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Selling Advice Sought


Jon 1
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Our property is currently for sale with 4 immobiliers. We have advertised in Au Boncoin and Viva Street, the local French newspapers, and Gumtree in the UK.

I know any property will sell if the price is sufficiently low, but we have already reduced it in 4 steps by 25% and do not want to go much lower.

The property is well presented and in good repair.

Any further selling suggestions for someone operating at arms length, as we are in the UK?

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We have been in exactly the same position.  Quite frankly the market is dire and purchasers are having a field day.  Unless you have a really stunning property than everyone wants, then I think you have to expect to sell cheaply.

We have reduced our selling price by 30% and have immediately received two even lower offers.  We have to decide this afternoon whether to sign a compromis with one of those purchasers.  Although it goes against the grain, I think, after more than a year, this is a case of a bird in hand...........

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This is the problem when you reduce your price to a base price. The reduction is ignored and potential buyers then make an offer below your absolute comfort zone.

We were subsequently offered 32% below our initial price, which at the time we felt was a reduction too far. However, like you we now feel that perhaps we should have taken the extra hit.

With the very recent announcement of possible detrimental changes to CGT for second home owners, by the end of the summer, we may not be any better off by holding out for our base price.

C'est la vie
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When we were desperately househunting last year, we didn't always get the response from owners/agents that we expected.

We weren't particularly wanting people to reduce to a level at which they were uncomfortable; in fact, I wanted a win-win situation when both sides would be happy.

We had one owner who suddenly pulled out, after agreeing a price with him and after sorting out fosse problems (thanks to lots of input from Pachapapa) without so much as an apology.  Just an email (after about half a dozen telephone calls when we were on first name terms), exchange of notaire and personal details, etc.

We asked people who were hinting at wanting to sell on the Forum and some didn't even have the courtesy to reply to say they were no longer selling or that they had sold.  I just drew blanks which p****d me off somewhat as I so much wanted to buy and also we had money that we wanted to get out of the bank.

Now, I am not saying that you are not trying hard enough....but do give a thought to answering queries and maybe just acting "open to offers" (even if you have a reserve figure in mind).

No doubt, perhaps as soon as next year, I shall be in your situation, that is, wanting to sell and I already have a strategy in mind and already know how much ideally I would accept and what other inducements that I might be glad to offer.

It's simply not true that no one is buying.  The potential buyers ARE out there....I know, I was one and, fortunately for us, I found sellers whose agents did everything possible to get the sale through in ONE week.  I was on a tight schedule because I was due to go off to Spain for several weeks after that. 

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Well, Richard, I wish I could too.  I thought about your house but it's not where I was looking.  I wanted to be reasonably near the house in 17 as it will have to be a bit of a commute for a couple of years.

Hey, I am glad you still come back to visit us on the Forum.  I am looking forward to seeing the wedding photos.  Will you be asking that Testino fellow to take them?[:)]

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I wonder if you are making the same mistake as a lot of UK sellers or those looking to sell up and move back - not looking at the big picture.

Just assuming you bought in 2004 (when you joined the forum) the Euro was around 1.4/1.5 for most of that year something perhaps you should take into account when pricing your property to sell now.

As an illustration in 2004 a €150,000 property would have cost you something between £100 and £107,000. Selling it now for that same €150,000 will net you today around £130,000, that's roughly a 25-30% profit. To put it another way, to simply get your money back you could sell for around €93,000.

All rough figures I agree which take no account of things like whether the property is mortgaged in Euros, how much you may have spent on it in the interim, selling costs etc. however I'm sure you can see the point I'm making. If you do really want to sell you may have a lot more room for aggressive pricing than you perhaps realise.

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[quote user="AnOther"]

I wonder if you are making the same mistake as a lot of UK sellers or those looking to sell up and move back - not looking at the big picture.

Just assuming you bought in 2004 (when you joined the forum) the Euro was around 1.4/1.5 for most of that year something perhaps you should take into account when pricing your property to sell now.

As an illustration in 2004 a €150,000 property would have cost you something between £100 and £107,000. Selling it now for that same €150,000 will net you today around £130,000, that's roughly a 25-30% profit. To put it another way, to simply get your money back you could sell for around €93,000.

All rough figures I agree which take no account of things like whether the property is mortgaged in Euros, how much you may have spent on it in the interim, selling costs etc. however I'm sure you can see the point I'm making. If you do really want to sell you may have a lot more room for aggressive pricing than you perhaps realise.

[/quote]

I think you are generalising from your own case Ernie.

When I came over in the 1990s the exchange rate was very similar to the moment.

There was a period when it shot up, which gave a few people a  false impression of the 'normal'  but historically the rate now is just a bit low.

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[quote user="Jon 1"]This is the problem when you reduce your price to a base price. The reduction is ignored and potential buyers then make an offer below your absolute comfort zone. We were subsequently offered 32% below our initial price, which at the time we felt was a reduction too far. However, like you we now feel that perhaps we should have taken the extra hit. With the very recent announcement of possible detrimental changes to CGT for second home owners, by the end of the summer, we may not be any better off by holding out for our base price. C'est la vie[/quote]

Well, we've kicked it a  round for a few days and decided to take the hit.  Compromis signed by everyone this afternoon, with target date at beginning of October.  As we have already bought the new place, coming up for two years ago and looking at the combined outgoings for the two houses, plus the continuing cr*p exchange rate, we'll just go for it.........and you watch "M et Mme Perfect Buyer" turn up at the front door tomorrow........

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Jon 1

You don't say where you are. Some of us may be able to point you at agents who've done a good job in the past. The market is regional so not everywhere is flat.

We put ours on the market in November 2009 (knowing that it probably wouldn't sell in the winter but we wanted to get a "feel" for French purchasers).

The agent we used told us exactly when it would sell, the likely buyer profile (he was a bit out) and the net vendeur we would receive. Spot on.

Do take AnOther's point about the exchange rates.

As Brits we've grown up expecting a profit from property. Perhaps we should include the value of "having a roof over our head and a home to live in". Surely that's got to be worth a bit?

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The bit that is not allowed is 'My house for sale' I'm sorry but the mods had a long battle with Archant to get even the link.....I think I'm right in saying that the no additonal text rule was the condition, or it may have been changed later as some people had lots of text and multiple links (lost in the midst of time I'm afraid)
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[quote user="frexpt"]

Well, we've kicked it a  round for a few days and decided to take the hit.  Compromis signed by everyone this afternoon, with target date at beginning of October.  As we have already bought the new place, coming up for two years ago and looking at the combined outgoings for the two houses, plus the continuing cr*p exchange rate, we'll just go for it.........and you watch "M et Mme Perfect Buyer" turn up at the front door tomorrow........shrug

[/quote]

 

Oh, s*d it.......we never even got to tomorrow morning.  Another of our agents has just rung to say that he has four couples interested at our new price..........London Buses etc.......[:'(][:'(][:'(]

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[quote user="frexpt"][quote user="frexpt"]

Well, we've kicked it a  round for a few days and decided to take the hit.  Compromis signed by everyone this afternoon, with target date at beginning of October.  As we have already bought the new place, coming up for two years ago and looking at the combined outgoings for the two houses, plus the continuing cr*p exchange rate, we'll just go for it.........and you watch "M et Mme Perfect Buyer" turn up at the front door tomorrow........shrug

[/quote]

 

Oh, s*d it.......we never even got to tomorrow morning.  Another of our agents has just rung to say that he has four couples interested at our new price..........London Buses etc.......[:'(][:'(][:'(]

[/quote]

What a shame!

Are you sure it is not just sour grapes from the immobillier who has lost out?
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Some good points AnOther, but yes we took all that into account, and through the price and subsequent reductions effectively passed any exchange rate benefit to a potential buyer.

We were told by e-mail this evening that someone saw it this morning and is quite interested. That was a visit before our further reduction this afternoon. So we are keeping our fingers crossed that the latest reduction might swing it!
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[quote user="Jon 1"][quote user="frexpt"][quote user="frexpt"]

Well, we've kicked it a  round for a few days and decided to take the hit.  Compromis signed by everyone this afternoon, with target date at beginning of October.  As we have already bought the new place, coming up for two years ago and looking at the combined outgoings for the two houses, plus the continuing cr*p exchange rate, we'll just go for it.........and you watch "M et Mme Perfect Buyer" turn up at the front door tomorrow........

[/quote]

 

Oh, s*d it.......we never even got to tomorrow morning.  Another of our agents has just rung to say that he has four couples interested at our new price..........London Buses etc.......[:'(][:'(][:'(]

[/quote] What a shame! Are you sure it is not just sour grapes from the immobillier who has lost out?[/quote]

Not on this occasion, the agent rang to make appointments to view.........

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[quote user="NormanH"]
I think you are generalising from your own case Ernie.
When I came over in the 1990s the exchange rate was very similar to the moment.
There was a period when it shot up, which gave a few people a  false impression of the 'normal'  but historically the rate now is just a bit low.
[/quote]Of course I'm generalising and yes, happily the rate was around 1.5 when we bought, but it's entirely irrelevent as I'm not selling !

For you to say it's 'just a bit low now' though is astonishing and if you study the history a bit more closely you'll realise that your 'period' was actually about a decade between 1997 and 2008 and probably covers the time when a great many bought their properties.

[IMG]http://i127.photobucket.com/albums/p123/biskitboyo/HiFX-5.jpg[/IMG]

Essentially, on the simple exchange rate question, the only people who stand to lose out will be those who bought prior to 1997 or since late 2007.

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