Suspect I am better known in here for my Dead Dodgy posts in Le Rendez-vous, but I could really use a bit of advice now on a serious topic.

My OH has at last got his settlement money from the ex wife. It is in a savings account which is probably going down a percentage point by the minute, but that's the way it seems to be at the moment.

We made the decision to move to France way back in April this year. For me a return, for him, for the first time.

Now the dilemma is this. Now we have money, do we go or do we stay at this time?

We offered for a bungalow in Degagnac (in lot) in late July this year, it was on market at 149,800, we offered 135,000 euros. Then my flat sale fell through and we had to withdraw. Have now heard from agent saying the vendors would accept 110,000 (meaning, as we are cash buyers in a poor market, they would probably take 100,000). Good job we didn't buy it then, as it would presumably now be worth nearly 50,000 euros less.

With the pound to the euro so poor, is it wise to go now?

Also, if we DON'T go now, is it likely that French property will go down (ie if they declare they are in recession) or up (if they don't)?

The money in the savings account is not earning a huge amount as the interest rates dropped 2 points the day after we got the cheque!

Any thoughts/recommendations/suggestions?

HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dearest Andy, take this with a pinch of salt as it is merely my opinion.

I think the Euro will strengthen against the pound and dollar overall. World markets have and are undergoing some big shake ups with the Eastern powers emerging as the next financial leader. It will be a long while before the UK and the USA have the strong economies of the 2000's. Some people say 2 years, personally, looking at trends, I think it will be a 12 year cycle. All this means simply the euro is the safer option, (unless you move to Japan), property may be affected by short term effects, but overall should remain a solid investment. In a nutshell, either buy here, and transfer all sterling to euros, or remain in the UK and sit out the long winters of recession.

There is an interesting discussion on Euro v's Sterling here - http://www.economicshelp.org/2008/04...g-to-euro.html

I have heard that taxes are due to be paid by the owners or inheritors of a property on Jan 1st, so December is a good month to put in an offer cos the thought of not paying tax on Jan 1st will make your offer more tempting. Perhaps others will correct me on this??

Andy. I started a long diatribe about how life really is out here, but you know that already. It's harder than hard at times, with no real signs on the horizon of it getting better for those of us in our line of work. I've just spent most of the afternoon trying to get my head around some new tax laws being introduced next summer (retrospecively applied to Jan 01 09, of course!), and I now have a mammoth headache, as well as that feeling in the pit of my stomach that screams 'all is NOT well - get out'!

You already know all about these things as you've lived here before. Only YOU can make the decision about where your future lies. You either believe you'll be better off here (not just financially) or you don't.

My own opinion (again - for what it's worth) would be to transfer as much money as you can into a short-term high interest savings account. The UK govt. surely needs all the help it can get, and sit it out tight for a year or two, until the global financial situation at least starts to stabilise. That way, you may not make a fortune on your savings, but at least you won't have a) sunk it into a potential money pit in France that proves difficult to sell as Sarkozy finally admits France is in a recession, or b) lost everything by having the downwardly spiralling exchange rates nibble away at it in a standard cheque account?

This may be a bleak posting from me, but as I'm sat here wondering how I'm going to pay my bills this winter, it's at least true to my feelings right now. Tomorrow however, I'll be chipper again. Ask me again then?

Bonne chance ma petite!

Sound advice.

There are other currencies, you know, for example the Swiss Franc!
Still the personification of stability (but don't put it into UBS!!)

Hi Andy
the advice the others has given is spot on. Personally though, I think if you are having to ask for advice on what to do then you, or your OH, are not ready yet to make the move. If you were, knowing you as we all now do, I think you would make it without hesitation. If you are not sure, then delay - markets, currencies go up and down - what counts is where you are going to be happy. What about seeing if you could rent a gite for 3 months from Jan-March? You'd be seeing the place probably at it's worst then. Is it a dream you are chasing or a happy ending - only you really know - the main thing is to be happy where you are
Good luck with a difficult decision

Thanks so much to everyone - got plenty to think about now for sure and can't sleep, hence the time of this post

Without a crystal ball none us can know what is likely to happen and it's easy later on with hindsight for us to look back and with we had/hadn't done it. We would still have a foot in England anyway, as I can't sell this flat yet, so we could mothball it and if we got short of money in France, we could then rent it out and make a bit. We do have just over £500 a month guaranteed income as it is, which is actually more than either of us has ever had!

Jazz, thanks for a great link, I have bookmarked that site, it was pretty good.

And thanks also to Ewood, I am now looking into that new tax. I think the vendors have already paid some inheritance tax, as they are two sisters who inherited it from their mother when she died. We could not do anything before Jan 1st anyway, as if we go, we will be going over w/c 6 Jan, so it will be up to the vendors at the end of the day to either accept any low offer we make or tell us to do the French equivalent of "go jump" if the thought of more tax puts them off.

Roger, I have no knowledge of Swiss Francs but know my dad for a long time had various large sums of money secreted offshore, but he had lots of sleepless nights over it and seemed to be forever shifting it about (knowing him, probably to evade the Tax Man finding it!).

Val, yep, it's like love. If you have to ask if you are in it you probably aint. But, weighing up pro's and cons, there still seem to be way more on the pro's side than the con's one. We could afford to buy the place if the vendors will take a low offer (pro). We could manage on our income better over there than here (pro). We don't want any luxuries at all and never really will, as just having a large garden, open space, peace and quiet and friends nearby will be enough for us (pro). We are not French Virgins (for want of a better phrase) as I have done it all before BUT that was a while ago. I speak a bit of French (pro). I know the buying process (pro). I am practical and can do stuff (except electrics as me and electricity do NOT get on).

However, I thought that the worry of possibly losing money on it the minute we completed cos of the likely drop in value, poor exchange rate etc might be a con, but if we get it cheap enough, that is irrelevant and we are not looking to sell and make a profit anyway, it will be a home. And we still have the flat here to sell eventually. And we both have private pensions both of which we COULD take at 55, and my teachers one comes with a lump sum when it kicks in.

Oh lord, sorry this turned out SO long! Could not face Killer Tomatoes Eat France on the telly so lobbed myself on here and found all these wonderful friends of mine giving me such sound advice I had to reply!

OK, off to bed, thanks again, and hope you are all having a nice zizz!!

Andy

Sorry Tres, missed your comment - yep, Stu is making valid points. All now noted and on my list! I thought your contribution might be to advise us to get a tube of Smarties, chuck em on the floor and count the blue ones and if there are more blue than brown to GO and if more brown than blue NOT to go!

Andy (who is now knackered)

Dafter things have made folks up sticks!

That's some tough decision making, and I think you'll find there's quite a few people in the same boat. I have a few years in hand in the hope the pound makes a recovery - if I decide to start a family here in Paris I think I'll be needing more space in another 4 years or so. All my savings are tied up in the UK, and I'm not a betting man but I am hoping the pound will make a recovery at some point, even if it never makes it back to that magical 1.5 mark again.
I wouldn't be surprised if the UK goes the same way as the USA, and I think there's a lot more to come off UK house prices yet. If that happens and the pound never recovers it may tie my hands and force me back, but I'm hoping the pendulum won't swing that way.
I really don't envy you having to make important life changing decisions right now. The truth is nobody knows quite how things are going to pan out. For many years I've been following a housepricecrash forum on the Internet, but I look at it a little less now as it makes for bleak and depressing reading. My personal thoughts are that the recession will grow deeper in France, but not as quickly and not to the same degree as the UK. There are parts of France where house prices already seem very decent and it's hard to imagine the prices might drop further, but there's other areas of France where I suspect the prices could drop a great deal!

Oh dear, I do feel for you and everyone else in that boat - or should it be sinking ship? Well, perhaps not, and if one looks at some of the third world countries without even clean drinking water, we are all relatively very lucky. That's what I tell myself on a good day anyway

I still have an inkling towards going for it and sitting it out over there, as sitting it out here isn't much fun - got endless lists of pro's and con's (my suspicious mind used to make me burn lists but after I set fire to the curtains I don't do that anymore)

I'm impulsive by nature but NEVER with money, and head always rules heart. Was looking at some French houses on internet yesterday and found at least 4 that my ex and I looked at and even did budgets for doing up FIVE YEARS ago - still for sale, (two we even offered on and offers were turned down) and not even reduced in price. Most of these were in dire condition when we looked then - god knows what they are like now.

The French mindset about their houses is odd to say the least - agents told us some French will never reduce the price, as they still believe a "rich thick Brit" will turn up one day, fall in love and just buy it, but those days are long gone methinks.

I shall continue to be gored on the horns of my dilemma till Christmas, then my itchy feet will get me on a plane to Bergerac, dragging poor long-suffering OH with me, and we'll make better judgements when we are actually there I suspect.

Happy Sunday to all.
Andy

If the French house prices drop and you have property to sell in the UK, the benefits will probably equalise, and you'd be no better or worse off. I know it's horrible to be forced into being a 'betting' person if you're like me and hate playing with odds. Sometimes you're damned if you do and damned if you don't. If you have the means, sometimes it's best to just get on with living and to look back with no regrets.
I'm sure I don't need to tell you that the best bargains tend to be on the French immobilier websites. I think some Brits look at the British based sites for properties overseas, and quite often they can suck big time.
No doubt there's less Brits going over to Europe right now unless they have savings in euros. If house prices drop in the UK I'm sure that will also play an important factor, and the French will be looking towards the Dutch to buy up their houses.
I guess the difficult problem now is that if you did go for it you'd have to change your sterling right now, because I'm sure it's still on a downward slope and will stay there for some time. If you delay for a year or so, you may have to wait 3 or 4 years before it starts catching up. Of course, I could be totally wrong - the subject of economics usually leaves me with a migraine.

What's your OH's gut feeling on the issue Andy? Or does he defer to your previous experience?

My Dearest Andy,
It being the day of our Lord and not just any old day I feel that the wisdom of the good book may be of assistance. In the days of Jesus France was invaded by Rome whose currency, like our own, was causing concern. Did Julius wonder I wonder should I go there or invest elsewhere? Yes. But. He had an army at his bidding while you only have me and the other soldiers of fortune on BE. Thus in respect to your glass of plenty which you regularly spill on us I recommend you send your OH to Gaul for a trial period. If this works then stay in England and get AOH (another other half) with more money thus solving the problem! Thanks Tres I hear you say. Nothing Andy. The pleasure was all mine. Happy Sunday.