So, we just bought a house in France...
Jun 6th, 2018, 05:48 AM
#81
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StCirq and I have had this conversation offline earlier, and I think (unless I am missing something) circumvented is too strong a term once you have a fairly large wad of assets.
There are some minimizations but it may be better to just live it up...
Italy seems a lot more tolerable in that regard.
I have an Italian dual citizenship in work that might get me an EU passport in about a year (fingers crossed)..
As StCirq said (unless/until Italy drops out, and then the whole EU thing will be toast anyway) an Italian passport is as good as any in the EU and is almost as easy as getting an Irish one if you have the right background.
Jun 6th, 2018, 10:49 AM
#83
I based my contestation with the banks on the fact that I am a French citizen and it is illegal to single out any French national for discriminatory treatment of any kind. When I provided the reference and date of the specific text of law, they knew they were on thin ice and dropped the issue.
Jun 6th, 2018, 10:57 AM
#84
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Jun 6th, 2018, 12:11 PM
#85
Oh, you'd be surprised at the details of FATCA. If you were born in transit on a plane in the U.S. and never set foot there after your birth, they still say you are a "US person" and must pay your taxes in the United States. That has been the problem for hundreds of thousands of people. The U.S. claims that dual nationals are not exempt.
It is also very interesting how they have changed all of the rules for getting rid of unwanted U.S. citizenship as well as making it outrageously expensive.
Two banks refused me as a customer based on place of birth -- including Hello Bank, which belongs to BNPParibas. Strangely enough, BNPParibas is one of the only banks that never bothered me about FATCA.
It is also very interesting how they have changed all of the rules for getting rid of unwanted U.S. citizenship as well as making it outrageously expensive.
Two banks refused me as a customer based on place of birth -- including Hello Bank, which belongs to BNPParibas. Strangely enough, BNPParibas is one of the only banks that never bothered me about FATCA.
Last edited by kerouac; Jun 6th, 2018 at 12:13 PM.
Jul 12th, 2018, 10:30 PM
#86
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We arrived two weeks ago to start the renovation of our house in the Dordogne that we purchased in March, so I thought I would share a few of our experiences thus far:
Electricity - we were able to turn this on before leaving the US by calling the EDF English language customer service line. The agent was very nice and helpful and it was a breeze. Payments will be made from my US Visa card.
We found the water still on at the house when we arrived, but needed to transfer it to our name, so we drove to the office in Terrason. I found that my French was better than I thought, as we had very little problems communicating. They required proof of address and the attestation showing ownership was not enough. Fortunately we had a copy of the electrical contract with our names on it so they were able to accept that. This seems bizarre to me, since we needed absolutely no proof of identity to open our electrical account, but we had to show all sorts of proof in order to buy the house. Go figure.
I asked them if they could email the bills to us and they said they could, but only if we had a French bank account, which we didn’t. She said we would have to come back and give her our bank information, but fortunately we received an email the next day with a link to our online access, where we found that we can enter the bank information online. Score!
We started the process of opening a bank account with Credit Agricole about two weeks before departure, by emailing all the required documents to the English language contact in our region; however when we followed up with another expat who had use the same agent, we were informed that it took them six months to have their account opened! Since we will soon have bills to pay, we decided to go into our local branch, where our experience could not have been better.
Emboldened by our success with the water company, we went in person to our closest branch in Salignac and made an appointment for two days later. They asked for all the same documents we had emailed previously: passports, utility bills, tax returns, attestation of ownership, etc. Fortunately, all we had to do is forward the previous email with all the attachments and she printed everything out.
We made an appointment for two weeks later, which went to today. We signed the paperwork and were told we’d have checks and debit cards within a week. So from 6 months to two weeks, I’d say that is an improvement!
We started our renovations about 10 days ago, and we couldn’t be happier with our chef de chantier so far. We found him through the website Angloinfo.com. He is British, has a great sense of humor and is a very good at communicating what to expect and what he needs from us. Of course, there have already been some unexpected hurdles, but that happens when you are renovating a 150 year old stone farm house.
So our days now are filled with choosing tiles, paint colors and appliances. I have to say that sales clerks at all of the home improvement stores have been very friendly and informative, although we have having sticker shock compared to like materials in the US. Hoping to have a house we can move into by he end is September. Fingers are crossed.
Electricity - we were able to turn this on before leaving the US by calling the EDF English language customer service line. The agent was very nice and helpful and it was a breeze. Payments will be made from my US Visa card.
We found the water still on at the house when we arrived, but needed to transfer it to our name, so we drove to the office in Terrason. I found that my French was better than I thought, as we had very little problems communicating. They required proof of address and the attestation showing ownership was not enough. Fortunately we had a copy of the electrical contract with our names on it so they were able to accept that. This seems bizarre to me, since we needed absolutely no proof of identity to open our electrical account, but we had to show all sorts of proof in order to buy the house. Go figure.
I asked them if they could email the bills to us and they said they could, but only if we had a French bank account, which we didn’t. She said we would have to come back and give her our bank information, but fortunately we received an email the next day with a link to our online access, where we found that we can enter the bank information online. Score!
We started the process of opening a bank account with Credit Agricole about two weeks before departure, by emailing all the required documents to the English language contact in our region; however when we followed up with another expat who had use the same agent, we were informed that it took them six months to have their account opened! Since we will soon have bills to pay, we decided to go into our local branch, where our experience could not have been better.
Emboldened by our success with the water company, we went in person to our closest branch in Salignac and made an appointment for two days later. They asked for all the same documents we had emailed previously: passports, utility bills, tax returns, attestation of ownership, etc. Fortunately, all we had to do is forward the previous email with all the attachments and she printed everything out.
We made an appointment for two weeks later, which went to today. We signed the paperwork and were told we’d have checks and debit cards within a week. So from 6 months to two weeks, I’d say that is an improvement!
We started our renovations about 10 days ago, and we couldn’t be happier with our chef de chantier so far. We found him through the website Angloinfo.com. He is British, has a great sense of humor and is a very good at communicating what to expect and what he needs from us. Of course, there have already been some unexpected hurdles, but that happens when you are renovating a 150 year old stone farm house.
So our days now are filled with choosing tiles, paint colors and appliances. I have to say that sales clerks at all of the home improvement stores have been very friendly and informative, although we have having sticker shock compared to like materials in the US. Hoping to have a house we can move into by he end is September. Fingers are crossed.
Jul 13th, 2018, 01:58 AM
#88
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Re: the sticker shock, you need to go to Brico Dépot outside Périgueux. Buy your paint online if you can get past the Angst. Valentin is a reliable brand. The colors they show in the books at the various brico stores are pretty reliable.
Jul 13th, 2018, 03:58 AM
#89
People (including or even perhaps especially the French) absolutely love to complain about bureaucracy and paperwork in France. I have absolutely never found it to be a problem. All you need is a full supply of the necessary documents and it's all a snap. In the last few years I have discovered that many times when I am told by the person at the counter that something will take at least two weeks, it only takes 48 hours. People have not yet fully adjusted to the fact that computers have really eliminated most of the paper pushing.
Last edited by kerouac; Jul 13th, 2018 at 04:00 AM.
Jul 13th, 2018, 09:40 AM
#90
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I have been following this thread since the beginning. I am loving reading about your journey. No advice except that I hope you tell us about your choices in tiles and paints etc as well. It's interesting what paint and color families, styles of furnishings that are the norm. International Househunters without a narrator trying to amp the drama....
Jul 13th, 2018, 12:56 PM
#91
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Lest anyone think that everything has been all puppies and rainbows, We did have two disappointments unrelated to the above. 1) a house was built next door to ours much closer than we were expecting. We’ll have to plant a strategically place hedge to gain back our privacy. Not the end of the world.
2) More troubling, we have noticed that, depending on the wind direction, we are occasionally, olfactorily assaulted by the odor of the cow farm about 100 meters away. Not much we can do about that. I guess that’s life in the country ��
2) More troubling, we have noticed that, depending on the wind direction, we are occasionally, olfactorily assaulted by the odor of the cow farm about 100 meters away. Not much we can do about that. I guess that’s life in the country ��
Jul 16th, 2018, 01:21 AM
#94
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We too haven't had much problem with French bureaucracy. It helps to have the right documentation and to be able to speak to the bureaucrat - in French. embarking on French citizenship, which does, however require lots of documentation, certification, translation. Also agree that sometimes officials aren't quite up to date - we were required, for 10 year Carte de Sejour, to provide originals of utility bills. Except now they are online rather than paper. Ours, printed off from my files, were accepted.
Jul 16th, 2018, 02:39 AM
#96
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You can also go to your mairie and ask for an attestation de domicile. The mayor will sign and seal it, and it's pretty much irrefutable. Of course, any justificatif or attestation that you provide will have to be dated no more than 3 months previously. But I think you know all this already.
Your bathroom walls/vélux look almost identical ours on our 3rd floor. It's wonderful how wthese builders manage to work with tight spaces and steeply sloping walls!
Your bathroom walls/vélux look almost identical ours on our 3rd floor. It's wonderful how wthese builders manage to work with tight spaces and steeply sloping walls!
Last edited by StCirq; Jul 16th, 2018 at 02:42 AM.
Jul 16th, 2018, 12:06 PM
#97
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Here’s another shot for context. This is going to be the bathroom, with the tub just below the window. This is under the roof, which is on the US second floor (French 1st floor). The stone walls are exposed downstairs which we love.
