Have we bought at a Good or Bad time?

Hi


We have just returned to UK after completing on our house in France...we travelled yesterday and now know that the President has changed...there is the possibility of France pulling out of the Euro,, the monetary value dropping by 25%, and obviously new rules and regulations coming into play... our question is to those of you living in France - what are you're views from an expat point of view - how is this going to change your lives - and from our side, have we bought at the wrong time with the possibility of us loosing 25% value on the house we've just bought.....


Cheers


Christine


(on the positive) we had a fab time, the weather was glorious we drank lots and the vine yards 'doors' were well and truly open...


Yes ..getting back to the real question...your B and B will be different and the

room/price yield different.

So that is why I feel that there needs to be more irons in the fire.

I know that we are doing something completely different....and apart from

the tax side of things which has not gone 100% SMOOTHLY ....NOT down to our errors...We kind of know what we are doing in field of hospitality...

Your comment sitting neatly in the middle gives us a clue that many uk

citizens are unhappy about the way we are looked after....or not.

Such a contrast to the French system...painful but has to be respected.

If you come here you have to prove that you are going to contribute otherwise forget to ask.

Having been an employer in uk many years we have paid Nat Ins, vat, corperation tax and supported the banks by paying their fees.

Left devistated by the NHS and how my family and some friends were treated by

various employed persons within the system and some of its fragile methods I followed my dream.

I must add that this is, perhaps not a world for dreamers.

However if I wanted to go back to where I was born and have so many friends

and memories.....I will be treated like a stranger.

Re phrase this....If I went back to my country of origin and needed some medical

or financial help....or place to sleep I would be turned away.

Is this ....UK a country which takes care of her own? No

Our B & B will be totally different to yours Barbara... you are offering a complete package and, from your website, expensive high quality accommodation. Ours will not be as elaborate and will attract a different clientel... from doing my research I know that it would be stupid to stretch ourselves beyond what the house is worth, the location, and the money we want to put into the house to make it into a comfortable, likeable B & B.

It's a shame the UK doesn't give jobs to their own first - it seems the other way round here...

From our vast travelling around the world we have contacts in a lot of different countries an example being I lived in USA for over a year... and I intend to advertise the house in that market more than anywhere...

I'm quite sure running a B & B is hard work - but if we don't try it we will never know..

Well B and B is mighty hard.

This year no sign of the French and not very much from England.

We are attracting visitors from different lands.

I would make sure that there were other ways of making money.

The French love our cooking and spend time with us....BUT they help their

own first so jobs are ALMOST immpossible.

Andrew has more or less said it. I know from my OH who is selling part time that the price drops are happening now, so later this year should go quiet. One prophet of doom has mentioned 40% drop with Hollande as president and as France moves toward leaving the Euro. Forget most of it, sure there may be places with big drops but then there are areas truly overvalued to begin with so what would one expect. Leaving the Euro, too costly for any big economy to risk, so forget it.

thanks for the above - the Euro info and the 25% drop wasn't from one of our english papers - don't read them as they spout a load of rubbish, - but from a french politian who was on a french chat show just after the election was announced - a follower of Hollande... we've bought our house for commercial purposes - ie. ideal location for B & B etc. and our intention (when we finally get there) is to live in it as a business for 5/6 yrs or so then sell it on and move to a small house off the beaten track... 5/6 yrs is not a long time with the economy as it is... but I know that life is what you make of it and I'm sure everything will work out - it's just the timing for us that's all.... nothing to be done about it now. Also I suppose everything is relevant: - if the pound grows stronger against the euro - i.e. we got 1.21 and today it is standing at 1.24 nearly 1.25 then we will miss out on the large deposit etc we had to give for the house, but we will gain on the repayment of the mortgage... it's only if they pull out of the euro that I wouldn't have a clue where we stood....

My answer to this question, in good French: buuuffffff!

Nobody except the FN party talked about moving out of the Euro and Hollande will have to calm down a bit when he sees what his plans would cost.

On the buying front you didn't buy at the bottom nor the top of the exchange rate but I'll bet the Sterling/Euro will be closer to 1.30 by autumn. Most experts are unanimous that house prices in France are due for a big tumble this year and it could be sizeable. So certainly better buys are coming for those who can wait 12- 18 months when the Euro and European economy will be really collapsing fast

If you found a great home and you're happy then I would overlook these factors. In Dorgogne you'll have the support of the many expats everywhere but better weather and more house for your money than you'd ever get in the UK.

Aword of advice - read the French press to know what's happening here and get a feel for your area, the country etc. and don't believe all you read in the british press, especially some of the rather sensational ill-informed headlines in some "lesser" papers ;-)

as for house prices, they're set for a fall in 2012, talk of around 10% but that varies enormously from region to region. pull out of the euro - no way! In all it's much a do about nothing, not a great deal is likely to change for the moment unless hollande goes potty...!

I don't think that the change in president will have much affect on me at all. Who told you that France will pull out of the euro?

I don't care where the value of my house goes as I am not selling it. I bought it to live in and I enjoy living in it the same whatever the value might be.

You are correct about the Dordogne weather. While I was sitting in the sun having my breakfast this morning, there was nothing about politics or house values on my mind, I was only thinking about the sun, the birds, the flowers and enjoying my coffee.