Immobiliers knocking at my door!

[Beryl]

I have put my house up for sale with two immos. Since then we have had three other immos turning up on our doorstep unexpectedly asking us if we want to sell it through them! (we have declined , we know where they are and if we wanted to use them....)

Do Immo's normally tout for business in such a direct manner?

 

[Nick Trollope]

Yep.

Plus cold calls, cards through the door etc etc...

[Quillan]

Especially if you have a really nice place to sell that will go quickly. Round here things are tough in Immoland with little moving and some Immo's laying off staff and even down sizing.

[Val_2]

We have had them round too, can't think why when you see our place with work ongoing and piles of materials in readiness,a million miles from a perfect property. One we had was from a local branch of a nationwide group with a lousy reputation round here and I more or less told him to bu**er off especially when he asked who owned the closed up cottage next door and were there any other english round the area wanting to sell. My friend tried to sell through this lot and they were really really greedy in their pricing and did absolutely nothing to push the house,not even in their glossy brochure which came with the post.

[P]

Quillans remarks are interesting.

Sitting on the other side of the fence - i.e. trying to buy - we have found that some immobiliers lack any form of motivation.

Emailed one as we were planning a visit and wanted to arrange a meeting - no reply. A few months later saw a property that looked interesting. To make it easier asked a French colleague to phone and make enquiries. Got some answers but, in reply to 'have they any more photos I was requested to send an email and they did have an English person working for them (when it coms to properties my French has greatly improved but sometimes easier in English). Sent an email - no reply.

Another agent had visited a couple of properties with their English rep - who requested I use his home email address as it saves time in them not having to be passed on. Was visiting a fw weeks ago and emailed him about a couple of properties - no reply. Not even when we visited the agency, spent 45 minutes there with a non-English speaking agent. We said that we would be returning soon. He took our email address but nothing from the English agent.

On the other hand, other agents have kept in touch - normally in a non-pushy way and, indeed, we are flying over next week to view some properties with one of these.

If immobiliers are having a bad time of things then, fo some, they are bringing it on themselves. We have the money available and all ready to buy the right house (in fact we had signed the Compris on a house whilt the vendor failed to sign, will write on this soon).

Paul 

[Quillan]

Where are you looking P?

As I sad it's whats happening in our neck of the woods, I can't speak for other areas as I don't know. The agency we bought from has laid staff off (as have a few others) and they are very good with excellent follow up and communications. When we looked four years back we had simular things happen to us as has happened to P, one of the reasons why we changed our approach and only dealt with non English agencies.

[P]

Quillan

Mainly happening in the 65 area but some occurences in 09.

However, the house that I referred to having signed the Compris was in 11 and the agents in 09 near to 11 - and they were abysmal with communications as to be non-existant.

We have been mainly going through French agencies that seem to emply an English person on a part-time basis.

Have found at times that trying to see the properties that seem of interest can be difficult at times - agents want to show you what they want to show you and often it nothing like what you have said you are looking for.

Paul

[Mark]

Oh dear Paul, I'm going down to 65 and 09 in October to search for a house.  I was going to start contacting immobiliers next month from a list I've compiled, setting up appointments etc, but perhaps I should start now, in anticipation of delays and non-replies.  This sounds a little worrying, although forewarned is forearmed, I suppose.  Good luck with your ongoing search - hope you don't pinch my dream home before I get there though! [;-)]

[kitty]

We are in the same situation except we decided to market our house by ourselves doing our own website. We also put a sign on the gate - this has led to calls from at least 6 immobiliers so far - they all get the same response - we want to do this ourselves - no way would we allow our purchasers to be 'stung' for 8% or so of the purchase price.

We have bought another house in the same village which we found out about from friends - but as the current owner had signed an 'exclusivity' agreement with their agent we still have to pay a fortune in fees. I don't mind an honest day's money for an honest day's work but, in general, that phrase does not apply to the immobilier industry - not in France or in the UK

[Quillan]

09 is always cheaper than 11 because it is up higher and not so warm. Great in the summer when it's 38/42 down here but not so good in the winter when it's -12/-17 down here. The year before last I had to go and try and rescue an ex client who bought up there when his Freelander got stuck. I couldn't get to him in my Disco with chains on all four wheels, there must of been 1.5 to 2M of snow. In fact that year there was so much snow people couldn't get to the ski resorts and many lifts were closed. This is probably why it's cheaper.

A friend who has just returned to the UK has his house with three agents and not one of them is charging more than 5%.

[Fionah]

Hello one and all

Found all of this very interesting.

As a rushed off her feet immobilier covering both Quillan and Mirepoix we are taking on staff - not laying them off.  After a very quiet winter and spring things have really taken off again.  This week alone we have sold 3 properties - some of which have only just come onto our books.  I do hear that some other agencies are suffering but with 3 english/french speaking ladies in our office we're doing ok. 

So far as touting goes then yes we will get in touch with owners of properties we recognise as we have a list of clients waiting to buy and sometimes not enough of the right kind of property.  Needs must and all that. 

The agency I work with in the Ariege charges a similar commission rate as we charge here in Quillan and speaking as someone who lives both in Quillan and on the Ariege border the temperature never varies by more than a couple of degrees - most places seemingly having their own micro-climate. I'm sure though the higher you go the more snow you can find !

More than happy to help anyone out with information etc just pm me.

Fiona

[WJT]

Now if there were only more like Fiona.[:)]  I had the same problem when we bought two years ago, many of the agents were incredibly unprofessional.  I had to do all of the chasing, very few would follow up or let us know if a property that could be of interest came on the books. There were two that stood head and shoulders above the rest and I would highly recommend them to anyone and if we ever did decide to sell (probably never [:)]) in the future we would definitely use them. I say well done for those knocking on doors and touting for business, good luck to you. In the Dordogne we were lucky if some answered the door when we knocked [:D].

[Gastines]

To anyone looking to buy, may I suggest that they also try the Notaires in the area they are interested in. I have found that SOME of the local families still go straight to the Notaire to sell, I believe that the fees of a Notaire selling directly can be cheaper.

Regards.

[Quillan]

[quote user="Fionah"]

speaking as someone who lives both in Quillan and on the Ariege border the temperature never varies by more than a couple of degrees - most places seemingly having their own micro-climate. I'm sure though the higher you go the more snow you can find !

Fiona

[/quote]

With Quillan at around 360M (1,120ft) and the Plateau de Sault (which is the piece of Ariege nearest to Quillan) at 671M (2,080ft) and the snowline around 400M (1,240ft) there will be quite a difference. It is quite normal to see people up there in winter using cross country skis to get around and most of the main roads are marked with snow poles. There is a legal requirement to carry tyre chains between November and April and in many cases you can’t pass the DDE office in Quillan (on the way up to Ariege) without fitting them in (there is normally a big sign that comes out and is placed by the side of the road) and sometimes the road is completely closed. The latter has happened twice in four years.

It is true that Quillan does have a genuine micro climate because of the close proximity to the gorge (it makes a funnel that traps the weather) as does some of the areas around it due to the mountains. Having said that when we were looking at France in general for a home if I had a Euro for every time an agent said their area had a micro climate I would now be very rich.

 

[Beryl]

Well I am pleased that its normal practise, although I don't hold with this type of interruption. Perhaps I should get a sign 'my dog eats Jehovah's Witnesses and immobiliers'[:)]

No offence meant!