TWELVE weeks may seem a long time to wait when all you want to do is take possession of your little corner of France and stamp your own personality upon it. But between signing the initial Compromis de Vente and the final Acte de Vente, there are one or two little matters to keep you occupied.

Perhaps number one in the order of priorities is sorting out the transfer of funds (assuming you've already sourced those funds!) to complete the transaction. This we did through a specialist currency broker who was able to give a far better sterling-to-euro rate of exchange than offered by my bank, together with a free-of-charge electronic transfer to the notaire's bank account in France.

Secondly, there is property insurance to sign up for. In France property insurance - including third-party liability - is compulsory and a certificate to prove that such insurance exists has to be shown to the notaire before the keys are handed over. The good news, however, is that a French property insurance package - including contents, structure and all necessary third party cover - is, in our experience, less than half the cost of similar UK cover.Water and electricity supplies then have to be transferred into the name of the new owner. The notaire can often assist in such matters and, in my experience, the utility companies are particularly helpful and are quite willing to send their bills to your UK address. Unless your property is in the centre of a reasonably sized town, it is highly unlikely that it will currently have either mains gas or mains sewage disposal, although there are plans afoot to connect up the majority of residential properties... eventually.

Gas cookers and heaters run very efficiently and cost-effectively from bottled gas, refills of which are readily available from most garages, supermarkets and corner shops. Waste water and sewage is more often than not very effectively collected in your own personal fosse septique - a tank and clever filter system which, once installed and buried in your garden, can be ignored for several years before it might need pumping out by a specialist contractor. (It's very easy to spot one of these contractors in a bar - he'll be sitting by himself in the corner...)

A French bank account is essential to open. Several of the major High Street French banks have special divisions exclusively set up to look after the banking requirements of British property owners - accounts are easy to open and most advertise their services in leading French property magazines available from UK newsagents.

Whilst the buyer is doing all this, the notaire - a cross between a solicitor, an estate agent, a tax collector and government-appointed arbitrator in all things concerning property transfer - is busy drawing up the final contract and organising detailed searches on your future property. He checks on such things as rights of way on your land (and even through your house!), and the presence of asbestos, lead and termites. Fortunately for us, termites are very rare in the northern part of France, although at one stage we were told that we had "dormant longhorn" in the rafters. Now, call me naive, but even I would have noticed a herd of slumbering cattle in the attic!

The big day finally came, and with money, insurance, utilities and longhorn all in place, we congregated at the notaire's office for the signing of the final Acte de Vente. With handshakes all round to seal the deal, the notaire theatrically presented us with a huge bunch of rusty keys, and produced from a desk drawer a bottle of calvados - the local eau-de-vie - and the requisite number of glasses to toast the transaction.

The Normandy gem was now finally ours... Tweet