Loire

Thanks Loisseau. Yes, I've tried everything now incl local agents incl Sq Habitat who weren't interested then said it was out of their area! Regards Loire

Thank you very much Meek Megan. That is very helpful indeed and confirms what I suspected. Hardly ever any contact, that there is I have instigated and just extremely vague replies, recently  blaming Brexit, tho that wouldn't impact on potential French buyers, every time I contact is away on some jaunt or other, will contact when back and has never referred me to anyone else. I hope potential buyers have had more luck contacting them and being offered viewings! Advised to reduce price, which I did ( I had said at the outset the price was too high) and seems to have had no effect whatsever.The fact that the price quoted on their ads includes their commission, which I will pay, might at first glance put off potential buyers who might think they have to pay the charges on top of that price, though looking further into ad say it will be paid by seller. Think that in six mnths there hasn't been one viewing,  and have made clear I want details of all interest/viewings etc  now. Took three mnths from when I asked them to take it on to it going on their website, agent's long holiday took part of that time. Have now lost chance of the best selling period - summer when house and garden can be seen at best advantage.Shall see what reply I get to interest there's been/viewings etc. Kind regards Loire

Good afternoon everyone Can anyone tell me please what sort of arrangements Leggetts have with their agent they allocate to you re selling a house/? Does the allocated agent work from an agency building, take calls etc or do they work at a distance and someone else take the enquiries and pass on to the allocated agent details of anyone who wants a viewing for the allocated agent to do the viewing?Are the allocated agents employed by Leggetts or self employed? Does noone else do anything re selling the house/ taking enquiries etc when the allocated agent is away from work, which could be very frequently? Kind regards Loire

Thanks very much Loiseau. Kind regards Loire

Thanks very much Loiseau. Square Habitat seem to be a good bet from what I've seen on their website. Shall look into it further. Kind regards Loire

Hi Scalehill Congratulations on selling your house. Would you mind telling me with whom you sold it please? Kind regards Loire

Thanks very much idun and everyone else. As you say idun, a lot can be spent on net sites for the adverts. I've spent quite a few hundred, plus an inordinate amount of time and energy. Hope to have time to make a decision on way forward by the end of the week/beg of next. Still no word from A about Sat morn's viewing. Don't feel very inclined to contact him until I've decided my way forward, which hopefully won't include him, and I shouldn't think there's any chance it went well or I would have heard by now! Regards Loire

Thank you very much Judith and Flaneur for your advice. Judith, if only I could find someone like your friend who sold your house! Exactly what I've been seeking for ages. Have even asked my central London estate agent and one here in Wales if they could help in any way - unfortunately not. Regards Loire

Thanks nomoss. Looking increasingly as tho all forms of contact with lbc users is to be avoided! Doesn't seem to be leading to anything positive re house sale. Regards Eleanor

Sterling and very helpful advice thank you Chancer. Am currently considering all options. Very full week ahead with having to get more security installed here asap as well as a number of other urgent  matters to deal with, but shall surge forward  as soon as I can. No more new lbc-ers so far today but probably snoringly siesting at the mo and will leap into action later this eve as usual after a few bevvies, tho I now have the tools and knowledge to deal with it better - mostly ignore! Regards Loire

Thanks very much BritinBretagne. That's very helpful and hopeful. I've seen recently just how much cr@p the agents must head off at the pass. Been like a full-time job for me and would love to pass the honour of doing that on to someone else! I think it's been as difficult dealing with A as the enquirers. Viewing yesterday morning and not a dickie bird from him yet, about par for the course! Regards Eleanor

Just looked at the Facebook page and it looks like just the job. Thank you so much NormanH. Regards Loire

Hi NormanH I hope you are well. Thank you very much for that. Sounds hopeful. I'll look into it this afternoon. Kind regards Loire

Just had a message from the one who proposed 2 rdvs then said on phone couldn't do, asking for a rdv this wk, and  v long one one from the nasty one yest telling me a bit of her life story, the Mistral's getting to her,  and telling me how to live mine, sell my house, for next to nowt, and tell A that he must take the photos she wants and measure the height of the sittingroom ceiling, even tho they are no longer interested oin my house. Funnily enough, shan't be wasting my time answering! Loire

Thanks nomoss. Love it! Used to advertise my mobile home in France for rental on lbc, campsite only allowed a few wks rental in summer. Inundated with people clamouring to rent it, and was soon full and deleted ad. Had calls from very indignant people trying to insist that I let it to them for the wks for which someone else was booked in, incl a lady to whom I had let it for the first wk who wanted to return for another.  Did they expect me to cram them all in or evict someone? Maybe could have fitted a few more on the wooden terrace, sure the ones in the mob home souldn't have minded - missed opportunity! Loire

Hi Thanks very much Thieire and Patf. Have tried the property avenue you suggest Thieire, plus an exhibition, unfortunately only one reply and that was an agent, trying to pretend she wasn't. I'll also try posting ads around here in shops etc as well as orher avenues. Lots of people here have second homes abroad, and hopefully more looking! Kind regards Eleanor

Hi Lehaut Thank you too for that very helpful info. "A" had been implying, tho carefully not saying, that the faults all lay at my door and that I was deluded to expect to sell a house that needed some work (tho mostly done and to a very high standard) for anything over about 20k and that the lack of interest from viewers reinforced that as they were all very gentils!. Had been beginning to wear me down.  As ever with the input from you lovely fellow members I am revived, restored and can shake off the negativity that has been thrust upon me! Sorry Lehaut, am I right in my understanding that it was Leggs that sold your house? Was the local agent any good? Thanks very much to all the people on here who advised me on bringing my beloved cat back to the uk with me. Could never have managed it without you. Horrid time at port when none of the chip readers would read and she looked ready to escape, but eventually worked. The cat, who didn't even like being in carrier for 5 mins vet trips didn't make a peep in 15 hr journey and loves it here!  Kind regards Loire

Hi NickP Thanks very much. Exactly my experience of leboncoin, tho the experiences have been many and varied. An eg, similar to yours, message  simply asking how much my house is when it's clearly stated in the ad, another - does it have outbuildings when the ad states that it has. Don't hear again after my very polite restrained reply. Defo scammers too. Phew, feel better after your post!  Think it's ebay for me now and if that doesn't work, horror of horrors, might have to be a local agent as no alternatives left and would at least remove the very negative "A" from the equation. Any info on best way to go about ebay from anyone on here  v gratefully received, or indeed any other advice on selling. There is however one Brit potential buyer who is talking sense, seems genuine and probably wants to see it in March. Hope that comes to something. Kind regards loire

Hi all I’d like some advice please from you kind, helpful people about selling my house in France.  My apologies for the long essay! I returned to the uk over two yrs ago due to a very close family member here being ill. who died a few weeks after my return. Hence my lack of thank you posts to all you kind people who helped me so much for my return, bringing cat back etc, for which I apologise and owe you a huge debt of gratitude. I’ve been trying to sell by various methods ever since. Some people I know in the village, whom I shall call A,  have the keys and are showing people around as I have long-standing illness and am unable to go there. I’ve been trying to sell on Leboncoin for a few weeks. Near 6,000 have viewed the ad and a number of people have messaged me. Some people have asked numerous questions and eg asked for photos of the basements and attics, and although I have answered (truthfully!) with what they would seem to wish the answer to be, such as are you on mains drainage, answer yes, and also where appropriate sent further fuller info on the house to that in the advert, either I don’t hear for them again or they come up with more increasingly bizarre requests for info or they visit and complain that there is work to be done, which is clearly specified in the ad and fully explained in the info I send them. Few people give their name or any other details, though some have written simply asking me to phone them on a mobile number, no name. One even messaged me saying she wanted to see the house in two days at a certain time, then wrote again almost immediately saying she had meant the day after at a different time and to phone her and when she was phoned denied that she had stated times and said she was too far away to view the house at short notice and terminated the conversation. Some replies seem to me to be from scammers. I have had an ad on pap for around 6 mnths and the only responses on that have been a very few emails to which I have responded but never hear again, tho again seem to have given them the answer they were seeking, or numerous calls from estate agents  who pretend not to be,  but it emerges that they are later in the conversation. The ad tells estate agents not to contact me. I’ve been trying to sell since leaving France. One person after another in the village where the house is has led me to believe they wanted to buy it but after long delays proved to be time wasters with no intention of doing so. A notaire gave me an estimation before I left, at a ridiculously low price, and 40,000 euros less than a much smaller house on his website that needed lots of work, so I didn’t engage his services. I had an estate agent at one time but that went very badly with the sale, for a ridiculously low price, falling through after the compromis was signed. Some months ago I contacted agents in three towns nearest the house and only one replied – by email, just about three words, almost illiterate, ignoring questions I’d asked, just saying he wanted to visit the house to do an estimation. I then decided to take matters into my own hands and went with pap, advised by a very helpful man there, who also set the price, which I have since reduced by 40,000 euros, just to sell, which is way below other houses for sale in the area, even smaller ones. As pap didn’t bear fruit, a few weeks ago I did the ad with Leboncoin, with the results above. For obvious reasons I haven’t put in the ad that I’m no longer living in the house. Due to my experiences with messages on Leboncoin I am naturally wary of people who message me with no name etc given and ask for my phone no. Today I had a message on Leboncoin from someone who gave no name, asking numerous questions incl how high is the livingroom ceiling, could be run a business from there, and asking for my phone no, and when I replied as best I could, apologised that I couldn’t provide all the info he needed and asking for his name, I had a very abusive reply, saying in effect that he thinks I’m a scammer. I shan’t reply. That comes in a week when I had water pouring into the bedroom of the house I’ve not long bought, the next day a burglary and this evening the security light going on again. I have a very debilitating and tiring illness and am spending all my time replying to Leboncoin and pap messages and calls, to no avail. I’m now thinking of  putting an ad on ebay uk, which has a section for French houses, and listing it as a classified ad, cos I can’t find definitive info on listing any other way and don’t want to run the risk if it inadvertently going as a bids ad and selling for £1! I know the French don’t like doing work on a house, but why are they looking at mine which is about 300 yrs old and I have clearly stated the work needed (though much has been done and by French artisans to the norms, new roof, rewiring incl, tho I don’t expect to anything like get my money back) if they don’t want to do work? I can only put it down to curiosity. “A” being involved isn’t ideal, tho I have little alternative, particularly as, eg, he said I should reduce the price to an incredibly low price as another house in the village has sold recently as the vendor reduced the price to next to nothing. I suspect that his attitude might be colouring viewings, tho I have told all potential buyers that all questions must be directed to me. Where do I go from here? Anyone else had similar experiences with pap and Leboncoin? Anyone used ebay uk? I know that houses in France take a long time to sell and that the current circumstances and uncertainty obviously aren’t helping, but I must at least keep trying and do seem to have had an inordinate number of timewasters.   Kindest regards   Loire        

O Suein56 That is just what I need and want to hear! She won't be gobbled up! Makes a huge difference to know, and helpful too about the time involved. Thank you so much. Now if someone could just help me with all the infernal sorting/packing etc... Incidentally, the cat says she is grateful for all the forum help too, well, who knows what she actually said cos it was a series of squeaks, but I'm sure the intention was there! When we are settled in sunny Wales I'll post proof of her verbal communication, if I can work out how to post a video. Just to prove my sanity! No computering for a few days from tomorrow cos having acupuncture, after which certain things I mutsn't do for at least a few days. Works very well though. Kindest regards loire

Thank you very much andyh4. Thank you again all of you. Probably the last you'll hear of me for a while cos have so much to do to leave and so little time. At least the cat's sorted, in great part thanks to you. I wish you all the best and that whichever way the referendum goes, your lives in France will be happy and fulfilling. Kindest regards Loire

Well, your cat stories have really made me chuckle, and I am also greatly reassured. Just what I need! Thank you all you very kind helpful forumees! What a lovely group of people you are. Absolutely up to my eyes with packing, or should I say still sorting before packing can begin, so please excuse me if no more posts for a while. What I am about to say will no doubt convince everyone that I am barking - maybe meouwing??? My cat has never said meouw, but makes all sorts of different noises. When the cat had to stay at the vet's overnight, she said she had never heard a cat "talk" so much. When I say "Dit bonjour" when someone arrives, makes 2 little squeaks. Many didn't believe it when I told them, then when they witnessed it jumped back a mile in amazement. As soon as I can intend putting proof on You Tube. Cats are definitely capable of even more than we suspect. The fast boat booked from Cherbourg to Portsmouth, my collectee's choice, and as you say, I have to bite the bullet and as my late mother would have said, just get on with it! Thank you all very much Kindest regards Loire

Thank you all so much for your very helpful and reassuring replies. It is very kind of you. It's great Suein56 to have the benefit of your experience of the Roscoff /Plymouth as that's the  journey my sister would best like us to do, so I think now my mind is finally made up and we shall go for that.  She will be pleased. Eurotrash, I think it was, you are so accurate in your assessment of cats. She is a roughy toughy biter,  looks like an angel, but has looked after me like a mother as best she can when I have been ill and not taken her eyes off me. Let's hope she's a sailor. I shall keep in touch and so appreciate all the kindness and excellent advice that you forum members have shown and given me over the years, with a special mention for Norman, who was so kind and gave me so much very useful information and support when I had my eye op. A bientot! Loire

Thank you very much Eurotrash and Idun. It helps a lot to know that however she appears to suffer during a journey she will be likely to bound back after. Kind regards Loire

Thank you very much Eurotrash and Kong.  She doesn't travel well, even to the vet about 14 kms away and lies with her mouth open at the grill of her carrier looking very sad and cowed indeed. I look even sadder! I can't drive anymore so a family member will be collecting us in her car, so smells probably won't be of me! Very good point though, if on a ferry, where she would have to stay in the car alone but they say I could visit her, I could take something strongly smelling of me for the whole journey. I think I'd need sedation more than the cat! A uk vet suggested Roscoff to Plymouth, as my family member lives near Plymouth and we could stop off there overnight. Seems for Wales whichever way you go it's an incredible journey. Think I, tho I'm a woman, I need to man up! Loire