Aujourd'hui c'est la panique totale!

La panique totale - that's what our banker said about today. Today was the day we went to the bank to beg them to give us a bridge loan so we can actually buy the house in Nojals, and it turned out to be a madhouse - quietly mad, but a madhouse. The poor fellow we saw, the only one who does anything as complex as take loan applications, had been out of work for lung cancer surgery for the past 4 months and today was his first day back on the job. (Spooky resonances here, eh?) And today, as luck would have it, was the first day of the bank's new computer system - and we all know what fun thatg is. Aiiieeeee!!!!! Everything this guy tried to look up ended up showing crazy numbers, not letting him enter the information he wanted, generally giving him a hard time, so he ended up calling the main office about every minute or so to get the actual figures he needed.

Interestingly, the first part of a loan application in France - at least from our sample of two - is an application for life insurance. You fill out medical statements, which are sent off to Paris, and then in a day or so the bean counters there send notice to the bank branch divulging what interest rate they are willing to give you. No one seems to worry about such things as your income, your credit rating, outstanding debts - all that boring stuff.

The long story is very long and, as with anything to do with banking, very boring (two hours worth of boring). The short story is that we have to now provide signed statements from two real estate agents indicating the value of the house in Ste. Colombe. The fellow at the bank said he hadn't thought of this sort of loan since it would entail the added difficulty of getting those papers. Huh. The first one took all of about 10 minutes and a trip to our local real estate agent. The second took a phone call to an agent in Mirepoix, with whom the house is also listed, and will be provided tomorrow morning. Yes - "also listed". Here in France, there's no such thing as multiple listings books. Each agent has their own listings, no one shares them, no one shows houses listed by other agents. This means, for one things, that when you're selling a house you have to go to several different agents to have any hope of reaching more than a few potential buyers. And it means that when you are looking to buy a house you have to go to many different agents to have any hope of seeing what's actually available.

So, a trip to Mirepoix tomorrow - hmmm, that's not all bad. Mirepoix is a lovely town with several good restaurants, and we're to see the agent in the morning. We could be there at lunch time.

Time to pack a few more boxes.