Mbro88
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About me I will fill this out at my leisure some more. I am starting out once more; as an Artist painter and just Artist. I have been a Designer and an Architect in the UK yet had to stop for a TX (ref: http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/PKD_uk/). I have not retired to France. I am living with my French partner of 20 + years here and she and I are looking at remaining resident for some time yet!
Country of origin United Kingdom
Country of current residence France
Interests : Animals, pets, Art, Books, magazines, Camping, hiking, outdoor life, Coffee, tea and conversation, Computers, Internet, Cooking, Dining out, Drama plays, musicals, Gardening, Languages, Movies, Photography
My favourite books, music and movies : I do not play favorites as so much comes and goes, and it changes all the time!
How I came to be an international : Ikea was less expensive still!
Visited countries : France
I am not a tourist. I would describe myself as :Resident
recent forum
- Notaires FeesQUOTE (krek. @ Sep 3 2008, 05:26 PM) The notary fees are fixed and non-negociable, since they consist for the larger part of obligatory taxes. On the notary internetsite www.immonot.com there is al fee-calculator.I can only echo the quote here. The notary is by far the least expensive way to purchase a property.Estate agent fees are the real robbery over here, and TAX is non negotiable certainly!Mind you, once you are in and have your habitation yearly taxes sorted out you are fairly well done.Tax in France is keeping the boys (and girls) in the jobs for boys and those girls! Mbro88, 05/09/2008 06:29
- Charente or Dordogne? Your views pleaseQUOTE (LesleyG @ Aug 15 2008, 11:14 AM) Many thanks for all the replies!!Changed my mind on the gites idea, now have new plan!! But I will need a mortgage, my OH will stay working in UK and Mum and I will relocate to France with OH coming out as much as poss.I can't seem to find out if a French or UK mortgage will work out best, bearing in mind my husband who will be paying it is employed in the uk.Any opinions or ideas on how I might get some advise please?Many thanks.....L'They' say that the pound is about to take a hammering and then the Euro. So your guess is as good as anyone's. However, the French really did not like loosing in the last muck up and the banks have become rather conservative once more; well they were anyway!You would be best advised to understand French inheritance laws BEFORE you buy here and the ways in which you buy and consult a Notaire in France to give you the current low down. Best in the area you are looking. Notaire's are a very good source of both specific and local information and they sell property at a much better price, usually, than agents !I found there was a point when I had to ask those questions here in France. A lot of Agents and Notaire's do speak good to passable English!Mbro88 , 15/08/2008 11:05
- Charente or Dordogne? Your views pleaseI am in Charente Maritime in a small village of six hundred + near Saint Jean d'Angely. The landscape here is as good yet just different than other places and house prices are static at this time (was at an estate agent today with someone selling), yet sound more solid than GB!There are English speaking social groups around, nous et you is one I belong to. Helps out with language and general network stuff, especially if you are a gite owner (I am not)!A place called Matha nearby is the usual location of Uklanders in numbers.The gite market's are kind of all over the place. This year and around here they did LATE summer trade, yet lots, yet were nail biting in May and checking on the price of bread!We live in a area with a micro climate which helps. Mostly always warm. In the winter it gets colder, yet not for long.I spent three years on and off, on month trips from GB, looking around and found the A10 motorway invaluable as it gets you all the way to Spain and is a good way to go towards the sea and inland some way. In the end it was the climate in this area that I liked!Best to see a place in more than one season and not just the summer time to get a real feel.Around here its real country life and the pace changes all the time yet with the seasons. Farming and all that!All the bestMbro 88, 13/08/2008 11:15
- Expat ARTISTS in FranceHelloI have started being an Artist after many years of thinking about it and being an Architect. Although I have painted a bit most of the time, yet my work is not just in painting. I can not answer the questions posed about moving here; I have been here (Centre West) for a number of years, yet not as an Artist with Gallery.However, I rather hope that is my direction now!I am tagging this topic as it is the only one I could find in a search using Artist, as I would be interested in how it goes. And generally networking.I am always in need of advice on things I took for granted and was rather spoiled for in GB. Like large format flat bed digital copies to digitise my larger work into computer files I can then work with and on.More sort of practical stuff like this.I also have a nice space which is begging to be a gallery and would like just to strike up dialogue in that direction. How to go about converting the building, what works and what does not, &c.Be nice to hear from people on this subject!All the bestMbro88, 11/08/2008 10:30
- Polycystic Kidney disease. (PKD)I am writing to see if there exist already a group of English speaking people in France who have a support group dealing with PKD Polycystic Kidney disease.I ask with a view to joining one or starting one. I have a transplant myself!Please contact me if you can offer advice. Many thanks Mibro88 , 11/08/2008 09:09
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