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Post by bjd on Apr 17, 2016 11:24:42 GMT
Glad to hear it's over, Chexbres. When we bought the apartment in Paris in 1998, I bought it from some shady developer who had bought the building, had the dirt painted over and then either threw out any tenants who didn't want (or couldn't buy) and sold most of the rest of the apartments.
I had signed the compromis de vente in his office, paid the deposit (in those days notaries didn't have to deal with all the paperwork) and 3 months later had to go to Paris to the (his!) notary, whose office was in Puteaux (near La Défense) and the apartment in the Faubourg St Antoine. I had planned to stay at my parents-in-law's place even further west.
So we signed the papers, I handed the bank cheque over to the notary and asked for the keys. Ah, he hadn't brought them. He thought I would come to his office to pick them up. I said "no way", it was 6pm on a Friday, I wasn't going to cross Paris back and forth because he hadn't brought them. He told me his saleswoman would be in front of the building at 10 the next morning with the keys. So on Saturday morning I went into Paris, waited until 12, when the concierge turned up from her shopping. She called the agency, where there was no answer, and of course their office was closed in the afternoon.
I had a ticket back to Toulouse on the Sunday morning. Fortunately the concierge was nice, eventually managed to get the keys and sent her husband to take all the measurements for us so we could figure out how we were going to deal with the place.
We drove up a few weeks later and spent 10 days working like mad to renovate the place and furnish it so our daughter could move in. And got a parking ticket for parking outside the building when the battery went flat and we had to go to the BHV by subway to buy a new one.
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Post by chexbres on Apr 17, 2016 12:24:25 GMT
Glad to hear your ordeal is long over with, bjd. I hope you made out like a bandit when you sold the place Meanwhile, my little dog has been having a field day pulling coins out from under the baseboards and I don't know where else. Too bad it's only centimes, so far - but I can dream, can't I?
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Post by htmb on Apr 17, 2016 12:30:06 GMT
Nice all the past entanglements with the old apartment are finally over, Chexbres! You can now relax a bit. It's been quite an ordeal!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 17, 2016 13:40:26 GMT
Contrary to so many stories that I have heard, my own purchase went quite smoothly, and there weren't even any nasty surprises to be discovered. My building had belonged completely to the bank that still occupies the bottom floors and after leaving all of the apartments upstairs empty and in a state of total abandon since probably the 1950's, they sold them off cheaply to people who fixed them up and resold them in turn (not so cheaply at all). The only slight complication that I had was that one of the loans that I needed was only available to people purchasing a new apartment or an old one whose renovation had cost at least 20% of the value. I asked for a document stating this from the previous investor. They gave it to me but I also had to sign a second document saying that I had asked them for a false document for the sole purpose of qualifying for a loan. That pretty much ensured that if I discovered anything terrible with the apartment that I wouldn't try to attack them.
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Post by chexbres on Apr 18, 2016 20:42:07 GMT
One bright spot today - in addition to the glorious sunshine all day long - the agency's "real" plumber finally showed up to have a look at the shower. He agreed that it was probably impossible to repair, especially since he would have to try to locate 35-yr old parts. He thinks it would be best to break open the tiles and just put in a new model. But first, he must convince the agency to convince the property owner that this is truly necessary. This might be difficult to do, since the owner lives in South Africa and the previous tenants left no forwarding address where they could be found in Switzerland, never mentioned anything was broken, and so got away scot-free with their refunded deposit. But at least there's hope - and the real plumber took lots of photos for proof.
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Post by bjd on Apr 19, 2016 5:12:19 GMT
In an ideal world, the agency would tell the plumber to go ahead and fix the shower, then deal with the owner. After all, the owner is paying the agency to take care of the place, not just to rent it out and charge the tennant a fee for doing so.
However, this is probably not going to happen. Good luck, chexbres.
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Post by chexbres on Apr 21, 2016 10:29:41 GMT
bjd - I would amend your statement to read "In a normal world..."
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Post by chexbres on Apr 21, 2016 20:19:16 GMT
Youpi et voilà - my shower was declared officially kaput and was repaired this afternoon. So now the agency knows I was not lying about that - and I am glad to be really clean for the first time since I moved here.
Living in Paris is like being married to a Sicilian - who will scream and raise a fuss hoping that you'll back down, but if you can just hold on a little longer than they do, things will usually turn out all right.
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Post by htmb on Apr 21, 2016 21:20:50 GMT
Great news, Chexbres!
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Post by chexbres on Apr 22, 2016 6:30:07 GMT
...on the other hand, around midnight, I went into the bathroom and stepped in a large quantity of water - which was seeping out from the bottom of the toilette and stunk to high heaven. Turned off the water, drained the toilette, put towels all around, photos and messages duly forwarded to the agency. I do have a guest toilette, so at least will not have to pee in the shower. Then I took a tranquilizer and went to bed.
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Post by lagatta on Apr 22, 2016 9:07:03 GMT
Peeing would be the least of it...
I was going to congratulate you on your shower, but I guess it never stops.
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Post by chexbres on Apr 22, 2016 11:31:49 GMT
Plumber arrived this morning, turned out not to be what I dreaded most - that the silicone (or wax) seal at the bottom of the toilette would have broken - but just involved replacing the turn-off valve and a couple of o-rings. But he also noticed that there is a horizontal crack running down the tank, but it isn't leaking...for the moment.
On the other hand, I got a really good night's sleep and took a nice long shower this morning. So I guess life isn't really all that bad.
I have to admit that it's going to take some time getting used to the fact that I am only a renter, and am not permitted to just haul off and get things fixed by myself, as I did when I owned an apartment. Everything has to be cleared through the agency, for legal reasons.
But, on the other hand, I can break my lease in 6 more weeks, if I can justify that this apartment was misrepresented as being in livable condition (easy enough). But first I would have to find a new place and move, and pay loads of money...
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Post by chexbres on May 3, 2016 20:04:26 GMT
Well, I have been living here for 53 days, now...
The plumbing problems have almost been resolved - the "real" plumber fixed all the leaks and tinkered with the shower handles so they will work until the new parts arrive. Since these parts date to the late 1960's, though, I'm not holding my breath - but at least I am clean for the time being.
The windows are another matter, and each time I open them, a chunk of putty or paint falls away from the glass - and which my dog grabs and eats before I can get to it. I haven't heard any word about repairing or replacing the windows - which date back at least 100 years - but the owner lives in South Africa, so I guess that's as good an excuse as any. I did send some closeup photos, which were supposedly forwarded to the owner. That nasty little voice inside my head is telling me to just yank out the putty and let a pane of glass fall out and break. But I know that the "phony repairman" will just show up and stick it back together with masking tape or something.
My next-door neighbors apparently left their dog in the care of a mother-in-law, who simply came to feed it once a day and left. This was entirely unacceptable, because the poor old thing (12 years old) barked non-stop for 3 days. Naturally, my dog began to bark, too, and this was not acceptable. So I left a polite note on the door, and the mother-in-law took the dog home with her - and I'm sure she didn't tell the kids what she did.
I came down to walk my dog this morning, and my feet and my dog's paws stuck to the concrete tiles in the hallway. I couldn't see anything, but whatever it was, it was everywhere - it even made a sucking sound when I picked up my feet. Of course, my dog - who is very tidy - tried to clean it up by licking her way down the hallway, but I wrenched her from the glue and we escaped into the courtyard. I saw the gardienne, who said she knew all about it. Someone had a grocery delivery late yesterday, and either sirop or honey fell and broke. The delivery guy picked up the glass and left, and anyone who came in later that night didn't mention anything. When the gardienne came to deliver the mail this morning, she hit the ceiling. True to form, she smeared the sticky stuff all over the hallway with a mop, until she could find out who to blame for this - maybe she thought she could catch the culprit like a mouse in a glue trap! Somehow, she found him/her, yelled her head off for about 20 minutes, then cleaned the hallway properly. Sure glad it wasn't me!
I am trying to come to terms with my refrigerator, which also dates to the late 1960's. This is the kind where the cold air is concentrated at the back wall of the fridge (ice sheets form there), and on the last shelf, just above the freezer. I finally figured out that lettuce, etc would freeze unless I put it on the top shelf, and it did last a long time - until the fridge cycled off to defrost itself, then everything went all brown and mushy overnight. On the other hand, there is a terrific cold draft in my kitchen, which comes from the ventilator shafts running between the floors and walls of these old buildings. So maybe I'll just start leaving lettuce out on the counter in the breeze, from now on.
No decision on whether to paint or not. If I last a year, maybe I'll reconsider it. For the time being, I'm just avoiding looking at the walls. You remember "Neopolitain" ice cream - strawberry, vanilla, chocolate? When we were kids, we mixed the flavors all together before eating it - that's the color of my walls, but with mysterious stains added.
I went to my old apartment to check for any mail, and was accosted by the gardienne and a couple of my former neighbors. It seems that last Friday, the grandchild of the person I sold the property to decided to throw a "boum" (huge party). Whether or not the owner knew about it, nobody knows. Anyway, there were between 20 - 30 teenage girls having a good old time, with the music turned all the way up, windows open, stomping on the floor, throwing cigarettes out the windows and throwing up on the stairway. This lasted until 6 AM, and my neighbors all called the police - as did everyone in the neighborhood, including the restaurant downstairs. But since all police cars were busy patrolling the areas around Nation and Republique, nobody came. Of course, I am to blame for having disrupted the peace and quiet of my former neighbors, and everyone was furious at me for having taken revenge on them by selling to a person who was "unsuitable". I did make a point to tape the new owner's name over mine on the interphone, so everyone would know who to yell at, next time. Also, I don't want my name to appear in a police dossier unless I'm guilty of something.
Next issue - trying to do something about the noise coming from the rental apartment upstairs. Why do they insist on rolling their suitcases all over the place - and all the time? It's only a 50 m2 apartment, for crying out loud...
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Post by lagatta on May 3, 2016 21:15:39 GMT
Ha! Wonder what would happen if you sent tod on your landlady's trail?
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Post by Deleted on May 3, 2016 21:30:48 GMT
That apartment -- and the whole building -- sounds more and more like a real challenge.
Meanwhile, I say bravo to the teenage girls. While it would be intolerable if they did this every week, as an exceptional event I think it is a good wake up call to the real world for the rest of the building. Naturally, I disapprove of the cigarettes out the window and the puking in public areas, but it is just a vision of things to come as the old people die off.
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Post by chexbres on May 4, 2016 10:36:10 GMT
I have never been so glad to get out of an apartment in my life.
Most of the residents either inherited their apartments before they were married, or bought them for "une bouchee de pain" before "le loi Malraux" was instituted in the early 1960's and the whole Marais was a slum. Only 3 tenants have bought apartments during the last 10 years, one couple and me are retired, and the last is a young family in their 30's with 2 kids. Only 2 apartments per each of 7 floors, and another 7 tiny studios rented to starving students or left unused. It is a very incestuous community, full of Machiavellian intrigue and power struggles - all centered around long ago personal insults or spending money that didn't need to be spent on anything important, such as painting the doors faux-bois instead of just regular paint. Meanwhile, the interphone or heating system never worked, but that was OK, because nobody opened their door, and would just pile on the sweaters, anyway.
So, these people raised their children then quickly turned this place into a retirement home. Three people died in the last two years, and more will certainly follow, since they are very old and several are ill. It must be difficult for most of them to admit that the place they called home now resembles a mausoleum. The weight of all this sadness really got to me, and I just couldn't stand it anymore after seven years.
The person I sold to was born around the corner, and wanted to finish her life in the same area, saying that she intended to construct a most beautiful tomb. I guess I couldn't have chosen a more perfect buyer.
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Post by chexbres on Nov 29, 2016 19:27:18 GMT
I have never been so glad to get out of an apartment in my life. So the story continues... I will have been living here for 9.5 months, by the time this is over and done with. I will have to stay until 15 December so the new real estate agent can come back from vacation, inspect the new apartment (which has been painted per my request), sign the lease, fork over some money, get moved on the 16th, pray for the internet to work, and finally figure out which 2 of the 4 locks on the apartment door I'm supposed to use. I was paid up here through 31 December, so am entitled to my month's deposit plus a little more, as well as certain charges related to the upkeep of the building and the gardienne. Notice was given today by registered letter, and the agency has 2 months to wire the money to my account. Since I did absolutely nothing to the apartment except clean it, I expect to be fully reimbursed. I had to lie, cheat and re-arrange the truth to make this happen. I'm not particularly proud of myself, but truly desperate times caused me to be extremely creative. Everything just had to make sense to the French, so I had to re-invent myself, at least on paper. All the financial information is correct, which is all that really matters. If any Americans are thinking about renting an unfurnished apartment for a year or more - and cannot work legally in France - I'm here to tell you that it will be practically impossible. Furnished apartments are a little easier, but not by much. Priority is always given to working French people who are required to earn 4 times the monthly rent, and no agency will bother to make a free phone call to the US to check your personal, work or financial situation. When I sold my apartment and had to find an unfurnished rental in a hurry, I tried my best to be optimistic. But each day that passed made it clear that I could not live here for long. I slid down into the many levels of depression, and for a long, long time could not see any way out of the situation. I did not expect that it would take 9.5 months before I got the strength to throw caution to the winds and say "fuck this shit" and just re-invent my life. I'm glad it worked, but would not recommend it to anyone else. My method had all the elements of Dickens, Dostoyevsky and Vonnegut combined, along with a good dose of Sylvia Plath - but I have survived thus far, with my black sense of humor intact. I thank all of you for your support along the way - it has helped a great deal. I'll be Moving On soon...
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Post by Deleted on Nov 29, 2016 21:11:16 GMT
Wow, quite the saga Chexbres.
I'm glad you pulled yourself through it all.
Sometimes "a black sense of humor" can carry one through the most trying of times as you likely already well know based on your posts and knowledge of your sojourn out of the depths here.
Cheers! !Hoping for the best for you.
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Post by Deleted on Nov 30, 2016 6:17:12 GMT
Of course, I will be curious to hear what the first complaint about the new places will be. It's always amazing how a little annoying detail can hide itself until you actually move in.
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Post by chexbres on Nov 30, 2016 7:44:19 GMT
Thanks for the support, casi. Kerouac - I already know. It will be the problem of trying to get the door open.
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Post by bjd on Nov 30, 2016 8:21:02 GMT
I reread the whole thread and it sounds as though you are not lucky with housing, Chexbres. Here's hoping the next place is better. Are you staying in the same neighbourhood?
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Post by chexbres on Nov 30, 2016 18:33:48 GMT
It's really a challenge if you're a retired American, let me tell you. I hope I never have to tackle this again.
Nope - I'm running away from the 3eme and 4eme all the way to the 14eme, near Denfert-Rochereau. Not one of my neighbors can understand why I would want to leave such a great neighborhood - they just can't envision living anywhere else.
This apartment is in much better shape - the owners painted it at their expense, put in brand-new PVC windows and new water heater, so I'll save a lot of money instead of the heat going right out the windows where I am now. The rent is 200 EU cheaper - and water, collective heating charges and the gardienne are included in the rent.
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Post by bjd on Nov 30, 2016 20:04:16 GMT
Oh, that area of the 14th is a great neighbourhood too. Shops on Avenue du Maine or rue d'Alésia, food stores on rue Daguerre and a great brasserie on the corner of rue Boulard and rue Daguerre.
Easy for transportation too.
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Post by chexbres on Dec 2, 2016 21:54:18 GMT
I like this neighborhood - it's much less touristy - apart from the throngs waiting on line at the Catacombs. Most tourists don't seem to bother with rue Daguerre (though they certainly flock to rue Cler), but a few might visit the cemetery. Very low percentage of vacation rentals, too - it's just "too far away from everything".
Tonight, in the school gymnasium which shares a wall with my bedroom wall, someone began putting on a spectacle at 7PM, which is still on-going at 11PM. The wall is vibrating, people are cheering, American Broadway musical numbers at full blast, applause ...
Plus, someone moved in today, right above me...with a baby grand piano. I kid you not.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 2, 2016 22:42:45 GMT
Are the latter two things positives for you? While I find that neighbourhood fine, the Broadway musicals and the baby grand would annoy me to no end. (I'm not terribly musical).
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Post by chexbres on Dec 3, 2016 7:18:27 GMT
la gatta - I have not moved yet. The spectacle went on until 2 AM. I will be overjoyed to leave both the gymnasium and the baby grand behind, when I move to the new neighborhood.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 3, 2016 18:02:13 GMT
I just hope you don't have any new neighbours from hell.
I'm relieved because, as my downstairs neighbour is moving out of our housing coop (he is a fine neighbour; he is moving because his flat was cramped and not very nice - I'm sure you've seen such quirks in old buildings in New Orleans and Paris - it is as if the staircases above (to my place) and below (to the ground floor) have both eaten into his surface area, giving him a very cramped bedroom for one thing - and the mother of another coop member, an old boho type a bit like myself is moving in - one always fears the arrival of NOISY people.
I'm not very familiar with the 14th, more with the 13th as I have friends there. I'm sure i's fine - what parks are nearby, Montsouris? I do remember the Cité universitaire, at the very edge of that arrondissement.
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Post by chexbres on Dec 3, 2016 20:05:48 GMT
I'm actually pretty close to Jardin du Luxembourg, but for the moment, the really important park is the little enclosed dog park at Denfert-Rochereau. I was really spoiled when I bought my apartment, because nothing needed to be fixed, the neighbors went to bed around 9 PM or wore earphones to watch TV. There are a lot of noise problems where I am now, and a company that shares workspace 24/7 is directly downstairs. There is a glass ceiling, and they leave the lights on all night long. Unfortunately, my windows do not have shutters. I put up expensive blackout curtains but the radiators melted them. Last night was awful, and tonight's spectacle is "Cabaret" - started at 7 and will probably go on until 2 AM, like last night. I think I'll take a sleeping pill and have done with it. Of course, you never know what your neighbors will be like, but I hung around at the new address for a few days watching who came and went - mostly retired people, didn't see any infants or young kids, though there are plenty of schools so there might be some around. At least the stairs are carpeted, so it will be reasonably quiet.
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Post by lagatta on Dec 3, 2016 23:16:37 GMT
Oh, a dog park must be a rare amenity in Paris! So happy for both of you.
I wish my next-door neighbour would wear earphones when he watches TV (late at night). I don't say anything because I think it is because of his disability - he has a rare motor disease, a bit like MS, but what is known as an "orphan disease" - very rare and little research on it. I think his hearing has been affected as well, as he has also become very loud when he talks on the phone or Skype.
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Post by chexbres on Dec 6, 2016 8:17:26 GMT
I am getting nervous, now. All the moving companies promise an estimated bill via the internet within 24-48 hours. I have yet to hear from anyone in the past 7 days. 10 days to go...
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