Selling and buying.

[maude]

Why is this country such a closed and secret society by agents who after all are out to make a profit.I cannot understand how any property can be advertised with the location shown as "between Rennes and Montpellier!" for instance.Its an absolute waste of everyones time and money.If they understood the principles of marketing in the true sense then half their current comission may be justified.Ive spent much time trolling round the agents,viewing web sites etc,and very,very few give much idea on locations which is one of the most important things.Couple this with their "photographs" and theres not much hope for any reduction in their fees which both buyer and seller finish up paying in the end.Must be a good opportunity for " the dragons" to come in here,or the likes of Allen Sugar!A good rocket up their jacksie would benefit all.

                feel better now,Maude

[Tony F Dordogne]

French do it the French way Maude, it works for the French for the majority of the time so why change it to suit the British?

[Jinty]

Disagree with Maude, we used   www.jovimmo-immobilier.com, they were brilliant, very helpful, very honest, good photo's, good communication and made the buying process so easy.  [:)]

[Iceni]

As it is so easy Maude I take it that you are about to open a chain of estate agents and show the Froggies how it's done.

John

not

 

[maude]

Not meaning to upset anyone-just extremely frustrated on the difficulties of locating properties we could be interestd in without driving round for ages looking at everything we dont want. Maude.  Have been shown severe renovation projects,not wanted,barns, not wanted,"gites"not wanted,isolated up tracks not wanted,just a waste of time for all and then to add upwards of8%.

[Will]

Two points -

French agents' insurance requires that visits - particularly to dilapidated properties - are always accompanied. For this reason, and also the way in which their mandates work, meaning they can lose out on commission, they will not be specific about locations.

A very high proportion of buyers go into an agency with very specific lists of things that a house must have or must not have. They walk out some time later and after several visits having bought something quite different from their 'must haves'. A good agent will try to interpret what the buyer really wants and show them houses that should interest them, rather than just foillowing wish lists. Unfortunately a lot of agents in France are not very good at either. Maybe the language gets in the way.

Oh, and a third point. You will not find an agent in France able to operate at the same commission rates as those in England. If they did they would either go out of business very quickly or clean up the market. The lowest rate you will find is 4% on an average sort of property. Even notaires, who are effectively government subsidised, charge a sales commission of 2.5% to 5% (and add on TVA at 19.6%).

As somebody said previously, this is France, where things are done differently. Not always better, just differently. Those differences are why a lot of people come here.

[Iceni]

[quote user="maude"]........  Have been shown severe renovation projects,not wanted,barns, not wanted,"gites"not wanted,isolated up tracks not wanted,just a waste of time for all ........[/quote]

So the only difference to England is the % charged then ?

Suggest that you trawl the web and deal direct with the seller

John (who did just that)

with