Yes - Spain has slipped - due to overdevelopment, and land grab fiascos.Italy - has cheaper areas; but France is competitive with properties from 20K € in, for example, Champagne-Ardennes.

Austin REIA is set up such that the "free" portion is a short teaser at the beginning of the meeting, ( which you will be told you can only attend free once)then, to see the presentation they advertised, you get the slick and smarmy enticement as though you were being invited to the champagne room or buying bottle service in Vegas. 

OK... let's check my messages for examples: Boopidy-Bop, Shampane Boss (did they spell Champagne wrong?)

IKEA epitomizes the term "champagne taste, beer budget."  

I want to get this one here http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Access-Panel/2339574Its not the exact piece for the furnace, but every online store I find it at I get an email from them saying the order is cancelled because they don't have one.This is the actual piece that fits the furnace I have but it doesn't have a picture and I think it would be harder to find.Vest access panel (champagne) S1-07319862031 http://www.repairclinic.com/PartDetail/Vest-Access-Panel-Champagne/2339573

Although the actual closing was very anticlimactic - sign sign sign sign 1st born child (that I don't yet have) and now your done... no champagne, no trumpets, no confetti from the sky.... nothing.

Then by that point if you are say 50 units or so deep...hopefully you are close to being out of the rat race and Robert Kiyosaki drops in via helicopter to congratulate you with fireworks, a bottle of champagne, 3 supermodels, and a goat.  

We’re in that time of year when people have long since made their new year’s resolutions—maybe while having one glass too many of champagne—and by now, most or all of those resolutions are in serious trouble.

Did you get an expensive bottle of champagne to pop yet?

I was actually only about an hour away from Champagne, IL today!