Selling property in France experience

Selling property in France experience

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Discussion

WyrleyD

1,902 posts

148 months

Friday 12th July 2019
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Slight bump...

Well, we finally signed the "act" today. It's been a long haul with the previous buyer dropping out and we finally accepted an offer that was €20k less than the last advertised price and €80k less than we ideally wanted but at least it's now sold, only fly in the ointment is we have/had a lake and the rules in the Haute-Vienne state that it has to be brought up to the new standards for lakes at our expense so we had to sign an undertaking that we would pay to have it done. Problem is that we have to have a dossier done by an "expert" to detail what work needs to be undertaken and that alone will cost €2k, we do know that it is going to be a very long process as the lake will have to be drained and then left for 2 years to dry out before the 2mtrs or so of silt can be removed, a bypass from the lake above ours is installed, fish traps installed and a new method of emptying as the current waste gate is no longer good enough. The expert is busy and can't start on the report for 3-4 months and no work can start until the report is accepted by the authorities in Limoges (the DDT). Sooooo, it's going to be at least three years before it's done and all at an unknown cost, we can only hope that, as in the "the end is nigh for the Euro thread", the Euro crashes so it won't cost us so much!!!

magooagain

9,977 posts

170 months

Friday 12th July 2019
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Bugger! It seems you are stuffed by red tape etc. A lesson to many I imagine.

Kev_Mk3

2,767 posts

95 months

Friday 19th July 2019
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If it helps I've been waiting for a document and our notaries to sort it since January. They decided not to tell the bank my mum had passed away either even though they said they had.

We have all put pressure on her and have had a email to advise September for completion. We will see!

Puggit

48,439 posts

248 months

Thursday 1st August 2019
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Oof - after 2 years we have a verbal offer which we can stretch to. It will mean taking a capital hit to pay back the bank as the offer is less than we owe them. But the house needs work, and the difference realistically matches that. About 60% of the price we paid back in 2007.

We could soon be free of this lovely set of shackles! Bitter sweet.



Brexit related - is there any benefit in keeping the house?

smifffymoto

4,552 posts

205 months

Thursday 1st August 2019
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No,it will still be millstone wether the UK is in or out.

Kevp

582 posts

251 months

Friday 2nd August 2019
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Puggit said:
Oof - after 2 years we have a verbal offer which we can stretch to. It will mean taking a capital hit to pay back the bank as the offer is less than we owe them. But the house needs work, and the difference realistically matches that. About 60% of the price we paid back in 2007.

We could soon be free of this lovely set of shackles! Bitter sweet.



Brexit related - is there any benefit in keeping the house?
What bank do you owe? UK or French.
If it's the UK you are on the best deal, with 1€ to 1£. After October it will be 1€ to 1.5£. With the then and now exchange rates you have perhaps pulled back the 40% loss.