Buying the Cottage
In their second article, Peter and Lesley Wilson take us along the long and winding road that led to buying their cottage in Segur le Chateau.
Back in England, each evening when we returned from work, we discussed what we were going to do. Both of us had a certain amount of ‘aversion au risqué’ and, initially, we were looking for reasons not to buy. Eventually we decided that we would postpone our decision until we were able to visit again which would be at the end of October 2005. With the shower and toilet only being accessible from our bedroom we realised that having visitors might possibly be a problem and so we decided that we would have to be able to utilise the roof space to create at least one more bedroom and another bathroom. We wrote to the vendor asking if we could visit and, in particular, look into the grenier. He agreed and we made our travel arrangements.
The appointed day arrived and we were quite pleased to find that it was raining as a dry roof space was very desirable. The garden was even more overgrown and we were concerned with the insistence of M Allais in climbing the ladder to open the attic door; we had learned that his health problems were to do with his heart.
To our relief there was not a drop of water inside the attic and there were signs that some renovation had been done within the last few years. Although full of rubbish it was obvious that the space could accommodate our requirements. We had now removed the last obstacle to buying and we returned to the UK with high hopes.
Within a few days we had written offering 90% of the purchase price and about a week after that we received an acceptance of our offer (curses, we should have offered less) and the address of the local Notaire. As it was a private transaction we would have to deal with the legal obligations on our own which was very daunting. We had visited a number of property fairs and had noticed a firm of solicitors based in Ipswich which was only an hour’s drive from home. We contacted Pretty’s and they put us in touch with a French speaking member of their French Law department. She took overall control of the transaction. However, through no fault of hers we began to experience problems. We learned that M Allais had been admitted to hospital in Toulouse in December and thus our hopes for completion early in the new year were dashed. The suggestion, from him, was that we completed in April. Reluctantly we agreed. We continued with the purchase at our end and arranged for transfer of funds (through TTT Moneycorp) as and when required. Amanda, at Pretty’s, would arrange for transfer of utilities to our name and also arrange for us to take over the house insurance from M Allais.
It was, therefore, a disappointment to learn in early March that the Notaire had contacted Pretty’s saying that M Allais would like to be able to use the property until the end of August. This confirmed our belief that he did not want to sell the house but that his health was the driving factor. Maybe we were too soft but we agreed to a further delay. The legal part of the purchase continued and towards the end of June the draft completion document (Acte de Vente) was received and scrutinised by Amanda. Near the end of July we received a completion date of 8th August and money was transferred into the Notaire’s account but even now there was to be a further delay. The Notaire notified Pretty’s that M Allais was not returning calls from them but they agreed that we had been very understanding and reasonable and had done everything to fit in with the vendors requirements. They were, therefore, trying their best to resolve the situation.
August 8th dawned. We travelled to Arnac Pompadour (with Pip in tow as interpreter and hand-holder) and M Allais was there. The final delay was to be that he would stay in the property until September 12th when he would deliver the keys to the Notaire (who was to levy a fine, payable to us, of several hundred euros were this date to be missed). As we could not visit again until the end of October these extra few weeks were of no consequence. We signed all the papers (Lesley noticed the that Notaire’s young clerk was in a very smart suit but he was also wearing trainers!) shook hands and left. We owned the house, M Allais was our (non-paying) tenant, and one year after first viewing the property we could look forward to enjoying Our House in Correze.