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Trying to buy seems very confusing at this time????


Hillsider
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Having recently taken early retirement, I am actively looking for une maison secondaire. I have taken a couple of viewing trips - the latest in June. The situation seems much more complex now. Although I have noticed price differentials on the same property, these now seem even greater. One house I viewed was advertised at 166,000 euro and is still for sale at between 134,000 and 196000. This is just stupid and can't help the vendor or prospective purchaser at all. The Credit Crunch duration and low exchange rate are additional hassles.

I have had an unhelpful relationship with a major French agence, where I am convinced my fair offer for a house South of Fontenay le Comte was not submitted to the vendor. I was told that they wanted full price and they had received an offer very close to the asking price already. That house is still for sale almost a year later! I would particularly like to hear from anyone in South Eastern Vendee (around the Marais) who is selling or knows of a property being sold privately. My requirements are older property with minimum 3 bedrooms, a garage or dependence and 500 - 2000 sq metres of land. I am not into renovation - nothing more than re-decoration. My absolute maximum budget is 180,000 euro. Any leads or positive suggestions most welcome and would certainly result in a very nice present!
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[quote user="Hillsider"]I would particularly like to hear from anyone in South Eastern Vendee (around the Marais) who is selling or knows of a property being sold privately. My requirements are older property with minimum 3 bedrooms, a garage or dependence and 500 - 2000 sq metres of land. I am not into renovation - nothing more than re-decoration. My absolute maximum budget is 180,000 euro. Any leads or positive suggestions most welcome and would certainly result in a very nice present![/quote]

If you can help Hillsider with this, please do so by PM or forum email.

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I have to say........you would be better here in 33.....from the point of....it is a good area for investment and much longer retal period.Rentals begin around april and end in Oct.....as a base season.....renatls can be all year.....
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The way things are done in France is not the same as in England, it is very common to see different prices for houses in various agencies. There are many reasons for this, few of them 'dodgy'. If an agent receives an offer which he knows will not be accepted, then he often won't waste his time telling the vendor - there is no compulsion to do so.

If you want to re-submit a previous offer then do so by all means. It might get a more sympathetic hearing if the place is still for sale.

 

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Thanks for your views...The property in question was priced at 234000 euro. I offered 210000 on the agents advice. So don't know what's going on there?? I won't re-offer simply because the exchange rate last October was 140 to the pound. I can't afford even my original offer at the current rate of around 123 to the pound. I also accept that prices can vary a little between agents but as a constant browser of property sites i assure you the variation can be huge. As i stated in my original post 60000 euro of a difference? That is extreme but 10000 is by no means uncommon. Makes you wonder if the property you have your eye on is on offer somewhere else for a lot less!
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Thanks for taking the trouble to comment. I'm afraid I don't understand your response. I am not trying to rent or let out a property. I'm looking to buy. I'm sure it is very nice in the Gironde but I have my heart set on the Vendee or possibly just over the border into Deux Sevres.
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There are some agencies that are well known for overvaluing properties, to get the property on their books, and their for-sale sign on the building.  Nothing like a nice bit of free advertising, even if they won't ever manage to sell it at the price. 

Next time you think of it, watch out for the for-sale signs on houses by the side of busy roads, and see how many times you spot the same company logo.

 

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I f I were a tourist, I'd be thrilled with 123 euros to the pound. Marks and Spencer and the Post Office are offering less than 122 and they are usually at the top end of the tourist exchange rate. The current bank to bank exchange rate is 125.33 euros to the pound. Exchange specialists will not be able to offer much more than 123 at this difficult time. The American House of Representatives has just thrown out Bush's 700 billion rescue deal. I can only project an even lower exchange rate for the forseeable future......
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" One house I viewed was advertised at 166,000 euro and is still for sale at between 134,000 and 196000. This is just stupid " The last time I commented on this an immobelier said she did not have time to check what her properties were on sale for with the other immobeliers in town, my reaction at that time was she would not have my business and she did not.

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forget the estate agents when buying or selling, there job is to play a game with the buyer and seller to make some money for themselves but they have so much going on (normally or apparantly) they go for the ones they think they will win, i think the internet is better because the buyer and seller can be contacted directly   
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[quote user="Will"]

 If an agent receives an offer which he knows will not be accepted, then he often won't waste his time telling the vendor - there is no compulsion to do so. [/quote]

In view of this information , it is obviously in the interest of a buyer to use whatever method possible to by pass these agents.

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I  can understand the OP 's confusion. However, there are explanations which are nothing to do with  alleged dodgy agents.

Many French and British sellers set an unrealistic price and refuse to budge .French in particular are often not in a hurry to sell and will see it as a point of principal to refuse any offer below their asking price even if it takes them years to achieve a sale.

Variations in price can also be explained in several ways, different commission rates by different agents,the sellers putting the house on the market with a different agent at a lower price but forgetting to tell the first agent, in some instances prices will be quoted net without any fees, some FAI fees of estate agent included and some  all fees including notaires fees included in the selling price. Then their are the others who add on a fee for hand holding and other who add on a fee for handholding and legal advice.

Perhaps the best way to start the search is to use the internet for the sites where there are private sales but you do need to be confident that you have a good knowledge of the house purchase system in France. Otherwise you just need to go by your own instincts or recommendations

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If you can get over to France try the local Supermarket notice boards where properties are advertised for sale

from the owners with no Agents being involved.  Another good hunting ground is the local Mairie where again you

may find Private Sales pinned up inside on the Information board - the Marie will also know of properties within the

nearby area which are for sale but for some reason are not being advertised..  We also have found that the Notaire

for the area have some private sales on the books.

 

Happy Hunting

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[quote user="Hillsider"].........but as a constant browser of property sites i assure you the variation can be huge........[/quote]

Just to offer another possibility.  When we were looking a few years back it was not uncommon for some agents never to update their web sites.  Some did, many didn't.  At that time we only found out by a few wasted journey's.  Things may of course have changed, I would hope so, but worth consideration.

 

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George....I don't think this has changed. On our last trip to the Vendee to view properties seen on the internet, more than a few of our possibles had been sold. I also note that one immobilier in Vix keeps its sold properties online for an age although they do have the decency to mark them 'vendu'. This implies that sales are a bit of a rarity these days!! A totally unrelated point - French Pricing Policy. I have no idea how this is computed. I see some very nice, renovated 3 bed properties with say 1000 sq metres of nicely kept gardens for eg 169000 euro and I also see a similar sized property needing renovation with overgrown land asking 225000. Is there a format I am missing?
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[quote user="Hillsider"] Is there a format I am missing?[/quote]

Yes, the format that is the estate agent's worst nightmare, the price the vendor would like to achieve; with no acceptance/realisation of market value or what is happening in the real house-selling world. And the still enduring fact that, in some vendors' minds, the belief that if a property sells quickly then it has been undervalued and therefore undersold.

Sue [8-)]

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I found our property by browsing the internet,  it was advertised on about 6 different agents websites, all different prices, we viewed it with one company that had been really, really helpful, and took along a print out from the agent that had the lowest price. The owner joined us for the viewing, and backed up by the info from the web, we negotiated a sale at the lower price. This was about 20,000 euros less than our agents had it advertised for, but the owner was still happy. A win win situation, and worth all the hours I spent on the net!!!

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[quote user="Hillsider"]......... I see some very nice, renovated 3 bed properties with say 1000 sq metres of nicely kept gardens for eg 169000 euro and I also see a similar sized property needing renovation with overgrown land asking 225000. Is there a format I am missing?[/quote]

Ah but what about the potential!![;-)]
Seriously though, is it any different in the UK? - adverts and pictures can't really tell the whole story.  One of the other things I noticed a few years back is that the standard of pictures and descriptions often don't do the property justice - it can of course be the other way around too.

I understand your desire to get the basics sorted via the Internet, but it sounds like you already see the need to go and look. 

 

 

 

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George before we purchased in 33....near Libourne /Bordeaux/St Foy we researched for years.We found that the price level which gave us what we needed.Always if we found a property below that price it was either sitting on a main road with a busy railway line just behind the garden.....or it had dry rot and was 10km from tnhe nearest boulangery.Another aspect is location....certainly there are cheaper areas .....most of you know them...just like the difference between Kensal Rise and Kensington[although the didivde is narrowing!]We needed to be in a tourist catchment area....grapes and chateaux provide that landscape and provide extra beauty.Our season will be from April to some time in October......next year....that is if the worlds economy stabalises a little and people still seek holidays and buisness trips.So  if you are  leaving uk merely to retire the location is based on personal prefernce to enviroment.The British...by the way are as stubbon about price as the French......everyone concidiers that their property/ies are their vital assests.
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