elaines

Yes, we do currently use it as a home office, but for me, the name "study" conjures up a rather small, ground floor room and ours really is a 5th bedroom, on the first floor. In that respect, our house is ideal for a holiday gite as it can comfortably sleep 10 people. Along with our own 3 children and numerous visitors, the 5 bedrooms are always in use. I believe that one of the main attractions is the spacious accommodation our house has to offer, after all, we all know how keen friends and family are to holiday with us once we've been brave enough to make the move here ourselves!

I would say that what people think they want is so very often different from what they eventually decide to buy. Thinking "outside the box" can sometimes lead to something really special. Our house has 5 bedrooms and I do wonder whether this puts some foreign buyers off (as the survey says, "3" is the ideal with "2-4" being the range). I, personally, would consider a 5th bedroom a bonus rather than an unwanted extra. What do you think?

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Hi, We have our house for sale also, in the Languedoc. We are advertising privately with various websites - FPN, IFP, Daft.ie (Irish property site), Green-acres as well as French sites namely, Vivastreet, pap.fr. We have also posted messages on various forums, Angloinfo, Thisfrenchforum.com, the-languedoc-page.com. One of the best places to advertise privately to the local market is in the local free paper, in our case ParuVendu. We've placed an ad online which appears in the weekly "annonces" and this does generate enquiries, both from private individuals and estate agents as well who are looking for good property for their books. We've said "yes" to every agent who has called us so far - I truly believe in the logic that the more places it's seen, the more likely you are to find a buyer and it definitely is not a sign that you're desperate - it's an indication that you're pro-active in promoting your property. One word of advice - listen to the agents and take their advice on board but don't let them boss you around. It's true that at the moment the market is flat, but there are buyers out there and the best thing to do is your own bit of market research and come up with a price that YOU feel is appropriate - the agents don't necessarily really know any more than you can find out for yourself, so don't let them try to convince you to drop your price unrealistically just to make a quick sale (unless of course, you're really desperate to sell). The other thing to bear in mind is the agents' fees. They all vary, so you risk having your house up for sale at different prices all over the place and that's just confusing for everyone involved, especially the buyer. Personally speaking, we have managed to reach an agreement with all the agents with whom we have a "mandat" - we have told them what our net vendeur price is and what we want the price to be "in their window". Strangely enough, they have ALL been accommodating in this respect and seem to understand that it's the best solution all round, although the fee is less than they would normally charge. it is important to bear in mind though, that we have done our research in the local market and feel that we were in a position to state our price and fee structure accordingly. One other word of advice, DO put an A.V sign outside the house. We have done so and we have had a few calls in response. We've also received enquiries from the various private ads we've taken out onthe internet, from Canada, ireland, Denmark, Normandy, Paris, USA and UK. The house has been for sale for about 6 weeks in total, but only for 2 weeks with local agents. We started at a price that was too high just to test the market, but have now come down to a far more realistic level, in fact a very "bon prix" according to the agents. Finally, if you can, create your own private website with lots of photos and link to it from wherever you can. We have our own - www.forsale.in-fleury.com if you'd like to take a look to see how we've done it. Hope this is of some use to you and good luck with the sale.