selling property without immobiller

[Kingdingaling]

We may be selling our house in France in the new year and wondered if its necessary to go through an immobilier, when we bought we felt we couldnt have done it without them but if we was to get a buyer ourselves could we go straight to a notaire.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Miki]

No need at all.

A notaire is all you need but sometimes for possible ease of transaction, translation, if neither party is au fait with the language etc, it can be a little easier but certainly not obligatory.

 

[Will]

You also need to think about marketing - if you want to sell to overseas, e.g. British, buyers rather than French (different sort of houses are attractive to different markets) then an immobilier will give you a wider coverage. Most notaires, there are some exceptions, are notoriously bad at advertising and marketing. The amount you get from the sale will be the same whichever option you choose.

[Moorejw]

We sold our maison secondaire privately this year. We advertised it on the French Property News website and had loads of enquiries. We found the process very straightforward, and even translated for our (English) buyers. It saves on agency fees, so everybody benefits (except the agencies).

I guess it depends on where your property is, as to how propular the area is, how accessible if you are planning on selling to the UK market.

You can also advertise in the local paper's petites annonces which only costs a few euros.

[Will]

I certainly wouldn't deny that private sales can work well. In fact I notice that you say 'if we were to find a buyer ourselves...'. If you do this then there is no point whatsoever in using an agence immobilier as you have already done the fundamental part of their job, though of course you are legally obliged to use a notaire to handle the legal and taxation side of things. And as Miki points out, a good agent will provide all sort of help and support for buyer and seller over and above finding the buyer.

I think it only fair to point out that when hoping to sell privately, somebody has to show potential buyers around, which can be awkward to arrange if you are not close at hand. Also (as their avatar might indicate) John & Angie do have a good knowledge of the French property system -which is totally different from the English system - and the language. If you aren't as well equipped and qualified you will probably need a particularly cooperative notaire and/or translator.

The buyer will certainly save on agency fees, but advertising, time and cost of going to the house to meet potential buyers, possible translation costs, letters and phone calls could all add up to the seller being out of pocket compared with using a notaire or agency to sell the house - unless the selling price is jacked up accordingly. Buyers will be aware that no agency fees are involved so will expect the asking price to reflect this, or will take it into account when making an offer.

[Ron Avery]

Why not use an Immobilier? The buyer pays the fees, its not like the UK where the seller pays the Agents fees

[Jirac18]

Why not do both, just make sure you sign a mandat that does not exclusively tie you to an agent. If they demand or ask you do then they are not worth a dime!