If you are searching for property for sale in France, it is a good idea to also think about how you will attack the problem of finding the right house at the right price. Looking at the enormous offer of property for sale in France, you will soon find that the prices are wildly different from one area to the other. And of course also the state of the property has a lot to do with the price. Other factors that influence the price are costs and commissions for professionals in real estate (agents immobiliers), and of course your negotiating skills. In this article I’d like to go into the different ways there are to save money on buying a house in France. Having extensive experience in buying property in France myself, I – ahum – consider myself somewhat of an expert. Even though I’m still a lousy negotiator. But you know the old adage: those who can’t, teach. So here are my tips.
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Look for property for sale in France’s less popular regions
France has a lot of popular regions. Places where ‘everyone’ wants to buy a house. You’ll find large concentrations of British there, who’ve all heard from each other how great it is where they have bought their property in France. Unfortunately, the popularity of these French regions has also influenced
Selling a house is an art in itself. An important part of the job is real estate communication. For houses in France this is a lot more complex than in many other European countries. The market in France is much less transparent, with real estate agents trying to outdo each other and also having to compete with both the notaries and their clients: the private sellers themselves. After all, many owners try to save 5 to 6% commission by finding a buyer themselves – without a broker.
A real estate agent in France costs the seller between 4% and – in the case of cheaper houses – as much as 10% of the selling price. While in the Netherlands as a seller you only pay 1% to 1.5%. Why is the estate agent so expensive in France? Does he or she deliver so much more quality? The sales advertisements produced by the real estate agents do not reflect this. A superior quality is obviously not the reason for the high price of the French broker. We will gladly explain it to you.
Move to France and live like a Burgundian… now this might be possible even with a limited budget. Especially in view of the still relatively modest property prices in France. In the more rural areas, a sum less than a 100,000 euros will get you a very charming independent home sitting on a nice piece of land. This while many people in the UK own a house that has become much more valuable in the past ten years. A surplus value of a few hundred thousand pounds is no exception! This is why more and more people decide: “Cash in and check out! We are moving to France!” They sell their old house and 
Do you dream of running your own campsite in France? You’re not the only one. As webmaster of IMMOGO, a site full of French real estate from private sellers, we often receive requests to this effect. People mail the owner or even call us on the phone: “We are interested in this property, because it has lots of land. Can we start a campsite there?” The same thing happens with advertisements for large houses with many rooms: “Is this object (I don’t know why such a house would suddenly become an ‘object’, but well) also suitable to start a Bed & Breakfast?”
If you are selling a property in France, the notary costs will be charged to the buyer. These costs are around 7 to 8% and consist largely of taxes. The notary himself is only allowed to keep a small portion of these fees. So he does not really earn a lot. Unless you’ve given the notary an official sales mandate and he actually comes up with the final buyer. In that case you as a seller will have to pay him an extra 3%… the so-called ‘frais de négociation’. The mandatory part, i.e. the fixed notary fees, is calculated as a percentage of the selling price. You can check the amount using the