mooky Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 I have had my house on the market for a month with an agency, as yet they have not put it on the internet.Their mandat de vente says, sans exclusive.I also have an advert on a private sellers page on the internet. it has been on a week. Someone has already come across from the UK this weekend, and I believe, is about to make me an offer. If he does and I accept, can the agency be "funny" about it. Also what do I do next, neither of us knows. Merci Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
just john Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 My feeling would be to make a judgement about your agent, is he any good, has he had it long enough to find a buyer? should you terminate your agreement with him and look around for another agent? if in the meantime an offer is made from your other source then so much the better. Probably a good idea to have a chat with your notaire too.[8-|] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
suein56 Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 [quote user="mooky"]I have had my house on the market for a month with an agency, as yet they have not put it on the internet.Their mandat de vente says, sans exclusive.I also have an advert on a private sellers page on the internet. it has been on a week. Someone has already come across from the UK this weekend, and I believe, is about to make me an offer. If he does and I accept, can the agency be "funny" about it. Also what do I do next, neither of us knows. Merci[/quote]If your French agent has not displayed your house on the Internet and you have found a potential English buyer by your own efforts via the Internet then IMHO the agent - not having exclusivité - can do little about it. Your agent might bluster a bit and try it on but I do not think he has a legal leg to stand on in this case. Though do have a good look at your contract as some agents do have a clause saying they can charge you regardless of who finds the buyer.Having a go at selling yourself happens all the time in my area where houses are really expensive so the corresponding 'frais d'agence' can be high, which puts off potential purchasers. Hence sellers put their own ads on the Internet and in Ouest France having agreed with the agent that if they find their own buyer then no agency fees are due.But, hopefully, someone with superior knowledge such as Judie will be along soon to speak definitively.Meanwhile well done Mooky.Sue [:)] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judie Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 If your mandat is sans exclusivité then you have the absolute right to sell privately (or through other agents) without any comeback from your agent..Just make sure that as soon as you are your potential purchaser are ready to sign a compromis, that you let the agent know, so that they don't expend any more costs than neccessary.As far as your next stage is concerned, you will need to approach a local notaire who will prepare all the paperwork for the sale.By the way, well done for finding a buyer so quickly, sounds as though you have priced your property sensibly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 9, 2009 Author Share Posted February 9, 2009 It is only a little cheap house. I renovated it. I am making a loss. I feel very bad that the agent has it on his books for 18.250 euros more than I have. 8.250 is his fee. I call that disgusting. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judie Posted February 9, 2009 Share Posted February 9, 2009 Did you talk to the agent about their fees before you signed your mandat? You call it disgusting but is it the agreed fee? When you signed the mandat, did you query the amount? You were totally free to use the agent or not. Agents do charge what appears to be far more than in the UK, but do remember that usually they have to work harder for their commission. In the case of my agency, up to 40% of the commission is claimed by the introductory agent who sends the client to us. It is also extremely expensive to employ staff albeit on the minimum wage (I'm salaried), we have to travel far more than our UK counterparts and we must inspire confidence in our clients while helping them to purchase (or sell) in a foreign country.I'm not trying to defend your agent, but it seems to me that you didn't say anything at the time, just signed up and are now unhappy about it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 Some food for thought. When we bought we, literally, looked at 200 houses. If it had been in the UK then we would have got the details from the agent, looked at the area and the exterior of the property and then made a decision whether we wanted to look inside. In the UK this would either have been visiting at a pre-arranged time with the owner or visiting with the agent, some of whom add a little to their fee for accommpanied visits.I am not arguing the rights or wrongs of each system, just that agents had to take us to see 200 houses and only one got a sale - and in that agents case we bought the first one we viewed - we had only arranged to view one house with the agent but she did take us to see another one. So we viewed 199 houses, probably at an average of 1 per hour, some may have been more.Doing the maths, if you use 20 euros per hour then that equates to 4,000 euros plus the cost of running a business.We are probably the exceptions - the agents worse nightmare, unless you are the one that we have bought from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 10, 2009 Author Share Posted February 10, 2009 Sorry didn't mean to offend. Agents are friends. If charge is in normal guidelines thats ok. Just seems lots of money, but they have to live too! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judie Posted February 10, 2009 Share Posted February 10, 2009 You haven't offended me. It does irritate me, though when people appear not to have the courage to speak up at the time if they are unhappy, but are content to moan about it afterwards. Misunderstandings can arise when communications break down. Moral of the story - ask all the neccessary questions at the relevant time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mooky Posted February 11, 2009 Author Share Posted February 11, 2009 Judie, I was not unable to say I didn't like how much they charged. I told them that I think it is morally wrong to charge that much. I accept that they will charge someone that price for their 'time'. That is why I have also put my house on the market with a private sale advert at a price I consider more realistic for my house, that will not include agency fees. They are as far as I am concerned two different sort of customers. If they see the sign or go through agency thats fine. If by chance they see my advert fine. I come from a disappearing species on this earth. I am someone who refuses to fleece anyone over anything. I may be poor but I am happy with my conscience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PaulT Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 [quote user="mooky"]Judie, I was not unable to say I didn't like how much they charged. I told them that I think it is morally wrong to charge that much. I accept that they will charge someone that price for their 'time'. That is why I have also put my house on the market with a private sale advert at a price I consider more realistic for my house, that will not include agency fees. They are as far as I am concerned two different sort of customers. If they see the sign or go through agency thats fine. If by chance they see my advert fine. I come from a disappearing species on this earth. I am someone who refuses to fleece anyone over anything. I may be poor but I am happy with my conscience.[/quote]Mooky no doube Judie will defend her profession but my understanding their are high charges that go with the estate agency business so what you are charged (or the buyer) is not straight in to the agents pocket - only a percentage.Plus why did you put your property with this agent if you felt that the charges were morally wrong?Unless they kept their Rolls Royces in the garage, the cars used by a number of agents that I dealt with were far from impressive. Plus, as I stated earlier they had to show me 200 houses before the right one appeared.Paul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Judie Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 [quote user="mooky"] I may be poor but I am happy with my conscience.[/quote]Mooky, I can assure you that my conscience is totally clear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pommier Posted February 11, 2009 Share Posted February 11, 2009 When we sold our last house I negotiated the commission rate with the agents. We also advertised privately at the net price. One of the agents sold the house within days to the second viewer. We didn't feel cheated in any way (we were more than pleased!) - it could have taken months to sell and the agent wouldn't have got any more money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now