French pay too much for their brokers in an opaque market

Personally, I have been calling it out for years, but now the French competition authority, also known as Autorité de la Concurrence, has also expressed concern about high and opaque commissions in the buying and selling of real estate. They call for stricter supervision of professionals in the sector. According to the Autorité de la … Read more

Looking for property for sale in France? Here are Seven Ways to Save!

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.

  1. Look for property for sale in France’s less popular regions

Property for sale in France (Tournus)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

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Immogo, the specialist in real estate communication

Onroerend goed-communicatie FrankrijkSelling 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.

As a result of the fierce competition between brokers, there is no site that – like for instance Funda.nl in the Netherlands – makes the market almost 100% transparent. Real estate agents do not want to share their portfolio online without restrictions, for fear that their competitors will try to poach their clients.

Real estate communication is too much of an investment

Another important problem is that brokers in France are not prepared to invest in their clients. With a few exceptions, especially in the higher price ranges. We can see the lack of motivation from the presentations that the real estate agents produce in the field of real estate communication. Poor pictures, brief descriptions, no presentation advice, for example with home styling. In other countries this is much more evolved. As a result, all the houses on sites outside of France are neatly arranged and super clean on the photo, with only tasteful (and noncommittal) art on the walls.

Why don’t the

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French real estate prices rise – The trend for 2018

2017 was an exceptionally good year for the French real estate market. House prices in France have increased with 2% on average and it now looks likely that this trend will continue in 2018.

French house prices rise

When we take a closer look at house prices in France we see big differences within the French market. The prices in the countryside have on average stayed more or less the same, while the prices in the cities went up.

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Property in France still popular despite Brexit

english buy house in france+ 34% is the number of the day… a number that corresponds to the increase in purchases of real estate in France by British buyers compared to 2016 (Leggett Real Estate). The British, as it turns out, do not seem at all afraid of the imminent Brexit “rupture” with the continent with regard to their investments in French territory.

As a direct consequence of the ever-increasing demand from foreign as wel as French buyers, real estate prices in France are still climbing in the big cities – assuring that an investment in property in France will be an opportunity for <! – more -> added value in the long run. The company ‘Meilleurs Agents’ noted an increase from 1% to more than 5% depending on the city, whether in the provinces or in the capital, with Marseille in lead (5.4%).

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