Tag: Housing

Before leaving the US

Lesson learned

100_4128Each morning for part of the time that I’m on the treadmill I listen to a French language instruction course. Lesson after lesson, repeated time and again, it all finally starts to fall into place. At the end of the main course there is a review of the verb tenses that the instructor has taught you so far–all 18 of them. Ironically the verb they use is “to sell” and the object is “a house”. Today not only can I say in the abstract that the house is sold (was sold, would have been sold, etc.) I can also say it and mean it. Continue reading “Lesson learned”

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Before leaving the US

A sign of the times

Sale
House soon to be sold

Yes, it’s a sign that it’s time to move on. I was a bit apprehensive about the visit last Tuesday from real estate agent, Pat. This was the first time for her to see our house so naturally we wanted to make the best first impression we could on the person we will be paying to sell the place. We also had a couple of conditions that we wanted to talk about with her; something not at all unusual in France but definitely out of the ordinary here in the US. Continue reading “A sign of the times”

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Before leaving the US

Under the radar

Dark German Rye
Bill’s rye bread fresh out of the oven

When we first told some of our neighbors that we were moving to France and, therefore, selling our house here, the reaction was very positive. There were lots of congratulations but the real excitement seemed to be centered around the house. Everyone appeared to know someone who would buy it and true to their word, we did have visitors. In fact, one brother and his fiancé returned twice but their bank has not been forthcoming with a mortgage. We certainly aren’t opposed to using a real estate agent, but it would have been convenient to have passed “under the radar” and sold directly to a buyer. Continue reading “Under the radar”

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Life in France

Go towards the light

View at the end of our street
View at the end of our street

The house that we’ve rented for our first year in France was advertised as une petite maison which can translate as a little house or even a cottage. What I have yet to discover is a French word that means “home” in the sense that we normally use it as being a warm and welcoming place. That certainly is not to say that it doesn’t exist considering how welcome we have always felt there and the fact that their culture values friendship to the point that they have divided it into seven levels. We just have to keep looking. Continue reading “Go towards the light”

Unknown's avatarBob2 Comments
Before leaving the US

That sinking feeling

Isn’t it funny how quickly we can adapt to things around the house that might bother us if we were buying it but they don’t seem so important when we’re already living there? There are those scuff marks on the baseboard, the dent in the garage door, the bedroom wall that really needs to be painted. Now that we’re getting the house ready to sell we’ve pretty much finished up on the inside and have turned our attention to the outdoors. Since curb appeal is vital to that first impression when a buyer drives up to the house, we want to make sure the front yard looks its best.

Looking a little depressed
Looking a little depressed

Today we’re achieving two objectives in one: filling in a sinking area of the yard and having less grass to mow. When it’s 90 degrees F here in Atlanta next summer I’m certain that the new owners will appreciate that second part very much. Here in this first photo you can see how much lower the ground is on one side of the tree. Continue reading “That sinking feeling”

Unknown's avatarBob
Life in France

Catch-22

The key to a successful new life in France is a bank account. With it you can go anywhere and do anything. Without it you are stuck, dead in your tracks. Almost all of your bills are paid directly from it and your income is put directly into it. Your debit card is tied to it and you use that “carte bleu” to pay for everything from restaurant meals, to train tickets, to supermarket purchases. Even your monthly rent or mortgage payment comes right out of your account and into the landlord’s, perhaps at the same bank, and there’s the rub. Continue reading “Catch-22”

Unknown's avatarBob