6family

In reply to Keith with regards to his comment that he would never buy through an estate agent, as a couple that run a small local estate agency in Burgundy I would like to put forward some of the advantages of buying through an estate agent. Buying privately is great is you are fluent in the language, know the estate agency law back to front and have researched the local market and amenities thoroughly. Legally a buyer shouldn't sign a contract unless he unstands the compromis and acte de vente word for word. My husband is French and I am English meaning that we are able to offer a full translation service to all of our overseas buyers, we hold the buyers best interests at heart and I would never sell a property to a client that I feel would not suit their needs as the last thing that I would want to do is bump into them on a Saturday morning at the local market to be told how unhappy they are. Having lived in the area for several years we are able to give advise on where to buy, local amenities, doctors, builders etc and keep in touch with many of our buyers well past the purchase of their property. Estate agency is well regulated over here in France to protect the buyers unlike in the UK where an 18 year old can come out of college and open an office. Buying through an esate agent you are protected by their insurance, should you decide to buy privately you have no come back should there be a problem in the future. Often we are able to negotiate a better purchase price for buyers and can advise buyers on a realistic price for a property. Private sales are often overpriced or being advertsied by a vendor at the same price as with several agents, a private seller is unlikely to be honest with a buyer and tell them that he has been trying to sell his property for 2 years. The agency fees may appear to be high but when taxes and charges are taken into account we are left just earning a living and certainly do not live the high life. On average an agent sell one in ten of properties on his books due to multiple agency contracts and private sales. All viewings are accompanied by the agent, in a rural area this often means travelling upto 200kms a day with just one client. Please do not tar us all with the same brush as we are not all bad and are only trying to make a living to feed our family, as a couple we both work 10 hours a day 6 days a week with no paid holidays, we certainly don't do this for the money but because we enjoy the work, meeting new people every day and seeing some wonderful properties in a beautiful part of France. Thank you for your understanding. 6family