Property finding services

[P]

We are searching for a house to purchase as a main residence. We did find a house and ven got as far as signing the Compris only to have the vendor 'disappear' (will write about this experience soon).

In order to find this house we visited about 60.

We have ecently had a few days in France looking at some other houses. Two were nice, but the gardens did not suit (large areas but very little usable).

We are planning to eturn for two weeks either in September or October.

Our experience has taught us that what you see on the Internet way not be the whole story and that a house that seems to meet much of the criteria on a screen does not in the flesh (or should that be stone / brick).

So thought turned to property search agents. Our ideal areas are 09, 31, 65 by or into the Pyrenees although we think we may have to resort to 32.

Has anyone any experiences of agents operating in these areas? Any feedback on their worth would be most welcome.

Thanks

Paul

[Bones]

Hi P.

I have PM'd you on this subject - unfortunately I have just realised this is the SW forum not the SE forum...

Don't worry, the message I sent wasn't particularlly helpfull anyway!

Maybe trying Total France for feedback would be an idea?

Good Luck.

[Patf]

What's the matter with 32? It's lovely. Or maybe too far from the Pyrenees for you. Sorry don't know any property finders around here but we know plenty of estate agents. Most now have someone who speaks english. Pat.

[P]

Pat

Hopefully you will be pleased to know that we have seen some properties on the Internet in 32 and that we are coming over for a few days (arrive morning 11th, fly back morning of the 13th August to look at some of these).

Would be interested to know 'what makes life great in 32'.

Kind regards

Paul

[Patf]

I hope you find something this time. We like the Gers because it's so beautiful and quiet. Perhaps too quiet for some people, especially in the winter. But there's plenty going on in the summer, with various festivals. Husband chose Gers because it's near to the Pyrennees for skiing and walking. If you go much closer it's either flat and uninteresting or south of the autoroute the winters are longer and access roads can get blocked. good luck - Pat.

[Anton Redman]

We spent about eight months looking for our current house while we were living in our former maison secondaire. The conclusiin we reached was that either the type of house we wanted to buy was not built in the regions we were looking in or if it was built it stayed in the family. We finally bought in the Gironde where I think we would have found other houses we liked earlier. We expected the Gironde to be expensive but for what we wanted it was cheaper than other in theory much cheaper areas.  

We found the quality / accuracy of particulars varied hugely between estate agents even if they were in the same chain. Almost all of them had details posted on their websites which were selfcontradictory. None of them 'pre qualified' us a potential purchasers ( checked we had the money ) when we first walked in to their offices.  

My advice would be find an estate agent you like and after you have worked through their book and found nothing ask them if they have any recommendations for property search agents. Also if you have friends with similar tastes ask them if they want to spend a holiday looking

[Cassis]

Not in your area, but we found that the 2 property search agents we used took next to no notice of the property requirements we gave them (like it had to be habitable, even if it needed work) and simply took us round everything in the area that was 'potentially' suitable (so we were shown wrecks of barns).  Hopefully you can find a better one.