establishing house price

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Had my old farmhouse in the Vendée for roughly twelve years now but it is too big so time to move on. But how to establish a price. I've looked in the agents windows but find that quite confusing.

Given that prices of property are said to have doubled in the last ten or so years, would it be reasonable to ask double what I paid.

But then what about the value added? Should I simply increase the price by what I have laid out?

Or is this all too simplistic.

Help and opinions appreciated please.

[Will]

Far too simplistic, and one of the reasons why there are so many overpriced houses around - people want to get back what they spent in buying and having work done, not to mention the fees paid to agents, notaires and the government, then add on a percentage for themselves (forgetting to take off a percentage for all the pleasure they have had out of the place).

Best thing is to get an agent to value the place. Tip = better to get the agent him/herself, or a salaried employee, to do it. Self-employed sales people on commission often have targets to meet in terms of houses taken on, so will give a high valuation to tempt you to sign a mandat - then when there are no buyers you will be advised to drop the price, so if you go for a sensible price to start with you will save time and aggravation.

If the house is too big for you then it is likely to be too big for a lot of buyers, so might not get as high a valuation as you may like. On the other hand, you say you have owned it for a long time, so you stand a far better chance of getting your money back with profit than those who have only owned for 2-3 years.

[Iceni]

[quote user="woolybanana"]

But then what about the value added? Should I simply increase the price by what I have laid out?

[/quote]

Cost has nothing to do with selling price - just because you/we have paid too much for the wreck them spent too much renovating it is irrelevant. The finished article is only worth what the next person will pay you for it. So why not do in France what we did in England ? Invite an estate agent or few around to give you some prices - then decide but remember it may not be as much as you expect.

Accountant not

[Llwyncelyn]

Again I could not agree more with Will.  By way of example was recommended to an agent of a local immobilier who wandered around drew some breath and then suggested a price and with which we were more than happy.  Very happy!

In the UK there are comparables here there are not.

Sir Alan Sugar would have said that he was looking for an apprentice that was drop dead shrewd.

I was not.

Found out and very quickly that the employee was self employed and naturally to sell something you have to have it in your books.  Thus the inflated value and to which you add their fees and those of the Notaire resulted in a highly price house and which within weeks was reduced in price.

End result considerable activity.

Like the UK good and bad agents and as Will says most go through without any problems and all are happy.

I am learning every day to be aware on your toes and to look after yourself.  France does not in real terms have the same consumer protection and indeed legal system to the UK.  As to house buying I prefer the UK its more structured but of course here you get to exchange very quickly.

Final point if you are able just look from time to time at the houses of Notaires!

[woolybanana (ex tag)]

Can you help me out please. I've forgotten, who pays the agents fees, the buyer or the seller?

[Just Katie]

http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/680583/ShowPost.aspx

There you go WB.  I remember this being discussed a while ago