Advice on selling our property in Dordogne, France

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Waterfall
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Joined: Mon Aug 10, 2009 8:37 pm
Location: Dordogne, France
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Advice on selling our property in Dordogne, France

Post by Waterfall »

Hi folks,

We're trying to sell our property in Dordogne, France, and are currently having no luck with our local French estate agent.

Is now is a good time (time of year, markets, etc) to start pushing other forms of advertising (online, magazines)?

I've seen a few websites that we could advertise with. They all rank well with search engines:

Rightmove Overseas (very expensive!)
French Entrée
Living France's France Property Shop

Any comments on experience with any of these websites would be very useful!

Thanks ever so much for your help!
ccazes
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Joined: Mon Nov 02, 2009 5:02 pm
Location: France

Post by ccazes »

Before paying for these other options I would google all the different estate agents in your area.
I think that if you can find an estate agent with a good website and a listing on page 1 when using google or Yahoo it might be an idea to sign up with them to sell your home. Look at the google paid ads on the sidebar and see who advertises there when you google estate agent + your area. I know that for our area there are a few estate agents who advertise throughout Europe so if you have an estate agent (or several) who does the same why not try them out?
If you use the services you mentioned you will still need a local estate agent to deal with visits and hopefully putting the sale through anyways.
When we were looking we didn't see our villa online but looked at all the agents who had an online presence and then asked them to send us their availability according to our criteria.
Good luck!
kitkat
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Location: Montagrier, Dordogne 24
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Post by kitkat »

Hi Waterfall,

We too are in the Dordogne and 'selling-up'.

I suspect that the Spring time is the most popular for house hunters although having said that we were searching and found our place in January.

We have our place with a couple of local agents as well as using a few private sites - some are free, others pay per listing. I have listed them below...

green-acres.com/en/
dordogne.angloinfo.com/forum/forum.asp?FID=1005 (Don't forget to check the 'property wanted' section too - somebody maybe looking for what you have)!
gumtree.com/london/07/68845507.html
postyourproperty.co.uk/property_details.php?refID=6524
immogo.com/en/house-1328/Large_country_house_with_granny_annex_2_gites_and_pool.html
propertyenfrance.com/index.aspx
vivastreet.co.uk/
affidata.co.uk/sh/nav?cmd=samenvattingwoning&geo=W241L250R1345T10473&objectid=97233
frenchpropertydirect.com/listings/-country-house-with-2-gites-swimming-pool-dordogne/
leboncoin.fr/ventes_immobilieres/162458671.htm
immoweb.be/en/place-real-estate-ad.cfm?xvl=1

Some are probably not very good but I figure what the heck, they're free, it'll all help with SEO hopefully.

I first put our place on the market in April this year with dordognepropertyagency.com/properties/DPA2689.aspx and we had a couple of viewings from them - a Dutch family. Over the following months I then put it on most of the other sites listed above and with another local agency... Leggetts. We've had most interest from Greenacres with 1 viewing from a Belgium family. Fingers crossed we get more enquiries in the new year.

Anyway, good luck and I hope the above info helps
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Jimbo
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Post by Jimbo »

It's harder work and may be riskier but, if you have the energy, offering your property as a private sale using internet property sites can pay dividends - particularly as you already have an excellent 'sale website' to accompany these adverts. And, the lack of agents' fees is a significant reduction in France. Doesn't stop you using local agents as well to spread your coverage.

I'd suggest choosing those property portals who allow you to publicise your website in their copy (not all do this) and who make it obvious that your's is a private sale - being able to search under 'private sale' is particularly useful. I would choose the cheapest short-term option on each site and monitor their performances carefully by assessing the quality of your enquiries and by observing google's analytics - and renew only those who perform. Be prepared for the usual crop of scammers, time-wasters and thinly-disguised property agents but, if all goes well, you will unearth some potential buyers who probably wouldn't have found you through local agents.

Better sites for French property (IMO):

french-property.com
frenchpropertyshop.com
frenchentree.com
green-acres.com (won't allow you to put a website link but you can suggest that clients contact you for this and they translate in several languages (as an option).

jacwoodestates.co.uk (Jacwood are traditional property agents charging the usual fees to buyers, but they do specialise in gite properties).

Good luck - Spring is coming when buyers' minds turn to running away to France!

Jim
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enid
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Post by enid »

We are with several agents but are just starting work on a private sale. We have created a separate website http://houseandgitesforsale.com/home/ as the main web site is still selling holidays. That is a dilemma how to show that the holiday experience isn't compromised by the sale.
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Giddy Goat
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Post by Giddy Goat »

Just had a quick peek Enid - fab site, great pics and text: a super model for others to follow when it's their turn. Hope you get a serious nibble soon!
Nostalgia isn't what it used to be
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