Montyvator

Dear all.

My wife and are British Citizen living out side EU for some years. We have now agreed to purchase a bungalow near Burgerac and hope to complete sale in the first week of November. This new retirement home will be the ONLY property to live in and will be our permanent home. We do not have a property in UK.

What we would like to ask HOW does the new Tax law will affect us... Or will it affect us in any exceptional way? Do we need to make any provisions other than making sure of all the normal legal stuff is in place?

Regarding purchasing a Car. We have been looking for options to buy a suitable car in France. Through the Google search we have found a dealer in Bordeaux and it seems they have reasonable discounts and we are looking to purchase possibly Hyundai i30 car. Could anyone advise how best we tackle with a Car Dealer for Cash Purchase?

Kind regards and many thanks in advance for any help from members of the BritisExpats.com

cyrian

Which new tax law?
If you mean the additional years for CGT or the additional charges for expat owners of second homes then I don't think that it does affect you because it will be your main residence.
What you also need to look at is the succession rules when one of you dies especially if you have children either together or separately.
Why don't you have a browse through this site:
http://www.notaires.fr/notaires/en/jsp/site/Portal.jsp
You can delay the french succession laws by either using a "Clause Tontine" or a marriage contract "communauté des biens" and you also should have a french Will.
If you have british passports then it doesn't matter if you have lived outside the EU.
Can't help directly with your car question but you should register the car in bothnames to simplify the sale if one partner should die.
You also need to have some written proof of no-claims discount to reduce your insurance premium.
Good luck

Montyvator

Hi Cyrian

Many thanks for the info. We will follow your advise and carry out our more research to get things right in the first place, ie both names on property, Car etc and French Will in due course.

We are looking forward to our retirement in Dordogne.

Kind regards/ Montyvator

Im_and_Er

Note that you are not permitted to use more than €3000 cash in transactions in France and it's possible that a dealer may refuse to accept a cash payment in excess of that.

It's Bergerac BTW

Bonne chance

Montyvator

Hi IM & ER
Thanks for the info. So its best we make a Bank transfer to the Dealer for the whole amount (could be up to €16,000) after we have made a contract?

Regards
Montyvator

cyrian

When you have a french bank account - check the terms.
Our bank cards (debit) have weekly and monthly limits.
We have 2 cards so not usually a problem.
We also pay an annual charge for each card.
It doesn't matter how much we have in the account, the cards won't allow us to go over the limit.
Cheques are much more common in France and you would be able to pay this amount by cheque.
If your cheque bounces then you can be barred by the french authorities from holding any type of french bank account for years.
Bankers cheques are also common where the money comes from your account to cover the value of the cheque and the bank writes a cheque where the payment is made by the bank and not you.
The money also comes out of your account immediately the cheque is presented. - No clearing time.
Is your french up to negotiating with a car dealer?
I took a french friend with me to make sure that nothing was lost in translation.
Good luck

Novocastrian

Funny you should mention that. But there appear to be exceptions. My MIL was French and had some investments in France and settling her estate in France incurred duty and of course Notaire fees after she died 18 months ago.

As a result of a series of total cock-ups involving the Notaire, the Banque Postale and the Societe General it became necessary to pay a much larger sum in cash to l'Etat.

We used cash and although accepted as being pas normale the transaction took place anyway. This was just last week, 18 months after she died. Mon Dieu.

Im_and_Er

With official bodies different rules might apply.

This is France don't forget where the homily 'rules are for the guidance of wise men and the obedience of fools' was never more true.

Novocastrian

It's OK. I've lived in other countries where the guidance and the rules are routinely ignored. France is quite usual.

One lesson we learned in this complicated transaction is that every official's "petit collegue" knows a great deal more about how to get things done than the official.

It's (mostly) done now though, just a trivial matter of 10,000 euro to go.

Tweedpipe

As Cyrian wisely suggests, when ready to make a purchase, take a French friend or a fluent English person. Ideally, either need to be good negotiators. Car salesmen are notorious the world over. Be hard on 'em on price, and negotiate for the maximum number of options 'thrown-in' as part of the purchase price. You'll find them reluctant, then walk away and leave your contact number. If they don't call back and show interest, contact them again just before the end of a month (which is when most salesmen must meet their bonus target). You should then have them eating out of your hand if your proposed purchase price is realistic. It's a pity I'm a few hours away, otherwise I'd be pleased to assist. My wife told me I seemed to get a sadistic pleasure dealing with the last car salesman, and she might be right.
The other tip is do a little research on which manufacturers are offering the best promotions, and on which models in a given month. For example a few months ago Opel were offering up to 30% off on selected models, Hyundai 16-29% (depending on the version) on the i30, and Toyota up to 25% off.
One of my preferred car magazines for this promo info is Auto Plus.
You also have an ace card. The end of the year is always the best time to purchase a vehicle to take advantage of the many promotions, and it's when salesmen should be most amiable and malleable to negotiation - to ensure they meet end of year sales targets.
Good luck for your move, and eventual car purchase.

Montyvator

Hello Cyrian
Many thanks for the info on Banks, Credit Cards, etc. We hope to take someone with us when we are ready to purchase a car (sometime in November).

We are also looking the possibility of making a purchase in Germany as prices seems to be reasonable. However not sure if this is a good idea and what costs are involved and registration process in France.

As we are in a common and a open market, my simple thinking is that there should not be any problem buying a car in Germany and driving to France and getting it registered.

I need to do more research and need to understand what I need to do if we do purchase in Germany and providing we can make savings.

Kind regards/ Montyavtor

Montyvator

Good Evening Tweedpipe & your better half.

Many thanks for the tips and pointers when dealing with Car Salesmen. We shall carry on with research and once we are ready we will visit car show rooms around Bergerac and Bordeaux area.

We do not speak French yet but hope we can find someone who can accompany us at the final stage of purchase. But we are not in a rush and won't buy emotionally. Life time experience "should" teach me to be cautious at all time.

Kind regards
Montyvator & My Soul-Mate.

Kazabella

Hello Montyvator

I too am coming from a non EU country, actually returning to France after 6 years away. I have lots of questions which I'm going to make a post for separately, but my advice to you two is to learn French. Other than that it's a fabulous place to live. Good luck.

Montyvator

Hello Kazabella

We appreciate your input. We are looking for a video type of training course in English-French and trying various websites. Just now looking at BBC website which seems great and its free.

After going to various Islands for 3 years. Last May we visited Dordogne and fell in love. We both are so happy that we made a decision to move to France. Lets hope that it works out for all of us.

We will be looking out for your articles. Good Luck to you as well.
Regards / Montyvator

Montyvator

Dear all.... who had responded to our questions...

Up date: We finally arrived here in France a couple of weeks ago and now going through the process of purchasing of our new home in Dordogne area. But there is still a mortgage hurdle, but we are very hopeful that very soon it all will be resolved.

Meanwhile today we have purchased our car through our own search and direct contact with supplier (AramisAuto.com) in Bordeaux. We are very pleased with our purchase - A Hundai i30 hatchback, 1.6L cc 110PS, Diesel Car with 5 year warranty and we obtained 30% discount.

We have been searching for a suitable car that fits our budget and cheap to run. After reading reviews over 5 month period we knew that Hyundai i30 is the car for our needs. We shall pick up the car at the end of the month.

We found the whole process was straight forward secure with no underhand dealing. The sales advisor (Olivier) at Aramis was just great and he explained everything though he has limited English language (and using Google translator) and made everything clear. (Over the years we have purchased so many cars and dealt with may sales persons, so we know when someone is trying to pull wool over your eyes).

If anyone needs any additional info, then please get in touch.

My wife and I look forward to settling down here in Dordogne for this Christmas. Thanks for all who have replied previously.
Kind regards - Montyvator