property sale france

French purchase offer – Offre d’achat

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Promise of purchase – Offre d’achat If you want to sell your house in France and you find buyers who say they are interested, you logically start with negotiations. At some point the price will be agreed upon and an appointment has to be made for signing a compromis de vente (preliminary deed). By the … Read more

What’s wrong with the property agents in France?

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property agents in franceProperty agents in France are having to deal with  big problem. Almost 50% of the real estate transactions in France is done ‘entre particuliers’. This means that buyers and sellers find each other, negotiate and close the transaction without the intervention of a professional realtor. Only the signing of the contracts is, of course, done at the notary’s. In any case 50% private sales is a lot more than in neighbouring countries, where the involvement of a property broker is standard practice. In the Netherlands, for instance, only a few per cent of the deals go through without an agency. How can we explain this difference?

Property agents in France – a high price

The most important reason for bypassing the property agents in France is the high prices they charge. Lately there is a bit of a shift downwards under pressure from the market and the Internet, but for a long time you had to pay the ‘agent immobilier’ at least 6%. A broker in Burgundy, with an

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Rapid decline in property prices in France

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According to the notaries in France – and they should know because they’ve already seen the preliminary deeds pass through their offices – the property prices in France are going to plummet with 7% in the next two months. Seven percent! In two months!

There are several developments behind this rapid and sudden decline. First of all, several

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“We take the commission from the buyer.” Yeah, right.

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Apart from trying to find buyers for the owners advertising on our site Immogo, I’m also selling my own house. Just now, I received the following email:

Dear vendor, I would like to introduce myself to you. My name is Xxxx and I work for Xxxx-Immobilier. I have noticed your advertisement and maybe you would like to have a look on our side nameofpropertysite.com. We have a lot of potential buyers manly from the uk and other european countries and we are providing a wide range of publicity. There are no costs for you as we take the commission from the buyer and we do not work exclusiv. So you are still free to sell your property alone or with other agences. If you like to benefit from our knowlegde and support do not hesitate to contact me via…

I wonder why the property agents (or their Agents Commerciaux) keep using the same blatant lie: “There are no costs for you as

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A lower price leads to impressive success including a sale

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One of our advertisers had been trying to sell her house for several years. The end of 2011, forced by quite sad circumstances, she decided to reduce its price from 525,000 to 420,000 euros. A really good price for this beautiful villa with a large pool in the Provence. Just below the average for similar property in her region. Ever since she lowered her price, she received a few dozen serious reactions through Immogo. Mostly from people who wanted to visit on short notice. And as it seems, one of these interested clients is now buying her villa, so she can return to her children in the Netherlands.

Lower price, more success
It is no surprise that a lower price enhances the chances for a quick sale. For us however, this success has another important implication. It means that virtually anyone can sell his house through Immogo, provided the price is realistic. According to our click counter,

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Buying a home in France without a property agent – free objective advice

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Are you considering buying a house in France? Remember that many estate agents in France are extremely expensive (up to 9%!). And it is not very complicated to do business directly with the owner. How to go about it? All the information you need is available on the Internet. We’ll be happy to point you in the right direction.

The housing market in France is not very transparent. There is no one big site where all brokers publish their portfolio. Each broker works on its own regional island, trying to screen his offer from all his competitors. This makes it difficult for buyers to get a clear picture of the total market. What’s more, brokers in France usually ask 5% up to

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Buying a tourist business in France

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Let’s say you are considering the purchase of a holiday venue in France. Something we call a ‘gîte’ but the French authorities officially call a ‘meublé de tourisme’ (furnished tourist home) This wish inevitably brings up a couple of questions. Which is better? To buy a normal home, mansion or farm and do some building work to create a guesthouse or holiday rental home exactly as you imagine it? Or should you buy an existing gîte business already used for holiday rental? Sometimes, the question does not even arise, simply because you fall in love with a building and the spot it is sitting in. You could not care less whether it is already a business: you want to live there! But when you are still searching it is something you might want to consider. If only to help you choose a certain research strategy and narrow the field. Whichever you choose, you need not be afraid of the legal implications or other

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