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French properties websites' recommendations


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Hi there,

I am trying to find the best website to advertise a house we are selling in Brittany and I thought I ask you guys as you have been through the process of buying a house in France.

Could you please give me the names of websites you used (either as a buyer or as a seller)?

There are so many of them, all claiming to be the number 1 in French properties that I am a bit lost.

I am trying to advertise on all the site that are free (small ones and big ones) but I am prepared to pay for some advertising if it is worth it.

What was your experience while looking for a property? Are there any sites that you would check on a regular basis because the houses on offer were interesting or the site user-friendly, etc...

Thank you in advance.

Sabine

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[quote user="LEO"]

Do you have sound reasons for omitting the price?

[/quote]

yes and no, I created the site to go alongside an ad which usually contains the price.

Thanks to everyone for their suggestions.

Will keep looking and hopefully will be able to sell in the next few months.

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Estate agents here don't advertise the price either! I asked them why and their reply is that prices are always negotiable so there is no point giving a price! Personally I think it is daft - I won't go and visit a house unless I know it is more or less within budget! One house we never went to see because we guessed it would be way out of our range - and yet the asking price was much less, and sold for 20% below- although it is a great property.

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Our house is on the market with several agents however, the personal website advert we have on  ( Webs.com) is only advertised in "English" .

 Would it be a positive step to have the site in French / Dutch / German

Leo

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I too would never buy anything which wasn't priced.

That goes for shops, markets and estate agents.

As someone once said "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it"

Seriously, there just has to be an asking price, even if it is negotiable.
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Point taken regarding the price...it is now on the website..

RE the translation, I'd definitely do a French version, however the Germans and Dutch are more likely to speak English as well as their own language, whereas the French.. well you know! ;-)

It is a nice property and this part of France attracts a lot of people from Paris...

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[quote user="bubbles"]I too would never buy anything which wasn't priced. That goes for shops, markets and estate agents. As someone once said "If you have to ask the price, you can't afford it" Seriously, there just has to be an asking price, even if it is negotiable.[/quote]

I would also add that if it is negotiable, then it's not worth putting the asking price too high above what you really want.

People looking will just think it's too high a price and look at others nearer their price range.

I'd say perhaps 10k is a high enough mark-up.  Should attract the people that do want to buy in your price range and, when they make enquiries, you could then explain that you wanted to be realistic about the price and do not see the point of marking it up.

Better to attract more rather than less interest. It's a numbers game like lots of things.  More interest might mean more chance of selling.

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Re: property ads with no price mentioned

A French estate agent cannot offer a property for sale without a written mandate from the owner/vendor, which will include the price, the percentage commission charged and the same amount in euros.

Where a property is adverised without a price, with perhaps the mention P.O.A. or 'further details from the agency' there is no mystery. This is sometimes simply used for high value properties or at the owner's request (so that neighbours/ex-wives/husbands etc don't automatically learn of the asking price) and also to deter non-serious enquirers, and occasionally criminals. I was once involved in selling a property at 2 million euros and as it was unoccupied but contained many valuable works of art, we were very cagey about what information we gave out to casual enquirers, and only discussed it with visitors in the office by appointment, who had confirmed their identity beforehand in writing!

As a general point I never went on visits without this information (contained in the "bon de visite") and I caution private sellers to be very careful about casual callers, especially those who 'drop by' having seen a For Sale sign outside your property. There are some strange people out there.

P-D de R.

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Tonyinfrance, if you look at the Home Page, you do get to the Property Section.

I suppose from Archant's point of view, they exist on advertising and therefore if they are already advertising property (a service for which they are paid), they wouldn't want people muscling in on here advertising their house and not paying Archant a fee.

There's nothing to say that you can't post on here, stating what it is that you require and some house owner will contact you by PM.

There are a few people on here looking to sell and some looking to buy.  Not only that, some of the would be purchasers would also like to be would be sellers (if you know what I mean!)

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