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In This Months Issue You'll Find:

Message from Alexis for November/December 2009

Let yourself go in the Languedoc-Roussillon

What do pensions, mortgages, property, and boats all have in common?

Using a Mortgage to secure an overseas property - what's the scoop?

Join us at the France Show - Earl's Court, 10th January 2010

Who is Elaine Ferguson and why should you care?

Christmas Special – 25% off any of our Property Buying Guides

Did you know we have a France Forum loaded with tonnes of info?

Sunny Days

Hi

I do hope this finds you well and keeping warm.  I am sure I am not the only one dreaming of lighter skies and sunnier days during this rather cold November.  Since my last newsletter my husband and I have had a lovely trip down to the Languedoc-Roussillon area.  You know how I am very fond of this region: it has a wealth of history, mountains, is close to the sea and Spain and last but by no means least, it has the most wonderful climate. 

So as I write to you on this rather dull November day, I am feeling happy at the thought of my latest news which I am sharing with you in this month’s newsletter: we are buying a property down there!  As you know, life changed rather dramatically for me this last year, I met and got married to my husband, but my love of France remains constant and we have both decided that, lovely though Montjoi is, we would like to have somewhere a little larger, a little further south and something that we can do together.  So we are selling Montjoi and have managed to find the most incredible house in a lovely village close to Carcassonne.  We have put an offer in and are about to exchange contracts so a lot has happened since last month.

I will be sharing our experiences with you over the coming months and into the next decade as 2010 turns.  I do hope it may help you if you are also thinking of buying in France.  There is nothing like hands on experience passed on, so watch this space!

Aside from this great news, this month I have some great articles for you to mull over: my own little review of the Languedoc-Roussillon area, proper advice on currency exchange and how you can benefit when you move your money, some up to the minute advice on how to get the best mortgage in these difficult times, and some more reminiscing on my honeymoon!

So now sit back, relax and enjoy reading this month’s France Newsletter.  Remember to email me if you have any specific queries or need advice, I am always interested in my readers’ tales.

Kind regards as always,

Alexis
France@OverseasGuidesCompany.com
France Buying Guide
The Overseas Guides Company Ltd
0207 898 0549 (call me!)

Let yourself go in the Languedoc-Roussillon

As you know, this is one of my favourite areas of France.  The word Languedoc derives from “langue d’oc” or “Occitan” which was the original language of the area. 

The capital of the whole area is the beautiful city of Montpellier, which happens also to be the fastest growing city in France: it is home to more than 200,000 people, a quarter of whom are students.  Carcassonne, a UNESCO World Heritage site in the south-west of the region, is quite simply one of the world’s most stunning cities.  My husband and I had a day there last month and he was bowled over by the medieval hilltop fortress.  They say that Disney modelled his Sleeping Beauty castle on Carcassonne.

Driving around this region is a pleasure: the roads are excellent, the views out of this world and it seemed to us that practically every village has the most wonderful castle or cathedral – often both, perched high on a hill, backlit.  I found myself saying “wow” every 20 minutes or so as we drove around.

The Canal Du Midi, another UNESCO World Heritage site, is really quite something. The Canal’s 175 miles of navigable waterways begin at the Port de l’Embouchure in Toulouse and end at the Thau lagoon by Sete. This extraordinary feat of civil engineering, built between 1667 and 1694, stretches from the Atlantic to the Med. coast.  

The Canal winds its way through the charming towns of Trebes and Castelnaudary. There are some wonderful villages offering wine tasting at places like Homps.

It then goes through the elegant city of Narbonne and on to the east you can visit the city of Beziers with its famous series of nine locks - les neuf ecluses de Fontserannes,.

The Mediterranean coast is charming and, although naturally more expensive when it comes to property purchase, is well worth a visit. 

As far as the property market goes, the Languedoc-Roussillon area is well worth considering.  Although not the cheapest area of France, it just has so much to offer in terms of good living.  Not only that, it offers a range of airports with links to the UK.  We worked out that it is actually quicker for us to fly there than to go down to, say, Cornwall – and probably often cheaper too, such is the range of budget flights from the UK.

Have I tempted you to come down to this wonderful part of France?  Maybe, having read this far, you have guessed the next part.  Yes, this is where we have found our very own property!  It is in the charming village of Azille, just a few minutes from Carcassonne and thus within an hour of no less than 4 airports servicing the UK.   

If you would like my help with your own property purchase, simply phone 0207 898 0549 and I or our wonderful OGC Resource Team would be delighted to help you.   Give them a ring or fill out the following property form:

http://www.FranceBuyingGuide.com/property.htm

What do pensions, mortgages, property, and boats all have in common?

They could all involve the process of moving money internationally. Many ex-pats living in France have or will have to move money from the UK to France (or vice versa) and when doing so, there’s the matter of changing sterling into euros or another currency (or vice versa). This small matter often has large consequences when people fail to understand the risk of costly loses throughout the international money transfer process. 

When transferring money between countries with two different currencies the losses occur through bank charges, poor exchange rates and bad timing. All three types of losses can be drastically reduced by using a currency exchange and international payment specialist. 

Specialists are able to provide better exchange rates than those offered by a high street bank. Where the bank often sets their exchange rates in the morning, specialists call into the market floor and get the best possible live exchange rate which is often 2 – 4% better than the rates listed at the bank. On £50,000 that’s a 1- 2k savings! Furthermore, specialists concentrate on one thing and one thing only – moving money. By doing this, they understand where fees are charged and how they can be avoided. Aside from good rates and fee reductions, Specialists have a few options that allow clients to create various money-saving strategies. 

This all sounds good theoretically but what does this mean in real life?  Let’s consider a pension, mortgage, property and a boat payment!

Pension
Tony moved to France in 2007 and quite a bit has changed since then – especially the value of his pension. Lucky for him, in August 08 he contacted a specialist and signed up for a Forward contract. This allowed him to fix his monthly pension payments at €1.23/£1 for a value of €2,460. If he simply took the going rate, poor Tony would have received a decreasing pension payout to the tune of 15% by November 09. 

Mortgage
Sadly, unlike Tony, his neighbour Richard failed to talk to a specialist at the same time. His mortgage payment was € 700 per month. Richard paid his mortgage from the UK using sterling month by month through a bank. By November of this year, the cost had risen to £636. If he worked with a specialist, every payment could have been set at £569.

Property
The Streeter’s finally realised their dream of buying a property in France in September 2008. The initial payment on the home was €163,575. The quote that they got from a bank was for a euro exchange of €1.19 to the £1. However the Streeter’s were smart and decided to go to a currency specialist and obtained a quote of €1.223 to the £1. The couple saved €4,414 on their euro exchange by getting better-than-bank-exchange rates.

Boat
Ted often looked out to the Mediterranean and wished that he could buy a yacht. Over the past year, boating in France seems to have become more and more popular and Ted wished to see himself out on the water – not others! In a fortunate turn of events a family member left him a considerable legacy in the UK and Ted knew that his days of being landlocked were over. He found a boat in April and needed to come up with the payment in late June when the boat was being delivered. With this in mind, he contacted a specialist, discussed the cost and rates and decided to set up an ‘Order to Buy’. This means that if the euro exchange rate hit a certain level, the specialists would buy the currency. Thankfully, in late May, the rate hit €1.15/£1 just in time for Ted to make his payment. By setting up the ‘Order to Buy,’ Ted was able to save just over £4,500 .

Each individual and each payment is different – that’s why it makes sense to talk to a specialist about where you are and what you want to achieve. Unfortunately, specialists cannot predict the rates or make them change in your favour, however they can get you better rates than offered by the bank AND allow you to pick from various options that have the further possibility of saving you money. 

Charles Purdy is a Director at Smart Currency Exchange Limited – the only international payment specialists in the UK that works specifically to help people moving money for property purchases or for regular payments such as mortgage or pension payments. To move money abroad or repatriate back to the UK, check out: www.SmartCurrencyExchange.com/quote.aspx

Here is a testimonial received from a happy Smart client: 

Having recently used smart for the first time, I was impressed by the service provided, the level of information and the relative ease of the process.  Your representative was informative and open, even advising me going forward of times when the exchange rate was likely to dip, therefore to avoid if possible.

I transferred a relatively small amount. The costs were incredibly low, a token £5 charge, and the exchange rate excellent.  I will be using Smart going forward; it saves me time, saves money and means the recipient bank account gets more euros for my sterling.

I was also very impressed that from start to finish I dealt with the same representative rather than the ''whoever is on shift in the contact centre when you call''.  It is a personalised touch that the banks would do well to reintroduce. Thank you, Viv Hudson

If you are buying a property abroad today, one of your main concerns is going to be how to get a mortgage – very few of us can slap the full price on the table in cash! You don’t have to be Einstein to know that this has become far more difficult since the onset of the credit crunch…unless of course you don’t watch TV or read the headlines on every billboard or newspaper! It has also become more difficult to raise a mortgage for a home abroad, a fact you need to consider at the outset of your property search.

So…what to do?

For a start, you will need a far larger deposit than before.  Mortgage lenders are insisting on this and are not likely to drop their requirements any time soon.  What does this mean to you?  Well, probably that you will have to find in the region of 25% of the value of your purchase in cash …a frightening prospect for many. HSBC's deal, the cheapest at time of writing, demands a 40% deposit or equity stake - as does the two year fixed mortgage on offer from Cheltenham and Gloucester. Meanwhile, Woolwich's two year fixed rate mortgages require borrowers to put down at least a 30% deposit.

According to recent research by Moneyfacts, borrowers now need to find a deposit three times higher than they would have needed two years ago ( Moneyfacts incidentally is an independent financial information provider in the UK). This means that, on a mortgage of £150,000 you would now need to put down £39,000.  That is £25,500 more than would have been required before the credit crunch – frightening isn’t it?

There are a very small number of lenders who are prepared to provide far higher loan to value (LTV) deals, but these mortgages are liable to be much more expensive.

So – again, what to do? 

Well, I guess there is always the tried and tested way – borrow from willing parents – the Bank of Mum and Dad as it’s now being called!  That’s if they have not been hit by the credit crunch too.  Also, if you are saving towards a deposit, you need to make sure your money is getting the best possible interest.  A warning here however:  make sure it is lodged with a reputable company who will look after it for you.  I was pleased that my pennies were with Lloyds Bank as the crunch hit:  they are simply too important to be allowed to fail…
 
What I would say is that at this point it may be a really good idea to consult an IFA (Independent Financial Advisor).  What do they do?  Well, many things, but what concerns you here is that they would look at your particular financial status and work out what would be the best possible way to fund your property purchase.  They have entrée to many mortgage offerings and will be able to give you an idea as to which would best suit your circumstances.  A quick chat to the OGC Resource Team could help you here – they have a reputable IFA they could recommend. Give them a call on 0207 898 0549 and have a chat about this.

When buying a home abroad a route that many go is to remortgage their UK property and use those funds to buy abroad.  Sadly the credit crunch has affected even this option. The value of your house may well have dropped in the current market, and this in turn means that your equity will have dropped.  Ultimately you may struggle to remortgage at all in the current climate.

A mere three years ago it was possible for first time buyers to borrow mortgages equivalent to five or six times their yearly earnings. 100% and 125% mortgages were also widely available, meaning that home buyers could purchase property which was actually beyond their means.

Fast forward to 2009 and high LTV mortgage lending has all but disappeared. Not unreasonably, lenders today are looking to lend to people who are going to pay them back - they cannot afford for customers to default on their debts. This may look like an obvious requirement but that’s exactly what went wrong worldwide recently: people were loaned money that they couldn’t pay back …and we all are suffering as a result.

In addition, how much money they are prepared to let you borrow is now far less. They will take into account too financial commitments such as school commitments, loans, and credit card debt as well as what you earn when deciding whether to offer you a loan. This means that if you are planning to apply for a mortgage it would be a very good idea to first ‘get your house in order’ and pay off or reduce loans appreciably.

All this means that you need to make sure that you have a good credit rating.  How to do this?  Well, if it's been a while since you looked at your credit record or you think your record may be less than spotless (for instance if you have defaulted on any payments), you should check your Experian credit report and get your credit score. You can do this by clicking on: Free Experian Credit Report

This will allow you to know whether you have a good credit record or not.  The unfairness of this – if I can put it that way – is that the less money you have borrowed or the fewer accounts you have run up, the less information will be available to provide you with a good credit record – a bit of a Catch 22 situation isn’t it?

How to find the Best Mortgages for You

As stated earlier, I really do think that the best route to take is to discuss your particular needs with an IFA.  They will have a number of options available and will take your particular circumstances into account. Give the OGC Resource Team a call on 0207 898 0549 as they have access to IFAs that work specifically with people buying overseas - they will point you in the right direction.

And remember – times have been hard, but better days are ahead and things will get easier.  Never give up on your dream… 

Join us at the France Show - Earl's Court, 10th January 2010

With Christmas coming up fast it can be hard to think of plans for January.   But a little word here about the upcoming France Show at Earl’s Court, London.  It takes place between the 8th and 10th January and yes, we will be there!  Please come and say hello to us on Stand P20. 

I would love to meet you in person and have a chat about your favourite country and mine.  This is one of the best shows on France: it is not just about property, it is about lifestyle and you will find lots of interesting things going on, including French cookery demonstrations, fashion shows, French market produce, a Renault classic car display and even an opportunity to test your Petanque skills!  I really hope to see you there.

Who is Elaine Ferguson and why should you care?

Elaine is the ‘Client Services Manager,’ for The Overseas Guides Company (OGC) and the official company karaoke superstar.  With a degree in Music Technology & Management (Staffordshire University) and a love for singing, mixing and DJ-ing, Elaine loves all things musical.

When asked how she arrived into the interesting world of emigration and buying overseas property, Elaine commented, “When I came out of university, jobs in the music industry were almost impossible to get.  And although I love music, I didn’t want to be a pop star – my actual passion was for the business side of things…”

Elaine started off her working life in the wine industry – she worked for one of the largest wine distributors and learned about customer service, marketing, sales and how business really works.  After an excellent experience, she relocated to London with her boyfriend, and went to a wide range of interviews.

As soon as she met the team at the OGC, Elaine knew that she found her next ‘home.’  The team needed someone that was eager to learn, assist readers and find ways to provide a better service.  Since June 2008, Elaine has really grown into her role and enjoys working with readers and hanging out with the OGC family. 

When asked what Elaine likes best about her position, she explains, “I really enjoy helping people.  I know that might sound cheesy but it’s great to get feedback that I prevented someone from losing their money or helped someone to ensure they’re property purchase was legitimate.   One time a reader called in to tell me that I saved her over £5,000 due to one of my recommendations.  Not everyone gets to help people and I feel fortunate that in some way I might be making things better or easier for our readers.”

This is what an OGC reader had to say about Elaine:

I am so grateful to know there is someone like yourself who can keep people right, and for hard working people not to get ripped off. You’re doing a wonderful job -  I'M VERY GRATEFUL FOR ALL YOU DO!

Pamela McVey

To speak to Elaine or another member of the OGC team, please ring Mon-Fri, 9am to 6pm on 0207 898 0549.  The OGC Resource Centre are available to you – free of charge – to offer recommendations, assistance and at the very least help to point readers in the right direction. And if you ask nicely, you might even get Elaine to sing you a song!

Are you stuck for that ‘perfect’ Christmas present?  Would you like to get something that is different?  Rather than purchase bubble bath, smellies, a scarf or any other impersonal gift, get a Buying Guide!

The guide is perfect for anyone interested in buying and or moving abroad.  Full of fantastic information and in a format that’s easy-to-read and nicely packaged your partner/friend/relative will definitely be pleased to receive this unique gift.

And in the spirit of Christmas, the OGC is offering all Guides at the discounted price of £15.98 (digital – meaning, you’ll need to print it out from your printer) or £22.48 for the professionally printed hard copy.  Guides on offer are for: France, Greece, Italy and Cyprus and each guide comes with 2 bonus booklets including worksheets to fill out during the property buying journey and ‘your questions answered.’ 

This offer is only available until 24th December and you need to enter the code XMAS3485 for the discount to apply.

To get more information on each guide on offer, please select the country link below:

http://www.CyprusBuyingGuide.com/guide.htm
http://www.GreeceBuyingGuide.com/guide.htm
http://www.ItalyBuyingGuide.com/guide.htm
http://www.FranceBuyingGuide.com/guide.htm

Also available to buy soon is the brand new, updated Emigration Guide.  Note however we still so have some of our free, first draft, un-polished guides available, but they are rapidly running out. If you would like one, please go to: http://www.emigrationguide.com/thankyou.htm

If you have any questions, give the OGC Resource Centre a ring on 0207 898 0549 and they’ll be happy to assist you.
Here are some lovely words from a guide reader:

I found your guide to be very insightful. I have learnt so much from it. The list of questions to ask developers is great as you can print out several. The money aspect and losing out on the exchange rate was not something I had even considered. This guide is what everyone should have and read BEFORE buying property abroad. I also find your updates very useful. It’s nice to know there is someone that you will tell you both the good and the bad. Thanks for a great read.
Jasmin Brown
Scotland

We have an excellent Forum to help you with your concerns - and we would really welcome your input. Just click on:
http://www.fbg-forum.com/

There you’ll find stories from buyers that may well interest you. There are also reviews, questions and all sorts of feedback on moving abroad and the whole property buying experience that you may find useful.  Far better to learn from somebody else’s findings than make the mistakes yourself…

It’s a community for you to voice your concerns, offer your ideas and hopefully get information that will make your journey easier! Perhaps you have a few top tips of your own for moving to France? Are there problems you have come across along the way for which you have managed to find easy solutions? Do you perhaps have a story of your own which you would like to share with your fellow readers?

Go to the forum and any questions you may have will be answered by me.  And it could just be that, if I don’t have the answer for you, someone else will! To give you an idea of the kind of questions asked, here is one posted by Lotta:

Has anyone got advice on the best method of using the internet in France (other than the internet cafes which I have found to be great and most helpful to those of us who are less confident about getting on line abroad!) There is so much information out there that is difficult to wade through to find the best route to take. I am particularly interested in rural connection where there are likely to be more limitation in service.

We still talk about our lovely driving honeymoon in the summer.  I find it incredible to think we covered almost 3,000 miles on our 2 week journey across France and some of Italy.  But you know driving in France is a joy: there are far fewer cars on the road, you rarely find road works and the views are to die for.  France is a huge country and in many ways one is spoilt for choice when thinking about where exactly to buy.  Let me know if I can help you decide with this.  Having been through the process once – and about to do it again – I may be able to offer you some valuable tips on what to look for and where.

We are, as I write, in the middle of our 7 day “cooling off period”.   We do not feel ourselves “cooling off” however!  Once this period ends and we have sent our deposit, we know we will be bound to buy the property.  The seller of course, is already bound to sell it to us.  The French system is more secure than ours, something I really love.  My own piece of advice to you would be to get a bilingual solicitor to translate and explain the “Compromis de Vente” (equivalent to our Exchange of Contracts) so that you know you have everything covered to safeguard yourself.  This, in my opinion, is a very small price to pay for complete peace of mind.  Let me know if you would like recommendations for this won’t you?  Just phone 0207 898 0549 and I – or the OGC Resource team - will be more than happy to help with this.

I soon be headng back to the South of France as we are looking to complete on our house purchase in late January.  Can you tell I am excited about this?  It is quite a project for us, the house is large and requires work but it is solid, beautiful and opposite a 14th century church. I will share more of our adventure with you in next month’s newsletter.

I leave you with some lovely words I received from two of my loyal readers, David & Linda:

“Hi Alexis

Just thought we would let you know that we have found our dream house in France. It's in Deux Sevres, a beautiful old farm house about 3 kms from Moncoutant.

We would like to thank you for all your help and to say that we think that you are amazing! What a wonderful service you give to potential house buyers and to think you do all this for free, not like some companies I could mention.

We were actually approached by one company after we visited the show at Olympia who wanted to charge us over 8,000 euros just for arranging visits and a hand holding service like yours.

We will keep in touch and let you know when we are actually moving, which should be around the end of January next year.

Once again may we say a big thank you.

Kind Regards
Dave & Linda Griffiths”

I am always delighted to hear from you whether it is for help and advice on buying in France, a story to tell or a problem.  Please don’t ever hesitate to contact me or one of my colleagues at the Overseas Guides Company Resource team – just phone 0207 898 0549 - you will always receive personal attention

Until next time, take good care!

Kind regards,

Alexis
France@OverseasGuidesCompany.com
France Buying Guide
The Overseas Guides Company Ltd
0207 898 0549 (call me!)

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