Partly refurbished properties?

[letrangere]

Must say, I thought Dave's cynical view of estate agents was uncalled for.  In our all too long experience of house hunting in France we've never felt that agents were trying to sell us something we didn't want.  I would argue that most immobilier these days are far too busy to waste precious time showing unsuitable properties to disinterested buyers.  I would also say that if buyers do feel they're being shown places they don't want it's because they haven't made their requirements clear to the agent in the first place.

"their only thought is I am going to make money from this sale regardless"

Part of me thinks, why on earth not, that's business after all.  But let's look at it from a different perspective.  How many days (weeks?) do agents spend traipsing round the countryside with clients in tow who are ultimately sheer and utter timewasters having neither the financial resources nor genuine desire to buy anything.  

Margaret 

[Dave&Olive]

I was not going to reply to this , there seems to be enough bad blood on this forum at the moment ,especially from the Queens colonies, but today we have just recieved a phone call from our solicitor to tell us that our house sale has had to be put back for a few weeks , he informs us that our buyer ( who we were told by our estate agent had sold her house before christmas, and was renting the property off their buyer until this sale went through ) is having trouble with the boundaries on her house sale and will not be able to complete on the agreed date.

      Since our estate agent and hers are the same ??? he must have known and told us utter and complete lies. We had 3 offers to buy our house and chose this buyer on recommendation from our estate agent that because she had cash and had sold her house she would be able to complete the earliest.

  So if i said before that I thought estate agents we all liars I now don't, I Know they are!!!!

           Dave

[Dave&Olive]

Bob have sent you an e-mail

  did not mean offence to you or your wife

            but think I called you chris ooopps

                   Dave

[BJSLIV]

So if i said before that I thought estate agents we all liars I now don't, I Know they are

Of course there is always the possibility that your purchaser was the person being economical with the truth. If you think about it, it is not in the interests of the Estate Agent to give you duff gen, if that puts the sale at risk, because he would then loose his fees.

We recently moved, and though with hindsight the sale went through relatively smoothly, it felt pretty bumpy at the time. Why?, because our purchaser was doing a bit of undercover wheeling and dealing to  minimise his ex-wifes family profit in the deal. Our solicitor was made to jump through hoops over alleged problem with our title, which were in fact a subterfuge to cover up delays in this sideshow. The Estate Agent was totally in the dark, it only came to light when I asked the purchaser direct "What is Going On?" rather than going through the normal channels.

Incidentally I see that there are moves to bring in a system akin to the French Notaire where all the legal work is done by one lawyer.The claim that they will be able to prepare the contract in days rather than weeks.....which together with the sellers pack may speed things up. 

 

[Dick Smith]

I worked for an estate agent in London for a year in the late 60s - and I agree that a lot of vendors give the agent duff information, especially over quite how long ago work was done or features installed.

When I bought my present house the vendor assured me that the back door was locked and the agent had the key. The agent didn't - the back door was nailed closed to keep out the bailiffs... (and many other hairy stories)

[YCCMB]

I'd like to say that I think there are some valid points in between some of the acidity that's crept into this post. (Actually, it hasn't "crept" - nothing quite so subtle!).

We had a very disappointing experience with an English-speaking A.C., who appears long-established, advertises regularly on both the internet and with the usual magazines, and seems to make lots of mileage out of trying to convince you that he's offering a bespoke service and will really find properties to suit your individual requirements.

My OH had spent an enormous amount of time in correspondence with this person, along with one or 2 other (French and English) agents and we set off on our property buying trip in Easter 2003. On the first day, we met at the office of the English-speaking AC and set off to view our first property. On arrival (Ok house, modern, on outskirts of town, no relation to our brief) I greeted the owner. AC turns to me in surprise: "Oh, you speak French!" Me: "Yes" Him: "Would you mind translating for me as the owner speaks to you then, as I haven't actually visited this property before!".

The warm feeling (such as it was) was fading............

Next 2 viewings - disaster. At lunchtime, he left us in a village we didn't particularly want to be in and went home for lunch (so did we, when he'd gone!), and returned to meet us for the next viewing having forgotten to bring the keys to the property!! He took us miles to a third house that we weren't that keen to see, got lost (again, I had to ask the way for him!!) and eventually abandoned the search. Left agent to meet another (French) agent in a town some distance away. Good Friday, late afternoon. Contact with this guy before our trip had been positive, and he'd managed to arrange viewings with a number of French owners during the Easter holiday weekend. Arrived at their office (closed) called his mobile (answering machine), phoned the office number and eventually reached someone. In a nutshell, the owner of the agency had warned off the French guy, as the English guy actually worked through another branch of the same agency and had got wind that his French "colleague" was going to show us some houses. These were not houses he'd even offered to us (nor was he going to) and were in a different geographical area. Nevertheless, it transpired that he'd persuaded the boss to tell the French guy not to turn up for us, as we were "his" clients. Red mist descends.

Rest of the Easter weekend was spent looking in the windows of (closed) Estate agencies, shortlisting properties we wanted to view. Tuesday, we blitzed several, and the first one arranged a viewing of the property we now own. We viewed with others, too, all of whom were charming, helpful, open and very accommodating. The English guy called us back on the Tuesday after Easter, claiming we had an arrangement to meet him, blah, blah..... never mentioned what he'd done, although he must have known we'd found out.

Now, I still don't subscribe to the "all agents are thieves and charlatans" school of thought, although I'm as prone to sweeping generalisations as the next human being. However, our experience did end up as France 4, England 0. (Incidentally, sneaked a look at a couple of other houses offered through UK-based agencies and wasn't impressed).

Funnily enough, our house, although not in need of any work, was being sold (sort of) due to divorce (no Brits involved). We weren't offered any partly-renovated houses, although we said we were happy to take on a project, so I can only speculate that the market's changed a bit in the last couple of years.

Jane

[Dreamweaver<P>"Strangers are only friends you havent met yet]

Ok I am a newbie here! I have read thru all your posts on this subject and it has made us more confused than ever!

Our situation is that we are in New Zealand and we are currently searching for a house to buy in France. This is getting incredibly confusing for us. We just want to find a nice house for our family where can live and enjoy life and school for the next couple of years.

Our experiences are that many of the french agents that have been in communication with us "appear" to be  honest. We are experienced property buyers and sellers here in NZ and the ethics seem about the same.

The hardest thing for us is that we cannot just "pop over for a visit" as many of you can. We have very good (English) friends in the Dordogne who have tried to help us but have come up against stiff opposition from some Agents.

An english company who has "agents" all over France refuse to give us the address of a property we want to research - they replied that this was "illegal" in France due to Privacy laws. Well, when the wife heard this she went ballistic! Emailed them straight back and gave them the obvious.

We just want to buy our house in France - Who can we trust? and where should we go - the South appeals to the wife. We want fun and action and to drink wine and socialise and don't wish to be stuck in a small hamlet. Any suggestions please!

Paul NZ 

 

[Dave&Olive]

Hi Paul

           First I think this posting got a little ott ,the opinions posted her are by only a few people that have had bad experiences from a minority of bad estate agents both here in the U.K. and France .

         So the majority must be O.K , even though our immobilier still has our property on his web site i would recommend him.

         I also think If I was in the same boat as you I would ask for recommendation in a sperate posting i.e the area you want , if the quote

An english company who has "agents" all over France refuse to give us the address of a property we want to research - they replied that this was "illegal" in France due to Privacy laws. Well, when the wife heard this she went ballistic! Emailed them straight back and gave them the obvious

are the ones who I think they are I have been there myself , but they are correct in their statement on the privacy law

hope this helps

Dave

P.S. look out for us in the next world cup the dragon is awake

[Owens88]

We just want to buy our house in France - Who can we trust? and where should we go - the South appeals to the wife. We want fun and action and to drink wine and socialise and don't wish to be stuck in a small hamlet. Any suggestions please!

Good Luck

We searched the canal du midi area and found both good and bad estate agents. We also found villages with life, and many without, seemingly irrespective of size.

My wife fell in love with a view from our current place in the Pyrenees, and its a lively village. Two out of three ain't bad but the agent was indeed a 'batarde menonge' and even his printed particulars would have landed him in hot water under UK law.

To be honest you do need to visit as even your friends won't have your perspective.

What we found was that the properties that are advretised may well have been sold. In truth even trying to arrange a 'constructive visit'  a fortnight in advance was useless.   The agents offered different stuff on the day.

As you intend to live here you might well be best advised to move and rent, then buy when comfortable. I don't think prices are running away !

Enjoy your move.

John