Thanks for posting this Steve ! I find it hard to believe that there wasn't sort of bias in the editorial!?
Go and make a low offer Dave!! It could be the only one they get ! Unless that is, they get a call from the local recycling centre! The pink undies go really well with the bike wheel!!
Thank you Sheelagh for your interesting and informative response. I am sure that if all agents worked with your level of professionalism, vendors would be far happier to accept higher fees than they are used to paying in the UK.
I agree that many vendors are unrealistic about the value of their properties. Speaking from recent experience, I did invite a series of agents who I felt I could trust to give an unbiased appraisal of my property and of course, a "fourchette" of what they felt it would sell for in the current market. I ensured that they gave a valuation which was without any hint from me as to what the others had said. They visited at one hourly intervals, one after the other so did not have the opportunity to discuss with each other! As a vendor, I know it is difficult to resist the temptation offered by many agents who begin by asking how much we think our house is worth or even ask how much we need to get for it. I do sometimes wonder if this is a ploy which offers the possibility of giving a low valuation and therefore a quick and easy sale. Of course, we must realise that neither of these two factors can be accounted for in an appraisal. No matter what we feel we would like to achieve, any given property will have a notional valued give or take a small percentage. That price is a value judgement based on market conditions and the local market and has no bearing on our own wishes.
It is of course very important to show the property off at its best. I take pride in ensuring that my properties are viewed in unashamed show house condition, appropriately dressed, presented and lit. I accept that not all vendors take this view as they believe that buyers will see through the mess.
Thank you once again for joining in the debate Sheelagh. I would also be very interested to hear you views of fees as my angst with the state of the French Estate Agency business is on two levels, the lack of professionalism and the fee structure.
In turn, I wish you an enjoyable and a fruitful weekend.
Quite agree Sten. Knowing what I know now, I would steer well clear of agencies and search the net for private ads of which there are many. All things being equal, you should save yourself around 7% of the price and I would imagine get a far more enthusiastic response!
Interesting Peter! I'm sure you are absolutely right. I've seen plenty of evidence of all that you say. It's just a shame that for the vast majority of vendors, they have to pay such high fees out of the real price when it is finally agreed by all concerned. You would imagine that with all the possibilities available these days on the internet, that more people would prefer to put in a little work of their own to keep hold of their hard earned cash.
!!! Point taken Dave !!
Hi Em,
Thank you for your compliment. It represents almost three years of hard work all of which was thoroughly enjoyable!
It's been on the market for 2 months with 11 viewings, all self generated!!! I've turned down one offer of 12k below the asking price and then I had to go to the UK on business for two months. Just got back and now will begin selling again!
That would make sense Simon. Do you know what the commissions are in the Netherlands?
!!! You think you're confused!? It's my aticle that's generated the discussion; I have had 45 responses and can only see a few????
Simple enough, wait for them to break the law and then report them. A chap I worked with in an agency was imprisoned for 'illegal' activities' following complaints from clients and dodgy book keeping
Quite right David. Actually, I'm sure our agent must have been an anglo saxon in a former life ;-)
One variant though. A vendor who has completed and left recently asked for an exclusive mandate with my OH. She had been here long enough to know the pros and cons and simply wanted to keep the other agents off her back. I guess she could as easily have just said it was, but whatever her reason she wanted and had it. Fortunately it worked. To the best of my knowledge it is the only one my OH has ever had.
its no wonder immos get a bad rep !
with things like this going on - yet if anybody names & shames its defamatory etc ...
The agents in question are far from reputable ......
The other concerning element is that they then tend to only introduce local French clients who then make very low offers , basically trying to wear down the vendors patience and price .
The notion of extra marketing seems to be the carrott dangled but then all they do is line up locals looking for a bargain !
well its recently become in fashion around here !
I have noticed a lot of property owned by expats being tied up in this way and the general gripe is they didnt realise what they were signing as the small print is so complex.
That said my insurance agent (French )had the same issue with his parents in law who put their house up for sale with the local agent and realised afterwards that they were in an exclusive contract !
So they even manage to trick French vendors this way - luckily this one was only for 3 months and then it was cancelled allowing them to do what they choose.
This practice used to happen a lot but it seems to have gone out of fashion, maybe buyers are more streetwise ? A good warning tho' Steve and a reminder that signing things you don't fully understand can be a dangerous thing. A UK buyer wouldn't dream of signing a document he or she didn't understand in the UK so why be any different in France ?
Good advice too from Sheelagh as usual but just to say I did try to 'invite' my local notaire to put my property on his books and he refused saying it wasn't worthwhile as he hasn't sold anything in my price range for over two years ! I decided to change notaire ...
Hi Steve, it is unfortunately agent like the ones you mention that give the rest of us a bad name. I have even had an instance where a vendor rang me for advice as she has signed an exclusive mandate with one of my competitors, she had then found a buyer privately via a friend and the agent told her she still had to pay their commission. Needless to say this didn't happen and they vendor achieved her sale in the end without paying the agent anything.
I would normally advise sellers to put their house on the market with three people, a notaire who will capture the local market and those who will never use agencies, a French high street agent and finally an English agent like myself working with a reputable company that will advertise your property on the big portals like Rightmove etc. This way you have good coverage across all sectors of the market and a better chance of a sale. As a rule the English speaking buyers from all over Europe prefer to deal with an English speaking agent if they are not confident with the language.
A good warning. The main thing I noticed though Steve, was that when we tried to sell a property that had multiple agents nothing happened for 2 years, but as soon as we opted for exlusivity (with someone reputable) our property sold immediately. This happened more than once. :)
I would like to add a little warning to anyone planning to sell their property via local agents.
Recently I have noticed quite a surge in Exclusive mandates ie one agency has the property for sale at the exclusion of any other agents .
The agent in particular near me is persuading vendors to do this in return for extra marketing - namely a sale board , window display and local color printed leaflet produced every few months ( not surprisingly this leaflet is full of property which is all marked exclusive)
In my view these are the things any agent would / should offer anyway and should not be an extra.
The sting in the tail is that the period of exclusivity which should be 3 months and no more and during this period the vendors are forbidden to even talk to other agents but in the fine print hidden away is that the exclusivity is a rolling contract of some type - probabaly illegal and the vendors who have poor French language skill feel they have an obligation to stay in the agreement for a minimum of a year !
I am sure there are many reputable local firms who would not engage in such practices but please beware .
I've had much worse experiences in Terrytown, near NY. I believe it is just about the margin, the cut the agent can grap and if you trust in what he says, don't blame the agent, blame yourself. There is no ethic, only law and law is so lala ;-)...