Struggling to get agents to send details of property

[MrsJaye]

I've emailed quite a few agents regarding properties for further information but get no reply. We want to visit in October for a few days with the intention of viewing as many places as possible and making an offer. I'm struggling to get a portfolio of property together. Is it better to come over and do it in person. Are agents open on weekends? Any advice appreciated. Thank you.

[BritinBretagne]

Phone them and speak to them. More reliable than email.

[nomoss]

Many French agents do not want to disclose details, especially location of a property, as they are afraid people will approach the seller directly and bypass them. Agents' "For Sale" signs are very unusual for the same reason. Their commissions ar so high that there is a real incentive to avoid paying them.

You will find that many adverts don't show the view from the road in the pictures, and they quite often state the property is in another nearby town.

[alittlebitfrench]

Mrs jaye said:

'We want to visit in October for a few days with the intention of viewing as many places as possible and making an offer'

Hmmmm......when we bought our last house we spent nearly six months looking and we only lived 1hr away.

We are looking to buy another house and this is the second month and we live 15 minutes away.

Given what you have said above, that is not a realistic target. Or to put it another way, a very big expensive gamble.

What area of France are you looking at ? Are we dealing with 'expat territory' or real France ? All the agents we contact get back to us. If you are in expat territory, then well.....!!!!

[Chancer]

Dont expect any response from anyone until the 2nd week of September even if they returned from their holiday mid July its against the law to do any work until la rentrée and actually a week after that to allow everyone to talk about what they did in les vacances.

 

You will also have to re-send all the e-mails as they will have been deleted.

[mint]

Mrs Jaye, don't be discouraged.

We made several house-hunting trips, using the old Brittany Ferries cheap 5-day return offers.

I'd settle on an area, choose the houses I wanted to see, ring the agents or the owners themselves and set up 2 appointments for each day that we were there.

Better not chance more than 1 in the morning and 1 in the afternoon as sometimes places are further away than you think, you or the agent are running late, etc.

Good Luck with your search[:)]

[suein56]

Mrs Jaye ... as Mint says it is better telephone or, even better, visit in person estate agents for all the reasons she mentions. She is also right in that looking at properties can take a lot longer than in the UK.

Also please ignore alittlebitfrench ... as it seems his mission in life is to try and wind up as many people on as many fora as possible.

Good luck and don't be put off coming back if you think that we might be able to help.

Sue

[MrsJaye]

Thanks for all the helpful replies.

Im put off by telephone as I dont speak french, however, I am learning .

We're in no hurry really....we will only go out in school holidays so if we don't find anything in October then we will be visiting for two weeks in April so can look again. Happy to wait to find the right place.

This is a great forum and I will no doubt be regularly popping up asking questions and in time may be able to provide help myself :-)

Thanks again.

[alittlebitfrench]

@ Suein56

Th Op can ignore my advice if they like.....but it was actually the best advice they will get.

People are too blasé when choosing a dept, region, town, village and in particular a property in France which is why people get themselves into a mess. Nipping off to France this weekend to buy a house. Do people do the same in the UK ?

You are not going to do it in a weekend/week. It takes time because there are so many factors to take into consideration. Especially when you can't speak French.

If you don't think that is good advice then well what can I say.

[andyh4]

Mrs Jaye

May I be presumptuous enough to ask why you are restricting possible viewing expeditions to October and April and thereby exclude January and February?

If you can fit it in I would strongly recommend a visit between New Year and return to school and again at half term. This is when you are likely to see your chosen area at its worst - potentially deep in snow, half the houses unoccupied and the other half shuttered to keep out the winter, cold, wet and damp, no tourists or attractions and very little going on. If you can love an area then you will almost certainly love it all year round.

[alittlebitfrench]

Very very good point Andyh4 !!!

You are right. Go in Feb OP.

Also when moving with kids (which I did not realise when reading the thread) choose a good school first, then choose a house in relation to that. Just as important, make sure you are in the catchment of a good college and Lycee. Kids grow up fast. You don't want to move again.

[NormanH]

French agents can be infuriating about giving the details you want.

They want to get you in their clutches so they can show you all sorts of place that they need to off-load, so they are deliberately vague.

I don't think I have ever had one who gave me a straight answer with the  specific information I wanted, often something as simple as which floor a flat is on; the sort of thing you would expect to be basic.

But then I have rarely bought through an agent.

[suein56]

MrsJaye wrote : Im put off by telephone as I dont speak french, however, I am learning.

If you have an idea of where approximately you want to be then for example inputting the postcode or town name into either www.leboncoin.fr or www.pap.fr. will give you some of the properties available in your preferred area.

Sue

[BritinBretagne]

[quote user="alittlebitfrench"]@ Suein56

Th Op can ignore my advice if they like.....but it was actually the best advice they will get.

People are too blasé when choosing a dept, region, town, village and in particular a property in France which is why people get themselves into a mess. Nipping off to France this weekend to buy a house. Do people do the same in the UK ?

You are not going to do it in a weekend/week. It takes time because there are so many factors to take into consideration. Especially when you can't speak French.

If you don't think that is good advice then well what can I say.[/quote]

The trouble is that you might occasionally offer good advice but too often what you say is surrounded by uninformed bias. You are very arrogant when talking about your experience of living in France and perhaps it is different to the majority of English speaking people on here but because of that even the good points you make are often irrelevant.

[BritinBretagne]

Look at the web sites for the agents' offices that operate in your chosen area. If it is somewhere with a reasonably large U.K. population, especially the areas albfr believes he knows and hates, the majority of them will have English speaking staff, many of them actually British.

[alittlebitfrench]

@BinB

I will give you the same speech I give hundreds of times on French fora.

I am not arrogant, I am just not blessed when it comes to written communication. My brain works faster than I can write so it all comes out in a mess.

If you read between the lines, I do talk a bit of sense.

You on the other hand, you are just plain rude.

[BritinBretagne]

Not rude, observant. I believe that you do it to get responses so this is my last reply to you on this thread. I hope that the original poster has taken the numerous warnings, got your measure and treats your 'advice' and experience with a shovelful of salt.

At least blessed when it comes to written communication gave me a laugh. Who told you that? Mummy? Shame you're not blessed with relevant knowledge as well.

[mint]

Also, you can try greenacres.com (something like that, the spelling might vary a little).  Everything in English PLUS you could read adverts from agents or from individuals.

Most agents, especially in areas popular for expats, do have some English.  In fact, as ALBF might point out in a minute, they might even have been Tesco cash till staff or Quickfit mechanics in the UK[:D]

[MrsJaye]

Many thanks for all the advice. Apologies, I should have been clearer in my original post. We are looking to purchase a holiday home in France, not to make a permanent move. We will use it in during school holidays mainly although when we eventually retire we would look to spending more time in France but not moving from the UK. We are experienced in renovating so will buy a 'project' as our budget is not huge. We wont be renting out, its just for our use or family and friends. We have friends who have a rural barn they have renovated near Isigny La Buet and have been coming out since 2006 so have a good knowledge of the area. We love the area too so this is where we are looking. Ive seen places we like near Marcilly and Reffuvielle so far. Some really useful information from you all - I dont know why I hadnt considered coming over in February half term but I will now and thanks for the advice of just seeing two properties a day. I think I was led to believe there were many empty properties about waiting to be sold but my experience is different so I will rethink our timescale. We are in no rush and its a longterm purchase so we will take our time. Thanks again :-)

[MrsJaye]

Out of interest, is the area I am looking considered an 'expat area' - Normandy- Manche: Isigny La Buet and surrounding areas?

[alittlebitfrench]

@ airBinB

You are right to give up. I would blow you out of the water when it comes to France.

@ Minty, I forgot the Tescos cash till staff and Kwik-fit-fitter joke. To be fair, they are probably over trained to be a Leggit estate agent representtives. LOL. I wonder how much that bloke made this year ?

To the OP...

I am a great fan of property finders. If you can find one that is not British or foreign they could help and save you a lot of hassle !!!!

[alittlebitfrench]

Sorry OP, I just read your last post.

You want a holiday home/renovation type project with a not so great budget.

Well that is a different subject altogether.

[EuroTrash]

Manche and Basse Normandie in general tends to have expat "pockets". I don't actually know Isigny la Buet so can't advise on that. Ger for instance is a bit Little Britain, as is St Hilaire du Harcouët, so if it's near those places...

I would be very wary of signing for a reno project after one viewing.

[mint]

[quote user="MrsJaye"]Out of interest, is the area I am looking considered an 'expat area' - Normandy- Manche: Isigny La Buet and surrounding areas?[/quote]

Very nice area, Mrs J.  We always used to stop off in St Hilaire du Harcoet for breakfast rather than eat the so-so breakfast on the boat.

Now, I wouldn't like to be quoted on this but my IMPRESSION is that, generally speaking, all of Lower Normandy (Manche, Orne) is popular with the British.  Easy access I guess and prices are modest (especially if you aren't considering one of those beautiful Norman chateaux)!

Do look for an at least basically renovated property.  I think you might be in for a pleasant surprise.  Why go to the bother of renovating yourself (working when you should be enjoying yourselves on holiday), when you could have a ready-to-go place where someone else has done the work and is losing money on the renovation?[:D]

Edit;  sorry, ET, I was writing and was interrupted and I posted before reading your post.

[NormanH]

Leboncoin gives

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/1164315372.htm?ca=4_s

and

https://www.leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/1163175933.htm?ca=4_s

Though they might be a bit far from where you want to be.

There is a selection at:

http://www.logic-immo.com/agence-immobiliere/mortain/annonces-vente-mortain_50140-D2809853-BAC8-3B70-E2F7-3C93F97A0049.html