Valuations

[PaulT]

Starting to think about future plans and how the French house fits in and, obviously, a good idea of its worth would be useful so that we can make informed decisions. Will a French immo do this and would there be a charge?

A some point we will want to sell it and will then more than likely sellvia an immo.

[NormanH]

Any agence will give you a paying estimate, which becomes 'free' if you use them to sell.

Of course you could  put it on the market and take it off a bit later..

On the other hand the "valuations" I have had in the past have often been of the style 'How much do you want for it' rather than the careful professional advice you might expect.

[Lehaut]

Going to sell our house and had both an immobilier come and do a valuation, no charges, no strings. Also had the local Notaires man come and do a valuation. No one asked what we wanted, rather they told us what the market can afford.

Used the figures to put the houses on PAP and LeBoncoin to see what happens.

[woolybanana]

In my last selling exercise, the valuations varied wildly,in part because my house was not conventional and the agents did not now how to value it, but also because they were valuing for an easy and fast sale. Valuations were free, however.

In the end, I used an agency which accepted that I would fix the valuation myself and within a week they had the eventual buyer. The final price I got was quite a bit higher than that suggested by any of the French agents.

So, maybe DIY though there are a lot of chancers out there.

[andyh4]

We have friends who had a similar experience to Wooly's.

4 years ago they decided to return to the UK and invited the two local agents in to value their fairly new build.

One came in at 12% above the other. They decided that neither was "enough". [I think this meant enough to allow them to buy what they wanted back in the UK.] They therefore put the house on Le Bon Coin at 35% above the lowest estimate. WE of course thought silly whatsits. But within 6 weeks they had sold (to a Frenchman( at their asking price minus 4% - or 30% above the lowest estimate.

[suein56]

[quote user="PaulT"]Starting to think about future plans and how the French house fits in and, obviously, a good idea of its worth would be useful so that we can make informed decisions. Will a French immo do this and would there be a charge? [/quote]

The rule of thumb in our area is that if you are happy with a verbal price then it's free. If you want an expert appraisal and valuation written down on paper then that costs - usually in the region of around 100 euros.

All this will vary widely, as ever in France, depending on where you live.

according to advice we were given it is advisable to have at least 3 valuations if you are thinking of selling. Just for your own info, then your own thoughts of value, 2 valuations and a peek at www.leboncoin.fr for your area should suffice.

Sue

[mint]

Well, what I did was to look around at various sites and estate agents' windows, concentrating on houses for sale in our village and other villages around us.

Then I compared what we had with the properties for sale around us.  I decided to go for the same price that we bought the house for.  Bear in mind that this is now about 3 years ago when the market was really depressed.  Everything around our present house seems to be going fairly briskly in recent months but it wasn't like that then and it was nowhere near as good an area as we are in now.

Put it on leboncoin and, before I knew it, I was turning agents away who wanted to sell it for us. Because the market was so depressed, I agreed with 4 agents to sell, 2 French, 2 English but I did not give any of them an exclusive contract and I made it clear that I reserved the right to sell it myself.

All the agents said my valuation was about spot on.

Didn't need any of them in the end because I sold it myself in 36 days from leboncoin site.  Admittedly, I took out their package of 10 photos for just under 11 euros.  Then I renewed the advert after about 3 weeks in order to correct some French grammatical errors and paid another 11 euros but I could have saved the second lot of 11 euros because barely had the new advert with grammar corrected appeared than I agreed a sale.

You might be interested to know that the 4 agents managed to get 4 viewings between them and I got 4 viewings off my own bat and the sale!

I know you'd probably have to engage an agent, Paul, because you are not in France full-time.  To sell yourself, you need to be on the spot, answering emails, taking phone enquiries and being ready at the drop of a hat to show people round.

But I found it an enriching experience (no, not the money) but I got to show people round MY house, I sorted out the technical problems, I dealt with all the legal stuff and I will always feel a sense of pride in having done it all myself. 

[PaulT]

Many thanks for the replies and useful info.

The plan is not to sell now just so that we have an idea of what its value might be so that we can formulate plans for the future.

Do realise that sometimes a lot of time is needed to find a buyer.

[NormanH]

It is of course an old truth that the value is the price the buyer is prepared to buy.

My flat was one of 6 all for sale. There were certain differences of course but they were all broadly similar.

The prices paid varied from 25,000 to ....56,000 which admittedly already had double glazing, but which has still needed to be  given a month-long face lift.

Mine of course needs that but won't get it and I live in it quite happily.

The Moral seems to be that there isn't a real price..

[mint]

Norman is right, there is no "real price", just the price that someone is prepared to pay you and you are prepared to accept.

Paul, I think you could take a stab at gauging the price from the method I have described, looking around in your area for houses with about the same size of accommodation and approximately the same amenities. 

Even if you do engage an agent, I reckon that they, equally are taking a guess at what the house will sell for.  Fair enough, they should and sometimes do have a good sense of values but I think that is more the case in the UK.  They sold number 75 in your street recently and yours is priced a bit above or below that, depending on the condition and other variable factors.

Edit:  apologies, Paul, for some reason the site would not let me finish my post so this is a later addition.  I wanted to finish by saying that your own valuation should enable you to make your plans and, after all, nobody can be completely accurate!