Podrushka Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 We are in "process" of buying but realtors work for seller.I feel rather unprotected in this process. Would any of you suggest hiring someone to represent or am I being overly paranoid? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 The notaire does not work for either, he/she only makes sure that all the legal requirements are met to allow the sale to proceed. You may employ your own notaire if you wish, it does not cost more because the cost will be shared between the two. Things like will the be building a motorway past your front door in the future are for you to find out which you do by contacting the mayor and possibly the DDE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
idun Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 You will actually pay the notaire and agent immobiliqr, the vendor pays nothing.As Quillan says the notaire is mainly responsible for collecting taxes, rather than, in my experience 'helping' the clients. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr Coeur de Lion Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I'd therefore say, agents work for the buyer and not the seller as in most other countries. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podrushka Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 at home we have to be careful about real estate transactions but at least we know what to look for.on this side we do not know all the nuances and wondered if we ought to find a lawyer to make sure paperwork is in order.. or perhaps france is regulated to the point where there are no scams. interest is a tricky finance point at home. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quillan Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Notaires are government employees. You can of course get legal opinion if you wish but usually its a waste of money and they need to be qualified to work in France. I don't know how good your French is but my tip, for what it's worth, is that if you are going to spend any more money then get a proper translator and get them to translate the documents etc in to English for you (assuming thats your native language). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podrushka Posted March 4, 2011 Author Share Posted March 4, 2011 Thanks for the input. It is a relief to hear this. ..will do a translator. No French skills i'm afraid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fureys Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Hi Podrushka,Have you thought about contacting a property finder rather than an estate agent. These are people who normally don't have loads of properties on their books, but will - naturally for a fee - do a custom made search on properties in his/her area to meet your specific requirements and budget. You complete a questionnaire providing the property finder with your wish list and so on, then come up with a short list of places to go and visit. That's how we found our place in Charente and we were very satisfied.good luck!Fureys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frexpt Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 [quote user="Mr Coeur de Lion"]I'd therefore say, agents work for the buyer and not the seller as in most other countries.[/quote]As the agents' remuneration (commission) is based solely on the success of the sale, I'd say a major conflict of interest would arise if they were to be regarded as working for the buyer in providing advice & guidance.My advice to the OP would be to find an appropriately qualified British lawyer ( there are a few advertising). The peace of mind is well worth the fee, even on the most "strightforward" transaction. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
P-D de Rouffignac Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 As always when this sort of question arises you will get a range of opinions, depending on people's personal experience or point of view. I will add my own, having both worked in a French estate agency and now as an independent adviser. The estate agent is in business to sell properties, that's his job. He will work as hard to persuade the buyer to buy as he will the vendor to sell - for example, advising the latter to accept an offer that is lower than the asking price. Their expertise can vary from many years in the business and a keen awareness of the local market, to someone who has recently joined the agency - many of them part-time, self-employed 'commercial agents'. The French property business suffers from high staff turnover, due to the current downturn in sales, which makes it difficult to earn a living. However it is highly regulated by the Government, from the requirement to be licensed and insured, to the possibility of unannounced police checks. As several have noted, the Notaire's role is to ensure that the transaction is legal and that taxes due (such as capital gains) are correctly calculated and paid. As they work from the documentation provided, they cannot be aware of everything. I have recently had to advise a Notaire that the 'cadastral plan' from which he was working did not show a two-storey dwelling (the subject of some controversy) or in another case the absence of a 'forage' (well) on a piece of agricultural land. Notaires will of course have sight of the expert reports on the building ('diagnostiques') and local plans such as those for flooding and other natural risks, and these will be included in the bundle of documents provided to the buyer. Coming to translators/interpreters and lawyers/experts based in your home country, they at best can only work from the documents supplied and if these are not correct, they will not be aware of any discrepancies and as a result their advice could be (unintentionally) inaccurate. It is not primarily the job of the estate agent or the Notaire to advise the buyer about possible reasons not to buy the property, which in any event you purchase 'in the condition in which you find it'. You can either make a judgement for yourself after visiting and viewing, consulting local plans etc or employ someone to physically visit the property - a surveyor, electrician, agricultural expert or whoever - and give you their independent professional advice. As a simple rule, I advise clients to at least return to see the property at different times of day, including evenings and weekends, and generally assess the neighbourhood for themselves. That said, many buyers 'fall in love' with a particular property which tends to blind them to any possible shortcomings......P-D de R. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Podrushka Posted March 5, 2011 Author Share Posted March 5, 2011 I fell in like,certainly not in love. Our allowed budget is low in consideration of the region. My husband is 60 and age is supposedly one of the factors. We are also not subsidized for housing under his current job.We have been twice to look and although the place seems ok,there are issues. Even so, we think we have done the best we could do. The questions are more or less answered in that the gov't regulates. In the us one has to be aware of different types of interest banks are offering and be informed of latest variations. We all know where the housing market there went.There is already a notaire involved and realtor lives in neighborhood . Hoping this is good news and also the realtor and notaire have seemed on the ball,which is rather unique I think. I have no idea if we paid lowest price the owner would have accepted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AnOther Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Two or three times you have mentioned 'interest' but I'm not sure why ?If you are borrowing to fund the purchase what you pay for it is nothing to do with either the 'realtor' or the Notaire.To be completely honest I find your posts a bit disjointed which makes it difficult to fully understand what you are saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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