English speaking estate agents in Drome Provencal

[Anil Sinha]

Hi! Just wondered if anyone has any recommendation on good estate agents in Drome Provencal. English speaking ones will be preferred!! Thanks.

[Causette]

Elayne, the Provence Granny (www.grannynetwork.info), will certainly know who the good ones are!

[letrangere]

I'm not sure that Elaine even covers the Vaucluse, let alone Drome, I believe she concentrates more on the Var further SE.  Whereabouts are you interested in?  If it's the southern Drome, ie around Nyons and on the Vaucluse borders I certainly have some addresses.  M

[Causette]

I'm sorry to differ...  I've just checked out Elayne's website again, and among other areas, she covers the whole of Vaucluse.

 

 

[letrangere]

Thanks for confirming that.  When I posted a message looking for her last year, her to reply to me indicated she didn't, which surprised me a bit at the time.  M

[elaynem]

I cover the whole of the Vaucluse, Var, Alpes Maritime, small part of the Gard, most of the Bouches du Rhone and small part (as far up as Nyons only) of the Drome Provencale.

However I have a long list of english speaking agents in the DP but I would be very reluctant to give them to Mr Sinha - he will know why.

 

 

[Bobc]

"I cover the whole of the Vaucluse, Var, Alpes Maritime, small part of the Gard, most of the Bouches du Rhone and small part (as far up as Nyons only) of the Drome Provencale."

How on earth can you cover such a huge area of France?

You cannot possibly have visited all the properties personally that you are marketing and be able to answer prospective purchasers questions.

Assuming that you sell properties to clients over this vast area, then travelling to signings must present problems.

In our area of France, good immobiliers and agents commerciale are content to work within a small radius of the town in which they are based. Perhaps they are doing something wrong.

Your system sounds similar to the UK based 'French Property Agents' that advertise in Living France, etc. Cover the whole of France with no real knowledge of the properties that they are advertising.

Regards,

Bob Clarke
http://perso.wanadoo.fr/grindoux

 

[Causette]

  Mr Clarke - I have placed a message in your PM box.

[letrangere]

But with all due respect, Bob does have a point.  I know Elayne has an excellent reputation but how she manages to cover such a huge territory interests me too.  And especially with the traffic congestion in this part of the country.  The Italian border to Nyons must be at least a 4 hour drive in August.  M

[Causette]

[quote]"I cover the whole of the Vaucluse, Var, Alpes Maritime, small part of the Gard, most of the Bouches du Rhone and small part (as far up as Nyons only) of the Drome Provencale." How on earth can you c...[/quote]

Mr Clark may indeed have a point to make, but I suspect it is more to do with his own property search business than Elayne's area of coverage.  This is what I personally objected to in his reply:

Look at the unnecessary statements in each paragraph:  'How on earth' (ie I don't believe you); 'You cannot possibly' (ie I don't believe you); 'Assuming that you sell... ' (ie I don't believe you); ...'must present problems'  (why 'must'?); In our area...  good agents.... are content to ...'  (implying anyone who isn't is not a good agent); 'Perhaps they are doing somethng wrong' (ie perhaps they are not).  The final paragraph manages to cast aspersions on all the UK based advertisers in Living France (many of whom are actually very good, and don't profess to know the products, which is why they often work together with French agencies) and suggests Elayne has no real knowledge of the area she covers.  Good one!

I'll probably regret pressing the 'Post Reply' button, as I'd replied privately to Mr Clarke, trying to avoid contributing to the sort of exchanges for which Living France is infamous!  And why I don't visit or post on here much these days!   I'll duck my head back down below the parapet now.....

 

[elaynem]

I always say i am not going to get drawn in to these petty arguments and i always lose out because it annoys me so much that people make assumptions. Yes I live in France - yes i have been here for 34 years nearly - yes i cover the areas i stated. I am an agent commerciale for an agency in the Luberon - I have not personally visited all the agencies properties because i also work as a property search agent. i.e. someone tells me their brief , the area and budget required and i go out and search. I only take on so many searches at a time because of the time involved. I DO personally visit the houses that i have on my site for sale. When a person wants something in the Alpes Maritimes i first contact alll my known agents - that i have worked with for the past few years and trust implicitly - and if none of them have the required property, which is rare, then i go off and spend some time in the area required and seek out private sales and go and see the notaires i know in those areas and do everything i can to help the client. Even Mr Sinha knows this.

I lived for 15 years between Monaco and Menton (where my son still lives) and therefore know the alpes maritimes like the back of my hand as we used to go out and abuot every weekend exploring the various villages because at that time i wanted to write travel guides. We alternated between weekends in the var and weekends in the alpes maritimes. Then i moved to the vaucluse about 15 years ago. I have explored the whole of my area, my daughter lives near nyons so i have explored part of the Drome Prov too and have built up a very good and trusting relationship with other agents in those areas.

I apologise for this long diatribe but i am proud of what i do - and yes of course i have some clients who may not have been happy - like in every business no matter how much you give - and I don't think Mr Sinha could say i gave anything more than 200% - you cannot please all the people all the time. I have many many many (thank god) clients who are happy with my service and with whom i have now become very good friends. I am in the very lucky position that i don't need to cross the street if i see an ex client. I pay my taxes in france, am registered, pay all my urssaff (usually late admittedly !!!) so I don't really know why i am defending myself. But one other point yes it takes 4 hours sometimes to get from my home to say Cannes in the height of the summer - which is why i used to work sometimes at 4a.m. to be at a rdv for 8 when it was too hot for the clients to visit later in the day. I then used to spend the day with the clients and drive home - sometimes arriving at 11pm and then have to do paperwork. So yes i did do all that - but having had a mega mega serious car accident in january i now take life a bit slower .

and now i realise i should not have been drawn in to this argument because life is too short. I was not put on this earth to satisfy my disbelievers - life is too short for that - i am now content to just satisfy my clients in the best way that i can by finding them their houses. Sometimes I guess I will fail - but better to have tried and lost than never to have tried at all.

 

[Tresco]

Sorry this is a bit off the original topic;

Causette. I agree with you there is a place for pms, but your later post and the points you made about how we use language here (in cyberspace) was very valid, I think, for all of us, .

[Anil Sinha]

To Causette -- well said, how very well put!! My PM to you was too complimentary -- so I won't repeat those sentiments here!! Thanks.

To Tresco -- How right you are!! How very right!! Thank you. And -- what is "off topic" amomgst friends?

To Elayne -- Please, please, keep Mr Sinha out of all this high-powered debate!! I only asked an innocent question -- as we are visiting some friends in the region. I have never denied or deny your good credentials!! And I write on this occasion, most sincerely, to say (merely) how pained, how very pained I am to hear of your "mega mega" car accident earlier in the year. Trust that the "mega" accident was to the car and not to your person. Hope and pray that you are FULLY recovered. Best wishes.

To everyone else: come on folks! where r ur recommendations?? Lots of love.

[Tresco]

Anilsinha, 'off topic' in this case means my reply was nothing to do with giving you advice about estate agents in...... area. On the other hand, things often go off track a bit, it doesn't bother me at all for the most part, but I know it does some people. I just wanted to publicly appreciate Causettes points!

Sorry I can't help you with your agent quest, except to say your friends in the area may have a pages jaune (french yellow pages-also available on the internet, in English too!).

[Anil Sinha]

Tresco: thank you for your last email -- "off topic" comments add spice to these forums, I think. And now ... I am off topic! SORRY -- to those who are bothered!! Sorry.

More to the topic, thanks for the advice re the yellow pages. A great lead. Thanks.

[elaynem]

yes anil i did have a lot of damage to my person - cars are just cars. I actually broke every bone on the left hand side of my body from the waist up to neck. So that is why i say life is too short. And to show how i don't hold grudges - when i have some spare time (if only) i will email you with some addresses of english speaking estate agents in the Drome. What part of the Drome are you looking at?  And can i ask one thing - really nicely with no malice - pls remember that an estate agent is a human being too - we all appreciate decent honesty - if you don't like a house or don't find anything to your liking you just need to say so. There is no pressure to buy - it's their job to show you houses. But vendors and agents (and buyers) are all human and just want straightforward honesty without pretence. That is the best we can ask of anyone.

I wish you and your family good luck in your search. I will send you some contacts early next weekend. As we cannot advertise on this forum i will send the addresses to your private email.

(apologies to any forum members who were expecting world war three - i am not like that)

 

 

[Anil Sinha]

Elayne, thank you for the email. I am so very sorry to hear of your accident (to your person) -- and do hope very much that you are now fully recovered.

Regarding, the names and contacts etc. of agents, please, please do not take any trouble on our account. We will be there only for two nights -- and I dare say, what with the tiredness of driving long distances, the yellow pages (suggested earlier in this forum) and the local knowledge of our friends -- I may be prone to indecent haste in aiming to view a few properties in two days. And I am very conscious that you have a business reputation to keep with your business contacts!! So thank you so much (and sincerely) for the offer -- but my possible indecent haste with any contacts coming from a "commercial" source may have an adverse impact on your working relationship with them -- the last thing I would want to do to you or to anyone else running a business!! Let's not tread this weary ground -- for now at least!! But a big "thank you" anyway for your most generous offer.

Also, by the sound of it you can do with a rest!! Thank you -- and best wishes.

[Bobc]

"Mr Clarke - I have placed a message in your PM box."

No message in my PM box - if you had, then I would have received the automatic e-mail from Forum Admin

"Mr Clark may indeed have a point to make, but I suspect it is more to do with his own property search business than Elayne's area of coverage. This is what I personally objected to in his reply:"

To the best of my knowledge, neither myself, or my company currently offer, have ever offered or would ever want to offer any kind of property search business.

Why would you think that we do?

Having looked at Elayne’s very good website, I understand that she is offering a property search service over this large area rather than simply acting as an agent commerciale.

As for UK based French Property Agents, I remain unconvinced that any offer a useful service. My wife, who runs the property sales side of our business has worked with most of the UK based companies in the past, but has now ended all the agreements that our company had with them, due to their complete lack of professionalism with regard to matching clients to properties, making appointments, etc, etc.

Some of these companies are major advertisers in Living France.

My own ‘personal’ feeling is that UK French Property Agents are rapidly becoming an endangered species. Most people now seeking a property in France are happy to do their own research, make appointments with agents in France, book their flights via low-cost airlines and come and look for themselves. Who needs an ‘agent’ in the UK who has never seen the property and probably does not even know where it is in France.

Again, you may have experiences to the contrary.

Kind regards,

Bob Clarke

http://perso.wanadoo.fr/grindoux

 

 

[Anil Sinha]

Quote from Bobc: "Having looked at Elayne’s very good website, I understand that she is offering a property search service over this large area rather than simply acting as an agent commerciale."

Dear Bob, thank you for the above comment!! Did you know that there is a national network of "grannies" -- (and none of them is old -- and none will be on their zimmerframes before me, I can safely promise!!)? There is one "granny" in the Charante (I think it is the Charante Maritime 17) -- and another in Vendee. There are others, as you might have gathered. They do provide a useful, valuable service.

As for "UK based property agents"... it's horses for courses!! Some of what they earn goes to our NHS -- so I cannot complain too much!! One also finds them useful in all kinds of other ways .. in exhibitions, in providing background information, in hand-holding, ... And most are also such affable, pleasant people, I can confirm from personal experience of many years -- at least 10!

As for the so-called "low-fares" airlines, when did you last travel with Ryanair, Bob? I was in Rochefort a couple of weeks or so ago!! Advertised fare £14.99 pence -- total around or over £92.00 return for two -- and that was without Ryanair charging us for our extended waistlines -- yet!! The latest attempt (last week) to book a trip to St. Etienne was aborted when I realised that the advertised fare was only 99 pence but the return fares for two worked out at over £62 pounds!! There ought to be a law against the so-called "low fares"!!

Trust the weather in Charante Maritime has continued to improve since I was last there at the beginning of April!!

PS: I now feel a little bit better that I have got all this off my chest, especially about "low-fare" airlines! Aplogies to those who find "off topic" contributions irksome. SORRY.

[letrangere]

Forgive me please for straying off the topic but Anil has a point about the cheapies.  I know people do get incredible bargains on the low cost airlines but if they operate the same route, depending upon where you live, etc. it is often worth comparing what the major airlines are offering.  We recently got LGW/Bordeaux return on BA for £60, which we thought was excellent value.  M