the best advice ever , possibly the second best is make sure you visit between October and March , when I moved there it seemingly rained for those months non stop !
Everyone living in huge property's ridiculed me but I put 2 small extensions , a garage and a pool in and enjoyed it then sold it as I got bored , but kept a crap piece of land next door and built a new house on it .
I made a very small profit on the first house after tax , if I sold the new one I would probably lose out , and that's after building the bloody thing myself ! But I like it for holidays and don't need to rent it to be able to keep it .
Renting in your chosen area is the best advice ever , possibly the second best is make sure you visit between October and March , when I moved there it seemingly rained for those months non stop !
SAGA will insure UK cars full time so I'm told.
I wouldn't be put off by all the negativity on this thread, as entertaining as it is. There are bad things everywhere, UK has speed traps, foreigners coming over here stealing our jobs, chavs etc etc....
The weather and life style here is much better than the UK, the French laid back attitude is annoying but I wouldn't change it, to do so might mean slowly converting France to the UK with it's 24/7 fast food culture where no one has the time of day for each other.
I wouldn't be put off by all the negativity on this thread, as entertaining as it is. There are bad things everywhere, UK has speed traps, foreigners coming over here stealing our jobs, chavs etc etc....
The weather and life style here is much better than the UK, the French laid back attitude is annoying but I wouldn't change it, to do so might mean slowly converting France to the UK with it's 24/7 fast food culture where no one has the time of day for each other.
jammy_basturd said:
Saw this answer on Quora just now and thought about this topic!
STUPID, it's fking STUPID!!! AAAAAAAGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùùù!!!!!Don't worry. Thousands of people rent their houses out without too much trouble. A good friend of mine lives here and rents his house out and has lots of offices in the UK he rents out. Everything declared, all above board and he's far better off living here. Something to do with tax laws for property rentals being better here.
Like I said earlier, most of the problems arise from UK people trying to apply UK logic here, they're not compatible.
Running a business here seems to be the biggest problem and most of those can be gotten around if you can do a percentage of your work on the black. This is a practice known to be acceptable to the authorities, I joke not. I have heard of a few different friends that had to go on a course when they registered for work and were told by the government official it's 60-40, 60% declared, 40% not. Problem is for the likes of Driller that's just not possible.
Like I said earlier, most of the problems arise from UK people trying to apply UK logic here, they're not compatible.
Running a business here seems to be the biggest problem and most of those can be gotten around if you can do a percentage of your work on the black. This is a practice known to be acceptable to the authorities, I joke not. I have heard of a few different friends that had to go on a course when they registered for work and were told by the government official it's 60-40, 60% declared, 40% not. Problem is for the likes of Driller that's just not possible.
The renting process in France, well Paris anyway, is heavily weighted towards the tennant so the property owners are extremely careful who they rent to..
As a result the process to be accepted to rent a property can be a nightmare.
A friend has just been through the process to rent an apartment in the 17 Arr in Paris. The properties move very quickly so you need to submit your dossier before you are assessed and accepted. The dossier includes, proof of employment contract, 3 pay slips, attestation from previous landlord etc. He is a professional guy who is Turkish and he said he knew that he would be rejected when he 1st met the landlord.
Landlords biggest fear is someone who is old or may lose their job as it is almost impossible to evict someone under those circumstances.
He looked at loads of place and the good news is he found a great place and has moved in.
As a result the process to be accepted to rent a property can be a nightmare.
A friend has just been through the process to rent an apartment in the 17 Arr in Paris. The properties move very quickly so you need to submit your dossier before you are assessed and accepted. The dossier includes, proof of employment contract, 3 pay slips, attestation from previous landlord etc. He is a professional guy who is Turkish and he said he knew that he would be rejected when he 1st met the landlord.
Landlords biggest fear is someone who is old or may lose their job as it is almost impossible to evict someone under those circumstances.
He looked at loads of place and the good news is he found a great place and has moved in.
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