Renovation Project - Will the payment for the house go through on time.......

Renovation Project - Will the payment for the house go through on time.......

Picture courtesy of
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.prodigys.willithappen

We arrive in Huelgoat mid afternoon as we did not bother to sight see on the way, we just needed to get to the bank to make sure that the payment had gone through.

First stop was the notaires, where we were given the keys to the property so that we could unload the car.

Next stop was the bank and unfortunately the person we normally deal with was still not available, but I was able to speak to the person on the counter who issued us with a receipt to prove we had made the transfer, we also had to arrange insurance for the property from the day we had the keys (so today!) this was putting my french to the test as the person we were dealing with spoke no English.

This really was a case of being thrown in at the deep end, our plans for a simple step by step move to get accustomed to being in France again are out of the window.

This is where using an estate agent makes life easy, as all of this would have been arranged for us but not to worry, I need to practice my redundant language skills.

We make it through the forms and we only used google twice, once was for the word excess, this was because the bank person did not understand what I was asking

Insurance and receipt in place we head back to the notaire.

Now we realise there is a problem with our pink slip, when the contract was delivered to us in Spain the postman was supposed to ask us to sign the pink slip and return it.

The pink slip is to prove you have had your 10 day cooling off period, so we worked out the date of when we received it in Spain and signed them at the office.

Everything is in place and tomorrow morning we should be able to sign for the property.

Next problem, there is a chance that the transfer may not be in the notaires account in time (we have a morning signing).

But as always the problems are not insurmountable, we can still sign (the seller will not be present and the clerk will sign on his behalf) the notaire explains that if the funds are not in place they can sign on our behalf as well!

We all hear about the masses of red tape in France, but we have found that often things are so much easier as there is always a way around a problem.


We ask for the 'en tontine' to be added to the contract, this is the clause that states if either of us die the property will go to the remaining spouse and not the children. If you are buying property in France look into the inheritance laws, especially if you are buying with children from previous marriages.

There is so much info on this on the internet but it may be worth speaking to a professional to find out what suits you best.