Just North of Tours...
Discussion
Well - a little update to my French forum 'blog' of buying a house in France.
We headed out on Sunday, stayed overnight in a Camponile hotel in Rouen (€49 plus breakfast) then headed South the next day and potted around the Le Loir valley - even went to see the house we lost.
It turns out that the vendor from the house we lost accepted an offer for €5k less then our's - we weren't going to win regardless.
We think we've found a better property this time. Another longere, this one with 2 hectares of land - most of it wood. There's a fair size garden and total and utter tranquility. Offer accepted and the vendor loved meeting us (and appreciated my speaking French!).
Best thing is it has it's own cave (that's a cellar and a cave) dug out of a limestone cliff behind the house!
We headed out on Sunday, stayed overnight in a Camponile hotel in Rouen (€49 plus breakfast) then headed South the next day and potted around the Le Loir valley - even went to see the house we lost.
It turns out that the vendor from the house we lost accepted an offer for €5k less then our's - we weren't going to win regardless.
We think we've found a better property this time. Another longere, this one with 2 hectares of land - most of it wood. There's a fair size garden and total and utter tranquility. Offer accepted and the vendor loved meeting us (and appreciated my speaking French!).
Best thing is it has it's own cave (that's a cellar and a cave) dug out of a limestone cliff behind the house!
Puggit said:
Vendor in France has signed the compromis - so we're just waiting for it to be sent over to us...
...and then we're tied in!!
Here's the house:
Anyone going to Le Mans next year that wants a piece of luxury instead of a tent?
Me!...and then we're tied in!!
Here's the house:
Anyone going to Le Mans next year that wants a piece of luxury instead of a tent?
Looks fantastic matey, really chuffed for you!
goodlife said:
Well done! Best thing you could possibly do.
Here's ours, also in the Loir but we're North of Le Mans. Still get that all important 72 number plate though
I see you're in Henley - we're in Caversham. We'll need to set up a convoy down to Sarthe at some point Here's ours, also in the Loir but we're North of Le Mans. Still get that all important 72 number plate though
Love your house - looks incredible!
Well, tomorrow is 7th November. And tonight we set sail from Portsmouth to Le Havre with a double bed in the car and then we complete at 2pm tomorrow.
Very nervous (although unlike in England, nothing can stop the sale) and hugely worried about money now!
Thursday we have a LWB Transit hired, and we're heading 100 miles to Ikea in Nantes in order to buy up the whole shop
I'll update my 'blog' on Monday when I return. Mrs Puggit and jnr are staying on with her parents until Wednesday doing DIY.
Very nervous (although unlike in England, nothing can stop the sale) and hugely worried about money now!
Thursday we have a LWB Transit hired, and we're heading 100 miles to Ikea in Nantes in order to buy up the whole shop
I'll update my 'blog' on Monday when I return. Mrs Puggit and jnr are staying on with her parents until Wednesday doing DIY.
One word of warning to anyone considering using CA Britline, is that they are based with CA-Normandie. Apparently CA is a number of regional banks, and we may or may not be successful banking outside of Normandy!
So we have a wad of Euros to deposit in our bank, which means we need to stop off on the way south! Unfortunately the new A28 crosses in and out of Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie - and Britline are only based in Basse-Normandie. Go figure!
So we have a wad of Euros to deposit in our bank, which means we need to stop off on the way south! Unfortunately the new A28 crosses in and out of Basse-Normandie and Haute-Normandie - and Britline are only based in Basse-Normandie. Go figure!
penryar said:
You forgot the 'initial or sign the bottom of every page bit' that goes for everyone involved. So if you are a couple buying from a couple, thats 4 sets of initials or signatures at the bottom of every page. And there will be alot of pages.
Already done it 
We've done almost everything remotely (we paid VEFuk a fortune to help us).
French bureaucracy at it's best 
Took overnight ferry to Le Havre, popped in to the bank to drop off a few thousand euros and avoid the expensive charges and arrive at midday in La Chartre sur le Loir to meet our agent.
He was somewhat flustered, and informed us of some niggles that morning. Apparently a new law was passed on 1st November meaning that a full gas installation survey was required. The notaire had forgotten this...
The notaire was able to get a gas engineer in for the next day (Thursday) which wasn't really suitable for us, having travelled down to Sarthe that day for this event! So our agent pulled in a favour and had the survey carried out that morning. According to our vendor, all was well and we were progressing.
Arrived at the notaire's for 2pm to find that the gas survey revealed that there was only one pressure limiter on the gas tank, and not the regulation two. Butagaz would rectify this foc.
However, this issue meant that the notaire had to pause proceedings for 7 days for us to be able to change our mind about buying the property... That's right, a minor problem which could be rectified for free, on rented gas equipment, meant that we could pull out. We could not jump the 7 days and had to wait.
The vendor had had enough (as had we!) and we decided to proceed none-the-less and took possession of the keys. However, due to work commitments, I cannot be present to sign on Friday, so our agent required power of attorney. Which the notaire (who's cockup this was) tried to charge for the privelege. Ultra slimey French bureaucrat style. He was told were to go!
So we have the keys, and have spent a fortune kitting it out - but it's not ours until Friday
Took overnight ferry to Le Havre, popped in to the bank to drop off a few thousand euros and avoid the expensive charges and arrive at midday in La Chartre sur le Loir to meet our agent.
He was somewhat flustered, and informed us of some niggles that morning. Apparently a new law was passed on 1st November meaning that a full gas installation survey was required. The notaire had forgotten this...
The notaire was able to get a gas engineer in for the next day (Thursday) which wasn't really suitable for us, having travelled down to Sarthe that day for this event! So our agent pulled in a favour and had the survey carried out that morning. According to our vendor, all was well and we were progressing.
Arrived at the notaire's for 2pm to find that the gas survey revealed that there was only one pressure limiter on the gas tank, and not the regulation two. Butagaz would rectify this foc.
However, this issue meant that the notaire had to pause proceedings for 7 days for us to be able to change our mind about buying the property... That's right, a minor problem which could be rectified for free, on rented gas equipment, meant that we could pull out. We could not jump the 7 days and had to wait.
The vendor had had enough (as had we!) and we decided to proceed none-the-less and took possession of the keys. However, due to work commitments, I cannot be present to sign on Friday, so our agent required power of attorney. Which the notaire (who's cockup this was) tried to charge for the privelege. Ultra slimey French bureaucrat style. He was told were to go!
So we have the keys, and have spent a fortune kitting it out - but it's not ours until Friday
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