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Everything you always wanted to know about France |
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I made the "ton" - 100 issues of this newsletter.
I really do try to reply to all mail, most are questions about property or living in France. I publish comments in this newsletter which I believe are of interest and may help find answers to questions put by others wanting to come to France. By linking the points I make to our weblog at http://www.fblog.com http://www.fblog.com I hope readers will click on the adverts which help support our overheads. Our business is our advertising sites for property and rentals at http://rentalsfrance.com/ http://rentalsfrance.com/ and http://1stpropertysales.com/ http://1stpropertysales.com/ Please make use of these sites for rentals and sales (and do click on the adverts). ======= In this issue 1. Swimming Pool Safety in France 2. Villa Renting - Some Market Research 3. Offshore Money 4. Could It Happen In France 5. How should spend a week looking for property around Perpignan 6. Translation Service 7. Resale of Leasebacks - is it a tissue of golden lies 8. Living and trading in France ======= 1. Swimming Pool Safety in France For the last two years I have been writing - at tedious length I am told - about pool safety and the legislation in France for security devices and fencing. For rental properties, after extensions of time, this was all due to be installed and completed by July 2004. Since then I have kept quiet as many owners and renters got fed-up with all the conflicting and seemingly pointless advice being given. The law is, at present, being ignored by the Gendarmerie as they do not have clear instructions as to what is and what is not "approved". The whole farce is now getting more confusing as many of the "approved" alarm systems are now being "un-approved" as they are not working in the manner demanded by the standards. Some alarm systems which depend on laser or infra-red are often proving to be useless due to wind and rain. Their approval is being removed by AFNOR and now many owners - perhaps hundreds of thousands - are now illegal again after spending up to 1000 euro on these products, but, getting a clear definition from manufacturers of the government is impossible. Luckily, at present, owners are most unlikely to face prosecution due to non-compliance with the law, but if there were an accident then the insurance and legal problems could be severe. If an insurance company can back-out of a claim they certainly will. At a recent exhibition of the so called "approved" systems, only three fencing systems were found to be fully compliant with the standards and only two alarm systems worked correctly in all weather conditions. In many ways France is leading Europe in the pursuit of pool safety standards, but unfortunately the rushed and ill-defined laws, the vague standards which need to be constantly revised and the supply of inferior, expensive and now possibly illegal products combined with the reluctance of owners to build efficient barriers and relying on a, relatively cheaper, secondary alarm system is possibly making pools in France less safe than before. We are again researching pool safety systems and fencing. A new generation of "sonar" alarms costing about 1500 euro with tax seems to be more reliable. In my opinion a good fencing and gating system compliant with the AFNOR standard is the only relevant solution with the alarm as a second level of security as I believe there is no fence a kid could not climb over ======= 2. Villa Renting - Some Market Research We have been running a vacation rentals site on the Internet for eight years. Last year we changed to a database system and with the tens of thousands of direct enquiries our sites receive we are able to use the feedback and statistics to research trends and fashions of the how, why, where, what and when of the rentals business. In other lives I have been involved in market research and evaluation so I am now able to look at the vast amount of data we have and use this to develop a better service to owners and renters. Last week I sent out a mailing to a large number of enquirers for rental accommodation requesting replies to a variety of questions and data. I will not publish figures as this will give our competition very valuable information (they can buy it if they wish) but the number is in the many thousands of enquiries. These are enquiries for specific properties, not just visitors to our site. The response was over 15%, which is a very ive figures from the preliminary analysis of the data. Over 80% did book a property directly through the Internet. Over 10% of people enquiring booked a property through us from an owner advertising on our site. Over 25% never got a reply from the owner they requested Under 2% did book a property but used other sources to confirm a booking (catalogue or travel agent) Over 98% looked at more than five websites to make their choice Over 30% looked at more than 10 websites to make their choice We have also received a huge number of detailed mails in response asking for more help and volunteering information and preferences. It is clear that the Internet is becoming the dominant media to present vacation rentals, and is also becoming the preferred method of booking. There are many concerns for renters, the main ones being security of payment and accuracy of information. We have many ideas for this and will be introducing new systems into our sites. It seems we did very well for our owners in relation to the number of bookings to the level of enquiries and the cost per booking. Our advertising rates are already the lowest on the Internet in relation to our positioning and visitor level and we plan to build on this with more help for renters and owners. ======= 3. Offshore Money Dear Tony, I am resident in France but I still have a UK bank account. At the moment, I have 10,000 pounds sitting in it following the sale of my house in Aude. The "best savings deals" website quotes 5.35 % for the Alliance and Leicester, but when I logged on to try to invest my money, it told me that this account was open to UK residents only. As there is now no benefit in an off-shore account, why can't I invest in the Uk? I pay UK taxes on my two government pensions. I am anxious to do everything correctly, but I need as much return on my capital as I can get. French banks seem to offer about 2% so there doesn't seem to be much point in transferring my money to my French bank account. === Hello Carol Banks are using every trick and charge they can to make money plus they have to be extra careful not to be involved in "money laundering" - since the disclosure of information laws were brought in, they must report all transactions which are "unusual" this can be you simple paying a larger cheque than usual - this makes for a lot of work, so overseas accounts are now not interesting unless you are talking millions and then I am sure they will find ways of "helping" you. Two per cent is better then zero percent - but French savings plans are expensive and complicated - the French government has invented plans to lock up your capital and give better returns - the Leaseback plan is one (Loi de Robien). There are plenty of "financial advisers" who will "help" you with your money - I would not trust any of these rascals further than is could throw them. Sitting on 10 grand is going to cost you about 50 quid a month - so it is a sort of insurance. The French still keep a lot of gold and cash under the mattress. Tony ======= 4. Could It Happen In France I saw this story posted on a website... Daniel and Brigitte Degrave left France for South Florida five years ago, attracted to a quaint beach town where they could own a home just blocks from the shore. Surfside's combination of small-town shopping, restaurants and proximity to the beaches charmed the Degraves' friends and family members who visited from France, leading them to also buy homes. However, beginning last March, the paradise turned nightmarish when the six homes were hit with a series of code violations, totaling more than $50,000 a day. The Degraves were stunned when they were fined for using the properties for short-term vacation rentals and for making alterations that allegedly made their homes unsafe. A year later, their dispute rages on and the daily fines continue to mount, totaling more than $20 million, or about eight times the properties' value. Legal fees have topped $800,000, but the couple plan to fight on. "We have no choice," Daniel Degrave said during a recent tour of one of the homes. If we stop, they win. The Degraves and other homeowners in this neatly kept beach community of 4,500 just north of Miami have aired their outrage over the fines on the Internet and with large signs in front their homes. They contend the fines are being used as a cash cow and to drive out some homeowners. The FBI has received boxes of documents from several residents asking them to investigate the town's conduct. Neither the bureau's Miami spokeswoman nor town attorney Stephen Cypen would comment. However, during a deposition in November by the Degraves lawyer, former code enforcement officer Chris Masciatti acknowledged he had phone conversations with the FBI and had met with agents. Masciatti, who signed off on the violations, resigned last fall. He declined to comment. Cypen said the town has uniformly enforced the code in order to maintain the community's appearance and ensure public safety. He dismissed complaints about the fines. "I don't think they're any steeper than other municipalities," Cypen said. Three of the homes owned by the Degraves and their friends and family members were first tagged with fines in mid-March 2004; the three others were cited two weeks later. The couple had rented out some of the homes through a Web site they operated to pay for the mortgages, taxes and maintenance. The Degraves say they tried to find out whether the rentals were illegal before they were fined and never got their questions answered. Liens have been placed on the buildings, and the town told the homeowners in June that they needed to submit architectural plans or the homes would be demolished. Town officials said the rentals violated the town's building code for single-family dwellings. They also said Daniel Degrave performed upgrades without a permit and then failed to follow proper procedures to acquire permits to correct the problems. During a commission meeting in December, Cypen said that despite receiving "very specific, detailed instructions as to how to correct the violations, the Degraves continue to refuse to do so." The Degraves have not been alone in their complaints. Suzanne Chalon, 70, paid a $35,000 fine and agreed to have her home razed in August after her code violation fines swelled to $368,000. Thomas Rich was hit with $2,700 a day in fines after he began renovating a three-bedroom home in early 2004. With fines reaching $1 million, he settled this month for $3,800. "I would call them the small town from hell," said attorney Charles Baron, who represents homeowners Jose Maranon and Marco Arboleda. They were cited for homes that allegedly shared an illegal setback. They were ordered to pay the town $2.3 million in fines after they lost their legal appeals. By KEN THOMAS The Associated Press Published: Mar 22, 2005 ======= 5. How should spend a week looking for property around Perpignan Tony I have been reading your column for several months. I am wondering if you could advise me on the following: I'm francophile and when I retire in about 3.5 years would like to spend 3-6 months a year in France in my own place. I will be coming on a scouting trip mid May 2005 landing in Nice and preceding toward Perpignan, spending 1 week there at a time share. I have about 225,000 Euro to invest. My idea would be to try and make some income in the next 3 years by renting, etc prior to moving there. So it has to be something I want to live in but not something so special I would not mind some wear and tear with renters. Speak, read, and write moderately advanced French. Have been looking at ads in particulier a particulier and purchased a book about buying and renting property in France. How would I make most efficient use of my 1 week in Perpignan- Donald === Hello Donald Based in Perpignan you have the chance to see, in my opinion, some of the best places to live in France, as long as you don't want to make a living here. Perpignan is an interesting city - we looked closely at it when we were selecting a place to live. The coast to the east is rather boring but further south, from Argeles, the towns clinging to the rocks to the Spanish border are a very popular tourist and retirement area. Just inland from Argeles, along the Alberes are superb towns like Sorede . Further inland , in the shadow of Pyrenees and le Canigou is Ceret. About an hours drive takes you up into the mountains with the ski slopes and mountain villages. Inland from Perpignan are some charming wine making villages. I would advise you to rent a car and at least get to see these completely different areas, all within a one hour drive. Regarding buying and Renting in France - throw the book away - everything has changed a great deal in the last two years. Rentals have dropped over the last three years and are still declining and prices have soared. It seems everyone has bought a place in France and plans to let it out. At the same time the numbers of people coming has dropped significantly and the type of accommodation the remaining visitors are demanding is much more up-market yet wanted (and got) for the same price as the traditional "Gite". Good villas with pools are in demand for vacation rentals, but prices for a decent small villa in this region will start at 300,000 euro. After taxes and fees you have about 200,000 euro, this will buy a decent village house or an apartment, but not much else. Do not be tempted by anything that "needs doing up" - renovation costs are very high. Whatever an estate agent says it will cost to "improve" an old house, multiply by at least four or five. Also make sure to get something with good heating, it is very cold in this area in the winter. If you have a nice place and offer it at a competitive price there are renters. But unless you do a lot of work yourself, the cost of letting, cleaning, advertising, tourist taxes income taxes etc will not really leave you much Be aware of the prevailing wind, the Tramontane, it can be very unpleasant in an exposed area so look for a property in a sheltered village of town. The people are fiercely Catalan, they talk about independence from France, but will never give up the comfortable social security and unemployment benefits. A big advantage is Spain just 40 minutes away - the chance to eat lunch later and not be chucked out of a restaurant 10 o'clock - plus cheap fags, booze and cheaper diesel. Why did we decide not to live there - we did buy an old factory and I rebuilt it into a large house for our family - but - the general mentality of the local people we found to be petty, small minded and very unpleasant - we moved from Roussillon an hour north to Languedoc to live - but to visit - I think Roussillon has a lot to offer Hope this helps best wishes Tony ======= 6. Translation Service Hi Do you know of a website that offer an English translation to a "declaration de travaux"? I've searched for what seems like hours and, although I've come across a few interesting sites on the way, I've found nothing even resembling a translation. Thanks - David === Hello David No - getting good or legal translations of most French documentation is a nightmare, or expensive. We can help a little, but any translation from tools on our sites must be taken as a guide only and not considered a legal document. Also many French documents are in pdf format - so you need to know a little about how to manipulate this. You will need : Acrobat reader, to read pdf documents A good text editor (I recommend Textpad) First - find the document you want - you are asking about the "declaration de travaux" - I found this on Google on page http://www2.equipement.gouv.fr/formulaires/formfiche.asp?IdFormulaire=43 http://www2.equipement.gouv.fr/formulaires/formfiche.asp?IdFormulaire=43 Open the document (in pdf) and "right clicked" to "select all" Click on "copy" on the top of Acrobat and paste this into a text editor Go through the text with the search tool and changed all the special characters to plain English Copy the text and paste it into the special translation software on our site at http://1stpropertysearch.com/translation/ http://1stpropertysearch.com/translation/ This produces a rough translation from which you should be able to determine what the form is all about. The more care you take with checking special characters and tidying up the oddities of the French language - the better the translation. This does several languages and works both ways Hope this helps Tony ======= 7. Resale of Leasebacks - is it a tissue of golden lies We get asked a lot about the resale value of leaseback properties - I have permission to reprint this reply from a recent posting Will I be able to sell my leaseback? Rob Thorne of moving-to-france.com Hello Location and a sensible rate of return are important criteria when choosing a leaseback. If these are right then the chances of the management company not wanting to renew are negligible. Commercial compensation to be paid at the end of the lease period is the big issue. But it is only the big issue because so many sites and companies gloss over this in their keenness to rack up commissions. A few years ago, one leading Internet investment magazine showed pictures and prices of cheap French mountain houses, and used them to illustrate an article about the Mediterranean Herault region where prices are no way cheap. Their audience was/is American, and as a result I had quite a few enquiries from Americans looking for properties in the Herault that did not exist. That was probably/possibly a mistake, a foreign based editor scraping information off the Internet with no real knowledge of geography. For any one to sell leasebacks and not to explain truly and honestly the exit options, to gloss over the "propriete commerciale" inherent in any french commercial lease and to lead their clients into thinking that their leaseback investment value is going to soar directly in line with property price inflation is not a mistake, it is something very close to fraud. Leasebacks can be good investments, but there is no point gilding and glossing them with a tissue of golden lies. Whether or not, as lease end times approach, this behaviour will be seen as intentionally fraudulent resulting in court cases and battles over compensation or only unintentionally ignorant and ill informed I do not know. Perhaps they will all be able to hide behind "Caveat Emptor", and perhaps not. Best regards, Rob Thorne of the French Property Company Ltd. site http://www.moving-to-france.com http://www.moving-to-france.com ======= 8. Living and trading in France Hello Tony, My wife and I are considering a 5mo. rental on the Med....somewhere near Nice or Cannes...in a warmer climate. Nov. to April. is our choice....subject to change. I have 2 questions....can I sell my American made goods freely..... if I were to get a space at either a street marche' or a flea marche'? Are there villes or cities in the southeast of France that are more accommodating for handi-capped people in wheelchairs? Thanks for making great info available to so many. Best wishes, William === Hello William You cannot sell anything or trade in France without being registered - this is not simple, it is expensive and you could get into trouble on a tourist visa - but - if the Mayor likes you then a blind eye may be turned, but my advice for Nice or Cannes is - "no-way is this possible". In general France is not very handicapped friendly, the southeast is very hilly, cliffs, rock faces and mountains everywhere, - wheelchairs are a rare sight - I cannot recall seeing one on the streets here in 16 years - we have asked many times for owners to tell us about rentals suitable for the handicapped and have never been able to add one single property to our lists. Also November to April is cold on the Mediterranean - there has been a lot of frost and snow this year, not as much as Oak Bluffs I am sure, but our central heating has been full blast since November and we are only now reducing it during the daytime. Do try these people for advice - they know the problems and are 100% genuine http://www.yourfrenchconnexion.com/index.htm http://www.yourfrenchconnexion.com/index.htm Hope this helps Tony ======= |
