20th October 2008

We knew it would happen. The economic crisis, which until now seemed only to be affecting those movers and shakers on Wall Street, is now actually affecting the ordinary man in the boulevard. That awful phrase 'negative equity' is affecting everyone and banks have started to repossess. So, the crooks of this world are having to dream up more and more scams to prop up their finances. Even the French President was affected last month when Parisian thieves obtained confidential numbers and passwords to withdraw, undetected, regular small slices of his annual salary of £195,000. I wonder how he noticed. But what can the ordinary man and small businesses do about their own problems? France has never been famous for customer service, but something appears to be happening. Some estate agents feeling the pinch have begun to offer online discounts, insurance and offers to pay hefty notaires' fees as the slump continues. Developers Kaufman & Broad recently put some new houses up for sale with a discount of 5-12%, attracting 500,000 visitors to its internet site. All over France prospective house buyers are being inundated with incentives as estate agents suffer a dramatic slump in business. There's even an insurance policy called securite-revente. In the event of the buyer being forced to sell the house at a loss within 2 years of buying it, the policy will apparently add financial protection. Methinks: there's bound to be small-print which will prevent them from paying out when the time comes, but that's me being cynical again.....or shall we call it realistic from a lifetime's experiences! But, if you're not buying, if at all possible ride out the current economic storm by paring down your outgoings to a minimum. It's bound to all be over within a few years, isn't it? Then, if necessary, downsize and use the capital to cut down the highest of your debts. I know - easier said than done. Been there, done that, bought the T-shirt.....