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Are French estate Agents lazy?


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Incompetent or merely set in their ways?

At the end of last week I inquired

about a property for an English friend whose written French is worse

than mine. It is bottom of the range, but at that price he would be a

cash buyer.

Having experienced the merry go round

that French agents take you on if you let them, showing houses you

don't want to see and are only being shown because they want to

off-load them, not because they have anything to do with your

requirements, he asked me to email them about one particular

property.

The advertisement as almost always was

a disgrace: a fuzzy external photo, a picture of a non-adjoining

garage door, and a photo off one room, probably a bedroom.

It was advertised as having kitchen,

dining room, lounge, laundry, 4 bedrooms and shower room, but no

indication of which floors any of these were on nor even of

approximate size.

He wanted me to email for a few extra

details, rather than be bombarded with sales pitch as happens on the

telephone or face to face.

I wrote in reasonable French asking for

Approximate sizes of the rooms

Which floors they were on

and if there were any additional

interior photographs. Obviously they could only be sent by mail or

Mms, not by phone call!

I got a reply (that at least) today:

J’ai bien reçu votre message.

Pour plus de précision merci de me contacter au xxxxxxxxxx et

demander Lxx RXXXXXXX ou me communiquer votre téléphone.

Votre conseiller immobilier

This seems yet another example of

French business failing to be client-centered or move in the

slightest from the way in which they have decided to work.

2 od my previous purchases were made

directly from the owner.

I have now found the house on Google

Earth, and got the details of the plan Cadastral

Next step a visit to the Mairie and the

village bar:)

Amusing enough if a bit irritating for a buyer, but imagine they were selling your house [:-))]

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[quote user="NormanH"]Incompetent or merely set in their ways?
[/quote]

Generally, both.

I won't cite our experience in buying this property some years back: that particular agent was quite good, but 75% of the people we contacted were worse than useless.

Your post just reminded me of an occasion some months back. We received a rather scruffy 'flyer' in our mailbox from a local immobilier saying that they were desperate to find a property in our little 'coin' that might be available for sale. We binned it.

It just seemed to me though that if they were that desperate, an hour or so knocking on the dozen doors around here might at the very least have told them whether there were any possibilities. Lazy though.

 

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Within a few weeks of losing my OH I had local agents bombard me to sell my house.I was still in shock and I told them in no uncertain terms to "eff off" and used the word for which I am not ashamed to confess to. For a start,inheritance issues prevent the sale of anything after a death without express permission of the Notaire and this includes the family car if in the deceased person's name so they should have known better.The icing on the cake was then they asked me who had died and what other houses would be for sale in the commune, well that just about took the biscuit, so yes lazy and insensitive,desperate and greedy words to spring to mind! My friend has her house for sale, looks a lovely property from the front but what did the agent do, take photos of the rear showing piles of wood,water butts etc and put that on the internet for folks to look at, she was furious as it did not do the place any favours at all.
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I will never forget, when we were house hunting, the details for one house we were sent consisted of a couple of internal photos. One featured the kitchen, or, to be more precise, a kitchen cupboard with a bunch of empty carrier bags hanging from the door handle. The other featured the living area. In order to capture the real essence of the space, they had included a photo of an occasional table with a group of family photos on it. That was it.

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I don't think you can make a universal judgement based on individual experiences. The estate agent quoted in the original post has suggested you contact him to talk about the property. That seems like a sensible idea.

I worked for nearly three years in a French estate agency, when the market was busier, which was specifically oriented towards British and other non-French buyers. There were over 500 properties on the website, spread across four offices and a dozen negotiators. Most of our time was spent dealing with visitors by appointment or who walked in off the street, having identified properties in the window or on-line. Because of distances, finding owners at home and arranging appointments, locating keys to empty properties held at the various offices - all meant that one could achieve at most three or four visits in a morning or after lunch. So a lot of time was spent outside the office, and what was left included admin - updating the website, and organising the mountains of paperwwork that accompany a sale etc. We did respond promptly to emails or phone people but sooner or later a potential buyer has to visit the territory, see what's on offer (a property seen some time ago could have meanwhile been sold) and arrange appointments to visit.

I don't recall taking people to view properties they did not want, there simply was not time. However potential buyers are sometimes unclear about their requirements or preferences so one offered to show a selection as a guide to the sort of property available within their price range, as a first step.

Okay, the market is quieter now but there are 10 000 fewer staff due to the recession, so those that remain are carrying the workload such as it is. Overall transactions are down by 18% but that still leaves a lot of sales going through with reduced staff.

I now freelance and source from a range of local agencies, and I am also trying to sell my own property. I don't expect miracles, potential buyers arrive, visit - and then vanish. That's how it is so I am not hassling anyone, as I know the market is difficult, and they are doing the best they can - they have a living to earn like the rest of us.

I am not trying to defend estate agents or justify bad service, but hope I have broadened the issue a little. Hope it helps.

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There are some good and some bad.

The ones that are exceptional (and this is very broad brush i'm using to tar them in) tend to be run by non-french people, or by french people who have spent time outside of France and understand the value of marketing (and client service) i.e. capitalists 

The worst ones are run by people who really aren't bothered in selling more than one or two properties a month - as long as it keeps them in pastis and doesn't interfer with their leisure time they really couldn't be bothered.

It actually extends to other ways of selling, just look at leboncoin. Looking at car adverts, some are very good with a few photos and a good description of what you are getting. Others - one shabby photo of the interior and a price...that's it.

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From personal experience various estate agents took us to view properties that were unsuitable. Admittedly we were perhaps a bit vague / unsure of what we wanted. However, in France the work of the estate agent is made greater than it need be because of the way they work.

We have recently moved in the UK. We viewed properties on the Internet which included good interior and exterior shots and the location of the properties. We printed off those that we might be interested in and then went and made an external inspection including their position relative to various amenities. We then contacted the agents and only then did we make internal inspections. Therefore, our time and the agents time was not wasted.

Purchasing in France - highly suspect photos (and some owners are to blame with washing and rubbish everywhere) and no way of knowing exactly where the property is and there might be a name of a village or town but the actual house might be miles away. The descriptions at times seemed to be works of fiction. With some just rolling up outside meant there was no interest in the property but there we were with the agent who was now wasting all our time. Then there is the kidnap - suddenly being taken to view a property that we had not asked to view which then causes problems because of appointments later in the day with other agents.

In the UK we viewed 8 houses and in France 200. Perhaps the methods are the reason that UK agent fees are so much lower than French agent fees. If ever there is an industry that makes things very difficult for purchasers then it is the French Immobilier industry. 

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Our old house is for sale with two agents - one French, one English, though the French one has English people working for them.

The French agent has had the house twice as long as the English agent.

We have had one viewing via the English agent, none via the French.

The English agent (based here in France I add) - keeps in touch by email

The only communication I get from the French agent is if I contact them, and a letter when we reduced the  price and the mandate changed.

You can make your own deductions from this - but it seems fairly obvious to me who is doing the better marketing of our property.

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Let me explain my experience of buying in France.

We decided we wanted to buy a house in France. We did extensive research. We were aware of houses that were with several agents, we knew what we wanted, our requirements were specific but flexible.

Mr Betty, who likes to know what's going on, made contact (after a meeting at the French Property Exhibition) with an English speaking agent (Not French, but not a Brit - native English speaker) in our preferred region. This particular agent made much of "learning what we wanted" and only taking us to see properties we liked. Mr Betty also contacted another agent, and between the two, he had made quite a number of appointments to view properties we thought we would like.

It was the Easter holidays.

On the first day (I think it was Good Friday) we met the first agent, and went to visit the first property. Mr Betty had added it to our list at the last minute. It wasn't my cup of tea, but seemed an OK place. When we arrived, the owner met us at the gate and said that his wife was still getting dressed, but he'd show us the garden if we didn't mind, till she was ready. No problem, I said. "Oh" said the agent "You speak French!" "Yes" I replied.

"Well, in that case" he said "would you mind translating what the owner says about the house, as I've never been here before and I'd like to know a bit more about it". Terrific.

I will cut a long story short. He took us to see three further properties, and, luckily, we'd refused his offer to travel with him in his car, as we had both our (then) young sons in tow. He summarily dumped us in a place we didn't especially want to be at lunchtime and said "You can eat here and I'll meet you here after lunch" (as we had our own car, we went back to our gite for lunch). He showed us two totally unsuitable places, including one with a structural crack so big it would probably have fallen down, had me stopping people in the street to get directions to another place because he couldn't find it, took us to a house miles from anywhere and, when we arrived, realised he'd forgotten the keys, and so on. The one house we'd specifically said we'd like to see, he refused to show us because (he said) the swimming pool wasn't fenced!!

At 4 pm we had to leave him to meet the other agent. When we reached their offices he was nowhere to be found. Over the days just preceding our arrival we'd learned that, although the first agent advertised his own agency, he was, in fact, employed through another agency, and the second agent worked for a different branch (40Km away) of the same agency.

After waiting for some time for the second agent to arrive, we made a couple of calls and found him, It turned out that he had been "warned off" by the first guy, who had complained to the boss and said that, as we were "his" clients, this second bloke shouldn't show us any houses. And so we ended up on Easter weekend, having thought we had about six viewings, finding that, thanks to the first agent, we had none! And this was a house-hunting trip!

We spent the whole weekend looking in the windows of other agencies, and as soon as they opened on the Tuesday, we were straight in there. Meanwhile, we were refusing to return calls from the first agent. When he finally DID get hold of us, it was to tell us that he'd like to take us to the house he'd refused to show us the week before. We politely declined.

We signed the compromis on the first house we saw with a French agent on the Tuesday. We saw 4 more perfect houses, but decided this one was for us.

The original agent used to have a blog, in which he regularly criticised the behaviour of visiting buyers. On one occasion, he even sent us details of a house and suggested we flew out, sight unseen, to view it because it would be ideal for us and it would sell quickly. Yeah, right.

I think it's fair to say that we bought a house in France despite, rather than because of a British agent...

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When we visited France for about five weeks back in 2000 we went all over the place and met loads of agents. Now I am talking about back then as not wanting to buy or sell now I have no idea what they are like currently.

We met on the whole quite good and efficient agents, there were one or two bad ones and I have to say they were freelance and English. When we finally chose our house our agents were actually Dutch and we thought the level of service very good. We did have an agent in Quillan who had a bit of a reputation but that was with just one of their staff who just also happened to be English (well Scottish actually) like selling building plots with no access and telling the buyer it wouldn't be a problem was one classic.

Life is much harder now for these agents and many have simply packed up ad very little is moving where I live. People talk about the recession, the English about it in the UK, the French in France etc, etc but the truth is we are all hurting and I guess people just don't want to take the risk of buying or selling at the moment especially buying in another country. Different in big cities I suspect where there is always a turnover of housing stock.

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Just remembered one thing with an agent.

We were there to go and look at a property. He said 'how about this one and talked it up'. We informed him that we had an appointment with another agent to view it. 'Oh' he said 'there is a big crack in it and it needs a band'.

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Estate agents services in France was our first big culture shock. In 2000 we had a week’s holiday and made appointments to see agents about properties which we had selected on line beforehand. The first one apparently had no record of our prior communication and sat us in a corner to look at their portfolio. When we got to 12.00 we had our second surprise. We had to leave the office.

No-one had a decent set of photographs, no-one would tell us where the properties were so that we could have saved a lot of time by doing a ‘drive by’. At one property we visited we were greeted by the owner telling us that we would have to park in the village square. In the house itself we had to wade through bags of rubbish which would have done credit to ‘A Life of Grime’. As we walked across the track to another, where we didn’t know the right of way over the track was disputed, the estate agent said, “I don’t think he’ll shoot at us”.

We looked at over 50 properties altogether and while we quite enjoyed doing it, it would have been a nightmare if we had been looking for a permanent full-time home. Perhaps things are better now.

Hoddy
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"The original agent used to have a blog, in which he regularly criticised the behaviour of visiting buyers."

ooh Betty I think I know who that was!!!

We bought through French Agency which was run by a very nice lady who was extremely helpful. We had seen a couple of pictures of suitable looking property in an agent's window.

In general the properties that I have seen advertised seem to often have a selection of poor photos which would not encourage any prospective buyer

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Just to comment on some of the very interesting points made by buyers on this post, and again not to justify any inefficiency or other fault attributed to French estate agents!

1. When I worked in a branch office of four, with 10 negotiators, with more than 500 properties on the books, spread over a 40 mile radius, it was difficult even over time to know all the properties intimately. I sometimes relied on colleagues for information (ie. the negotiator who had taken on the property and signed the mandate) but learnt to temper their enthusiasm for 'their' properties (One got a commission for bringing in a property that was eventually sold, another if you sold it as well. As a result everyone tried to push 'their own' properties first, in order to pick up both lots of commission). We did have fortnightly meetings, however, of all the negotiators where we each 'presented' the new properties we had mandated. 

2. If time allowed (not always) I tried to pre-visit properties I intended to show to specific clients, so I would know what I was talking about and know the how to find it. Owners did not like this - 'Why are you turning up without a buyer with you?' was a common reaction. To be fair, properties that were occupied for example by working couples meant they had to take time off and be available for specific visits. Easier if we had the keys to an empty property.

3. Regarding the state of some properties - This was something I also liked to check in advance, as written descriptions are not going to emphasize the collapsing roof or the sewage works next door. As negotiators, one of our jobs was to seek out and mandate (take on for sale) properties to add to the agency's stock. Occasionally I visited properties that were in such a deplorable state that I refused to take them on, talking as gently as possible to the owner about the need to prepare a property for sale etc. Not easy. This was often taken as offensive by (French) owners who adopt the 'take me as you find me' attitude which some (French) buyers seem to accept. The (French) management of the agency could not understand my 'anglo-saxon approach' especially where a potential owner/vendor had approached the agency direct.......

4. Just one comment about buyers: I found there was a tendency to set up too many appointments, sometimes with different agents, in one day. For the reasons given in my earlier post, generally four to six visits in a single day is generally about the limit, especially to get a feel for the area as well.

Thanks for your forbearance, P-DdeR.

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I accept that you will feel the need to offer some clarification of the difficulties that the Agents face.

I insist however on my feeling (confirmed by other posters) that  Information  is in the majority of cases scandalously poor, giving scant detail  about size of rooms, on which floor they are, and with photographs which are often technically poor and give the wrong impression of the property, often concentrating on large items of furniture which are not part of the sale.

In the case of my original post if that courtesy had been extended to the prospective purchaser I would not need to be  wasting his time "talking about the property", which you think is a sensible idea. I would either be making an appointment to view or not wasting his time.

The Agent however wants my contact details as he scents a target to "con"

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[quote user="P-D de Rouffignac"]Just to comment on some of the very interesting points made by buyers on this post, and again not to justify any inefficiency or other fault attributed to French estate agents! You're a patient and helpful person, trying to defend what is, in some cases and IMO, the indefensible, Peter. I don't hold it against you at all, nor do I believe you to be of the same "type" as some agents I've had the misfortune to meet. Sadly, the good ones do appear to be a bit few and far between, and we're speaking (or I was) of a time when UK buyers were seen by many as a licence to print money!

1. When I worked in a branch office of four, with 10 negotiators, with more than 500 properties on the books, spread over a 40 mile radius, it was difficult even over time to know all the properties intimately. I sometimes relied on colleagues for information (ie. the negotiator who had taken on the property and signed the mandate) but learnt to temper their enthusiasm for 'their' properties (One got a commission for bringing in a property that was eventually sold, another if you sold it as well. As a result everyone tried to push 'their own' properties first, in order to pick up both lots of commission). We did have fortnightly meetings, however, of all the negotiators where we each 'presented' the new properties we had mandated.  This is, I'm sure, fine for the people working in any particular agent. it shows scant regard for the needs of the customer, though. And if (as in the case of the person we had the misfortune to deal with) one of the cornerstones of your declared philosophy is to match a property to your clients' exact requirements, it doesn't augur well if you then take them to view a property which, by your own admission, you've never clapped eyes on before in your life. It also shows something well beyond a lack of professionalism if you then make it evident your French isn't up to the job of understanding the vendor, and expect your potential buyer to act as your interpreter when the boot should be squarely on the other foot! Of course, I don't tar you with this brush, nor expect you to defend the actions of one particularly poor individual, but I'm sure you'll agree it's at best a bit unprofessional.

2. If time allowed (not always) I tried to pre-visit properties I intended to show to specific clients, so I would know what I was talking about and know the how to find it. Owners did not like this - 'Why are you turning up without a buyer with you?' was a common reaction. To be fair, properties that were occupied for example by working couples meant they had to take time off and be available for specific visits. Easier if we had the keys to an empty property. I have been surprised on more than one occasion by the lack of detail supplied by most agents about houses on their books. Perhaps if a proper valuation visit, to include photos and all relevant information, was made, and appropriate documentation produced, it would obviate the need for special visits to acquaint yourself with a property. I don't expect an agent to have in-depth knowledge of every property on their books, but I find it unnerving when they can't even find it in the first place!

3. Regarding the state of some properties - This was something I also liked to check in advance, as written descriptions are not going to emphasize the collapsing roof or the sewage works next door. As negotiators, one of our jobs was to seek out and mandate (take on for sale) properties to add to the agency's stock. Occasionally I visited properties that were in such a deplorable state that I refused to take them on, talking as gently as possible to the owner about the need to prepare a property for sale etc. Not easy. This was often taken as offensive by (French) owners who adopt the 'take me as you find me' attitude which some (French) buyers seem to accept. The (French) management of the agency could not understand my 'anglo-saxon approach' especially where a potential owner/vendor had approached the agency direct....... At least in part, this can be alleviated by judicious use of Google Earth (as mentioned by Norman) and some relaxing of the French attitude that any property for sale will only have its location revealed on a "need to know" basis. Buyers not only want, but NEED to know the approximate, if not the exact location of a property, and here's where your point about the geographical spread of an agent's portfolio falls down. If only agents would realise that it's counter productive to refuse to divulge locations, it would save them AND their potential clients from driving miles and miles to somewhere the clients actually don't want to live! If a buyer can SEE the sewage works next door, or the TGV line at the bottom of the garden, then they can rule it out without wasting everyone's valuable time and petrol.

4. Just one comment about buyers: I found there was a tendency to set up too many appointments, sometimes with different agents, in one day. For the reasons given in my earlier post, generally four to six visits in a single day is generally about the limit, especially to get a feel for the area as well.

We'd set up 14 appointments over 3 days. In the end, we saw 10 properties in 3 days, and bought one. We were serious about buying. Two agents wasted our time, a further one all but refused to show us any houses for reasons I could never fathom, and the three French agents with whom we had dealings were charming, helpful and efficient. So, you see, I'm not anti-agents. [:D]

Thanks for your forbearance, P-DdeR.

[/quote]

You're welcome. It must get wearing having to be an apologist for some of your less scrupulous colleagues!

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[quote user="Cendrillon"]"The original agent used to have a blog, in which he regularly criticised the behaviour of visiting buyers."

ooh Betty I think I know who that was!!!

We bought through French Agency which was run by a very nice lady who was extremely helpful. We had seen a couple of pictures of suitable looking property in an agent's window.

In general the properties that I have seen advertised seem to often have a selection of poor photos which would not encourage any prospective buyer

[/quote]

If I'm not mistaken, it was someone in your very neck of the woods, Cendrillon [:D]

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I have some sympathy with agents having time wasted, particularly with rural properties that can be separated by large distances.  Even if such trips are seen as jolly jaunts by some viewers, 50 viewings represents a large time commitment for both parties, no matter how many days these might have been spread over.

But as Norman has pointed out, agents do themselves no favours by presenting properties inadequately.  Supplying floor plans with dimensions should be a basic requirement for any self-respecting agent. And it doesn't take too much effort - or cost - in the digital age to provide decent photos.  When I was looking 8 years ago, I would have been dismayed as vendor by the quality of photos supplied by many agents. Some looked as though they had been taken without the agent having bothered to get out of his car. A different camera angle, or perhaps moving the rubbish bin to one side for 2 minutes, would have cost the agent nothing and might have made all the difference.

I found an agent (half English/half Italian) who was prepared to make the extra effort. And not surprisingly, he sold me what I wanted.

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"If a buyer can SEE the sewage works next door, or

the TGV line at the bottom of the garden, then they can rule it out

without wasting everyone's valuable time and petrol."

Absolutely right, although I understand the agents' fear of a direct approach to the buyer such as I have described since that is much more common(or used to be) than it is in the UK. However a refusal to answer basic questions in a quick email is likely to push the buyer in that direction, as in this case.

On the question of location we were able to rule out a superb-looking flat,
attractively presented with a downloadable .pdf format advertised with nice photos, some measurements (although the claim of the overall area was clearly spurious since it didn't conform to the Loi Carrez) and an excellent price.

It was advertised by an English agent, hence the  glossy (for France) approach.

They were very cagey about the location just saying that it was near a well-known bastide town in the Tarn.

Using Google Earth and a bit of nous I found it, and also found that it was in a Zone inondable rouge! and that the lovely window looking out over the country was just about at  the level of the river in flood. This was a ground floor flat...

I also found that the bedroom and lounge windows gave directly onto a road just at the point where it was about to cross the river to go to a busy  camp-site.

So even a good presentation can hide miseries.

I do recommend using Google where possible just to get a feel of the place.

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[quote user="P-D de Rouffignac"]Just to comment on some of the very interesting points made by buyers on this post, and again not to justify any inefficiency or other fault attributed to French estate agents!

4. Just one comment about buyers: I found there was a tendency to set up too many appointments, sometimes with different agents, in one day. For the reasons given in my earlier post, generally four to six visits in a single day is generally about the limit, especially to get a feel for the area as well.

Thanks for your forbearance, P-DdeR.
[/quote]

But why should not the buyer. With the absolutely atrocious details given by agents with many properties that we pulled up outside the reality was nothing like the fiction in the blurb. If unoccupied it was a case of no thanks. If occupied it was a very quick look round so as not to upset the vendor and goodbye.

As for the area:

Our house in the UK, as we knew where properties were we viewed the exteriors and assessed the areas before looking inside.

Our house in France, the few houses of interest we then spent time looking at the area and over time knew a great number of areas, including weekends when agents were not open.

Overall, the average agent and the way they operate in France greatly wasted our time.

One property that seemed as though it would fit the bill was advertised as isolated with no near neighbours. We flew over for the weekend specifically to view it. Guess what, it was surrounded by neighbours!!!

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When we purchased, OH came out several times to spend a few days looking at properties. She didn't speak much French. Despite specifying "town/city centre apartment", she was taken out to see all sorts of rubbish which did not fit the description. This seemed to be a ploy to demonstrate to vendors that the agent was getting viewings for them. Agents that did this were crossed off. Agents that ignored her were crossed off. In the end, we bought an apartment that fitted the bill exactly, from an agent who took the time to understand the requirement, made efforts to communicate in English, and who did not waste his time nor OH's time. Although he was French, he had worked in the US in the past.

Shortly afterwards, we purchased a small apartment through the same agent in an effort to have a € income stream to pay for the taxes and charges on our holiday home. The rentals of the apartment were managed by the same agency at which our agent worked.

Move the clock on 10 years and we decide to sell the investment apartment, prompted by our tenant giving notice. In the meantime, our friendly agent has left the agency through which we bought and opened a new agency with a colleague. We place the apartment with him to sell. He sells it within 2 weeks. However, come date of completion, the owner of the agency that had been managing the property - who is not best pleased at the departure of his former employees - then tries to not hand over the keys and tries to lecture me over the phone about how this is "not done" in France, and that he ought to have dumped on me non-paying tenants who would damage the property (Really! He threatened me with RETROSPECTIVE bad tenants!). One shouting match later, where my half of the conversation could be heard across the city, I tell him in no uncertain terms that as the owner, it is up to me who I place the property with, and that he WILL have the keys ready for me on arrival at the agency. I did not threaten any "or else", but let the volume of my voice convey my extreme annoyance. On arrival at the agency, the boss had holed himself up in his office, the staff were VERY subdued - having received the sharp end of the boss's ire and possibly expecting a mad Englishman to come in with a can of petrol and a match - and the keys were found with alacrity. However, I really should NOT have to have done that, and I will be reporting the boss's actions and words to FNAIM.

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Regarding the various comments about estate agent's details, it does seem to me that part of the problem is that agents are afraid that if they give enough information to allow the property to be identified, then buyers will circumvent the agent and approach the vendor directly, leaving the agent to have to go to law to get his fee (which as we all know would be a long and expensive process for all concerned). I am still somewhat surprised at the level of estate agent fees in France as opposed to the UK, which I presume means that agents need lower levels of sales to survive (although I accept PDR's comments which point towards some of the higher costs incurred in France regarding the greater distances covered especially in country areas). Our own experience as buyers and sellers is that there are some agents who work very hard to get the sale and are prepared to negotiate their own fees down in order to make the sale work, and there are some agents who think the world owes them a living. We only deal with the former.

Going slightly off-topic, in our residence, one particular agent has signed up three apartments to sell (I think there are about 6-700 apartments altogether). Looking at the adverts, the thing that they have in common is that they all seem overpriced compared with what we would expect for our flat. I don't know if this is the agent going in with an unrealistically high starting price or if the owners are basically just testing the market or doing the old "I might sell if I get an outrageous price" trick, but I suspect that they will be on the market for a while. Ours will be priced to sell.

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