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Romance is the spice of life. It’s not difficult to visualize
how dull and boring life would be without romance. Have you ever
paused to wonder what it is that brings enthusiasm in life?
Romance is that elixir that makes you vibrant, vivacious and
full of vitality. Everyone has their own idea of romance and
romantic ideas, what are your ideas of romance?

In the lines, by Shirley Bassey “I’d like to run away from you,
but if you didn’t come, and find me … I would die.” the
essence of love and romance has been beautifully depicted.
Romance is something that gives comforting touch to one’s heart.
Someone who’s sensitive about his or her beloved’s need, is
romantic. Just being a hard-core romantic and not demonstrating
your love openly is so unromantic. You need to put other work
aside and show to your sweet heart that you care for him or her.
The idea of romance can be as simple as a peck on a cheek, a
warm hug or just uttering those three miraculous words “I love
you.” These gestures appear romantic when your beloved is least
expecting them, otherwise they are the boring hackneyed way of
saying that you care. Novel romantic ideas are like, “life and
blood” of any romantic relationship.

For some people romance means the spirit of adventure, a sense
of anticipation of the unexpected, a view of exciting spectacles
at every bend of the road. For many others romance involves the
mysterious and the unknown. Like ‘magic casements opening on the
foam of perilous seas,’ as Keats would put it. Romance sweeps in
all the treasured experiences from the mysterious to the magical
and the miraculous. Yet for most of us romance is an expression
of love. When we talk of romantic ideas we refer to all the
little things that can keep the flame of love burning bright in
our hearts.

We all know that it isn’t enough to love a person; it is equally
important to express our love in a relationship. Love without
expression is as good as not there. You need to show your love,
not only in words but also in gestures that speak louder than
words. You have to devise novel ways of letting your love know
how much you care. You have to find new ideas to express your
love every day, if not every moment. Thinking of novel ways of
saying ‘I love you’ is what romantic ideas are all about.

Everyone is not a poet, yet everyone needs to kindle the flame
of love lest it fades away. This site on romantic ideas is a
treasure house of fresh romantic ideas. The charm of an idea
lies in its freshness, and nothing goes stale faster than ideas.
So, look for absolutely novel romantic ideas to let the warm
Love in!

Do you wonder how you can reconnect, and bring back those loving
feelings? Do you think about seeking outside help to guide you
through the process?

BE CAREFUL!

Many couples first consider calling their pastor. The person you
call at this critical time could determine the success or
failure of your relationship. If you choose an untrained person,
you may be headed for divorce.

WHY?

Early, effective and knowledgeable intervention saves marriages.
Most pastors receive no marriage and family training.

Many struggling couples considering divorce say they sought help
from their pastor at least once, often several times. Most admit
they received no helpful information, learned no new skills, got
spiritual “shoulds” rather than practical “how to” skills.

If nothing changes, the relationship deteriorates further.

I see the above scenario so often I am fed up! Just last week a
husband and father who filed for divorce told me that the third
time he sought help from his pastor he was told, “There is
nothing you can do. If it doesn’t change you should be happy
knowing you are suffering for Christ.”

That was three years ago. At that point the marriage could have
been saved. Now it’s too late.

How do you know whether to seek help from your pastor? Consider
the following questions. If you don’t know the answer, ask the
pastor.

CHECKLIST FOR PASTOR QUALIFIED TO COUNSEL RELATIONSHIPS:

1. Is your pastor certified in Marriage and Family Therapy or is
s/he professionally trained in marriage enrichment strategies
and skills?

If not, does s/he willingly refer to professionals or recommend
skills training classes? We know that most marital problems
result from lack of interpersonal skills, not from spiritual
problems, nor from abuse, addictions or other severe situations.

2. Does your pastor strongly encourage all couples to
participate in relationship skills training opportunities on an
ongoing basis? Does s/he make available in your church,
relationship skills classes such as PREP (Prevention and
Relationship Enhancement Program) which teach communication and
conflict resolution?

3. Does your pastor require a pre-marital inventory for every
marriage performed in your church?

If not, why not? Only a valid inventory such as Prepare-Enrich
or Focus-Refocus is effective. These have high validity and
educate couples on areas of strength and weakness.

4. Do you have a Marriage Savers program in your church?

If not, why not? Marriage Savers www.marriagesavers.org is a
church based program which utilizes trained mentor couples and
includes programs for couples in every phase of marriage. These
programs cut divorce rates and strengthen relationships.

5. Does your pastor refer couples considering divorce to
Retrouvaille?

If not, why not? Retrouvaille www.retrouvaille.org has an 80%
success rate in bringing couples back from the brink.

If most of the above are not present in your church, don’t waste
precious time. Find a relationship skills building class (check
www.smartmarriages.com), or find a marriage and family
counselor, (preferably a member of the American Association for
Marriage and Family Therapy) or find a relationship coach, (with
MFT training).

What are you waiting for? Strengthen your foundation and start
building the relationship you desire, today.

1. Determine what you are trying to accomplish.

Make sure you have a clear goal in mind. Hiring managers are too busy to try to figure out what you want to accomplish.

Writing a general, one-size fits all résumé won’t cut it in today’s competitive job market. You have to make an effort to stand apart from everyone else.

If you don’t know what you want to do, STOP and figure it out. You cannot create an awesome, knock-your-socks-off résumé without a goal. If you are struggling with this, enlist the help of someone to brainstorm with you.

2. Find out the industry keywords that are “hot” in your career field and put them into your résumé.

Why do this? Because more and more companies are using automated databases to store résumés. When they need to hire someone, they find potential candidates by utilizing key word phrases (sort of how you search on google using a keyword). If you are using the right keywords, your résumé will be included in the top contenders.

You can find the keyword phrases by searching monster.com or hotjobs.com for the job you want to apply to. Read several postings from all regions of the county and look for the qualifications and duties.

For instance, I looked up “executive assistant” and found the following phrases that seemed to be repeating:

“Microsoft office proficient”
“Setting up appointments”
“travel arrangements”
“correspondence, presentations, and reports”
“Prepare/edit executive PowerPoint presentations”
“arranging travel, scheduling meetings”
“prepare high quality presentations and reports”
“proficient to expert level of ability in the MS Office suite”

As you can see, there is emphasis on the MS Office programs, scheduling, and presentations. So you MUST include those words in your résumé.

3. Always include a cover letter detailing the exact position you are interested in, where you saw the job listing, and why you are interested, not just that you are interested.

Doing this will automatically make you stand apart from everyone else and will make it clear to the hiring manager what you have to offer and what you are seeking.

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DO NOT modify this resource box!

Jennifer Anthony is the owner of Telecommute Resumes, a website dedicated to providing information about telecommute resume and cover letter writing techniques. You can also learn how to find legitimate, work from home jobs and you will find links to related networking forums. She also owns ResumeASAP, offering professional and affordable resume writing services.

If you have comments about this article, or if you are
interested in learning more about professional resume writing, please contact Jennifer Anthony by e-mail.

The information is based on our understanding of French property
law and practice at the date of publication. We cannot guarantee
its accuracy. Specific advice applicable to your own
circumstances should be obtained from a French Notary and/or
relevant professional bodies.

Finding the right property

You may have already decided on a specific area or you may have
a French region in mind, having been there on holiday for
example. Finding a property in France is a similar process to
that in other countries. There are many estate agents in France
(agents immobiliers) who will put you in touch with people
selling property. Alternatively, there are estate agents in the
UK, for example, who have details on French properties. There
are also many specialist magazines available for people
interested in the French way of life. These publications offer
useful contacts and property advertisements.

Many home buyers are attracted by the fact that property prices
in France appear to be lower than abroad. There are reasons for
this and before you start you should be aware of the following
points:

• French domestic property is not usually bought as an
investment. Apart from some very fashionable or highly sought
after areas, prices usually rise in line with inflation.
Therefore, you would need to own a home for at least three years
to recover the high fees associated with buying, even before
considering maintenance or improvement costs. • France has a
similar population to the UK but is three times the size. There
is therefore less pressure on land and hence lower prices. •
That isolated farm cottage set between vineyards and a stream
may require major renovation. It might not have the same appeal
to a French family, hence the lower price and you should
consider possible difficulties of resale in the years to come.

Initial agreement to purchase a property

Having found a suitable property, you will negotiate and enter
into an initial agreement with the vendor. This agreement is
called a ‘Compromis de Vente’ or ‘Contrat de réservation’ and is
a binding contract between the buyer and seller which sets out
the terms and price of the sale.

For new properties being built the most common contract is a
‘contract de reservation’ (a reservation contract). There are
various other contracts such as a promise to purchase (promesse
d’achat), an exchange of letters (l’échange de lettres) and an
offer of sale (l’offre de vente), all of which offer little
protection to the buyer, and generally should be avoided. The
preliminary contract will include a full description of the
property, the latest date by which completion must take place,
the price, any escape clauses and the identity of both the
vendor and purchaser. The preliminary contract can be signed
either at the notaire’s office or at the estate agency.

If you are making a purchase with a mortgage, you should at
least instruct the notaire/estate agent to make your purchase
conditional upon obtaining a mortgage: ‘conditions suspensives’.
This will offer you further protection under French Consumer
Law. Upon signing this preliminary agreement the purchaser has
to place a deposit with the notaire, which is normally 10% of
the purchase price and will be deducted from the sale price. The
property is then taken off the market. It is better to think of
this deposit as a payment on account or a penalty for breaking
the contract. Having said this, a law passed on 1 June 2000 does
grant you a seven-day cooling off period during which time you
can withdraw from the agreement. * Stamp Duty and registration
fees will need to be paid at completion when the agreement will
be filed at the notaire’s office. As a guideline, the notaire’s
fees, Stamp Duty and Registration fees will add up to around 6%
to 8% of the purchase price for existing properties. For new
properties they will amount to around 2% to 4% of the purchase
price. As the French tax and succession regimes are different
from many other countries, to ensure tax efficiency and problem
free transfers on death you may wish to consider instructing a
solicitor based in your home country to advise you.

By law, the purchaser can insert clauses into the agreement. The
seller, of course, has to agree to these.

* Although the preliminary contract is binding on both the
seller and the purchaser after this cooling off period, you
should note that the sale will still be subject to the notaire
formally checking the title to the property.

The Notaire A French notaire is a publicly appointed official
who is responsible for ensuring the property has good title (ie,
no irregularities in the ownership) and that the purchase or
sale is correctly transacted. Because notaries are personally
responsible for the contracts drawn up they must be objective in
the advice they give and be impartial in their dealings with the
parties concerned. A notaire represents neither the seller nor
the buyer but the French Government. They can also act for a
client anywhere in France. The same notaire therefore usually
acts for both the vendor and the purchaser. This is not
obligatory and you can appoint your own notaire if you wish. The
fees (paid by the purchaser) are fixed by law and will be split
between both notaires if two are appointed. You should be aware
that the notaire’s job is to finalise the agreement he has been
told has been recorded. He is not there to advise or warn the
purchaser of any inadequacies in it. His role is therefore very
different from that of a solicitor. If you are making a purchase
with a mortgage, you should at least instruct the notaire/estate
agent to make your purchase conditional upon obtaining a
mortgage: ‘conditions suspensives’. This will offer you further
protection under French Consumer Law. Upon signing this
preliminary agreement the purchaser has to place a deposit with
the notaire, which is normally 10% of the purchase price and
will be deducted from the sale price. Completion Completion is
when the final deed of sale is signed and legal ownership is
transferred to the buyer. It is at this point that the balance
of the purchase price plus any extras such as the notaire’s
fees, taxes and duties are due. The monies will be paid directly
by the bank to the notaire. The final act is the signing of the
deed of sale (acte de vente) which will take place in the
notaire’s office. It is normal for both parties to be present
when the deed of sale is read, signed and witnessed by the
notaire. It is good advice to attend in person at the notaire’s
office for the signing and witnessing of the deed of sale.
However, if this is not possible you may invoke a power of
attorney. Each page has to be initialled by both the seller and
buyer and both must sign the last page after writing in French
‘bon pour accord’ which means they have understood and accept
the terms. There are no title deeds as such in France and proof
of ownership is provided and guaranteed by registration of the
property at the Land Registry. The Land Registry’s stamp is put
on the deed of sale and the notaire gives a certified copy to
the buyer around two months after completion of the sale. Rates
and Taxation Taxe Fonciere This is a land tax. The size of the
property determines how much is paid and owners of new
properties are exempt for the first two years. The tax is paid
by the person owning the property on 1 January of each year with
payment due in the final quarter of the year. However, if the
property ownership changes then the purchasers must usually
reimburse the sellers for their share. Taxe d’habitation This is
a local services tax. It covers the services and maintenance
provided by the local council and again is payable annually in
the last quarter of the year. The estate agent will advise you
of the taxes in relation to your own property and tell you how
much you will need to pay. The tax demands will be sent to the
address of the French property. French Inheritance laws and
Taxation These are specialist areas and we strongly recommend
that you seek professional advice. French inheritance laws are
particularly different to those abroad. You are well advised to
take legal advice on these matters before completing the
purchase. You may also be liable to French tax if you derive any
income from the property, ie, letting fees. You must register
with the French Taxation Centre for Non-Residents when you buy
the property. France has signed taxation treaties with most
countries which means that you avoid double taxation.

Most common sample questions: