Hello
We are starting to look into selling our French country home. Do you have any tips or good web sites in the UK or the Netherlands ?
Thank you
Thanks very much Christian
If you want to advertize your house by yourself, you'll probably have to pay to have an ad published. It's not much if you sell it swiftly but the fees can amount to quite a lot of money if your buyers are procrastinating. What they will do.
I am an estate agent but I don't sell houses (I am a property finder) so I can freely recommend asking a good agent as Suzanne advised. His/her commission will be paid by the buyer (make sure the mandate specifies that point) and he/she will have access to both the French and the UK market if you chose him/her well. On Green acres, you can may find a list of the agents located near to your house that are registered on this site which I consider one of the most attractive for UK buyers (despite its awful appearance).
Thank you very much Suzanne
I looked at this recently for a friend and couldn't find a UK site that didn't charge and would accept an overseas address. Some sites exist aiming at the overseas buyer and charge for photos and the listing for example greenacres. Have you tried Le Bon Coin for the French market? For overseas markets a good agent recommended by someone who has sold their property through them is probably the easiest way to go as they can list on Primelocation, Rightmoves overseas.
If you do a Google search for’ free advertising on property-for-sale sites’ you’ll find there are a great many. There are also sites that take a one-off set nominal fee and advertise your property until it’s sold. Useful also if you wish to add the link to a personal advertisement for your property.
I am about to advertise in California on a very specialised site.
Why dont you speak to some agents? I realise the standards of service can be dramatically different, but they will do all of your advertising for free and if they find you a buyer then they take a fee. The single biggest reason vendors cannot find buyers for their homes is due to over-pricing their home. Use the myriad websites available to take a look at what you will be competing with in your area and look at your home with a critical and pragmatic eye, not the more rosy view lots of vendors take whilst remembering the many hours of labour during the renovations or the protracted negotiations with the local farmer for extra land etc etc. Buyers I am afraid dont care, they want to know they are paying a fair price in the current market in that location. If not, they simply move on and find something else, it’s not as though there isn’t any choice??? Invite agents around to discuss how they will market your home. Are they focusing on International buyers, or will they focus solely on the domestic market. Dont be tempted to sign an Exclusive mandate unless teh agency can prove to you they cover all bases. It would be counterproductive to tie yourself in to this type of contract if the agency only hit one makret. (Offering International marketing for example is not an agency in the high street who gets the odd walk in foreigner??) You need an agency that actively markets to buyers from around teh world and domestically. (The domestic French market is really picking up now and it makes sense to get your home in front of those buyers too.). Best of luck finding a buyer.
Hello Katherine
I am a French estate agent selling mainly gites, B&Bs, hamlets and rural property. I used to have lots of buyers from the UK, Scandinavia and the Benelux but now the market is firmly French with a smattering of Belgians and Swiss. You are wasting time and money advertising to the Brits. The pound has fallen 10% but vendors’ prices haven’t followed suit… so the Brits are waiting to see what happens with Brexit. But even at the best of times British buyers account for less than 0.5% of properties sold in France!!
It may seem obvious, but it’s the French who buy property in France.
You can sell it yourself or use an agent: works out much the same in the end cost-wise as advertising on the ‘good’ sites is often onerous.
Good luck!
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