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French Estate Agents - what to look out for?

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 9:13 am
by psh
We are selling our house in the Gers and would appreciate any advice about working with local estate agents. At this early stage we are not sure what questions we should be asking.

Posted: Mon May 06, 2019 10:06 am
by Moliere
One thing I notice repeatedly is the appalling standard of photograph in French estate agents, sometimes just a picture of a blank wall. Insist on vetting the photos they use.
Also, what is your target market? Is it likely to be all French or is there a foreign element? So how are the agent's language skills - round here agents who speak English are sought-after and encouraged to develop their skills.
All fees are negotiable.
Keep after them, or they'll lose enthusiasm after a few weeks.

That's for starters, I'm sure there'll be lots more advice.

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 9:52 am
by oasiscouple
I agree with Moliere about the poor standard of photographs. I have put my house in Gironde on the market but first prepared my own brochure of five A4 pages, first page with what I considered my best photo with outline information giving the important points, second page a room by room description with room sizes and floor, wall & ceiling finishes, then three pages of photos. I did two versions, one in English and one in French. I put all the photos on a USB key together with scans of important documents (deeds, taxes, cadastre etc.) and only then approached three estate agents. They loved it, used my photos and based their descriptions on adapted versions of mine. Already 10 visits in the 6 weeks since they put it on the market, but no offers so far.

Posted: Tue May 07, 2019 5:54 pm
by bornintheuk
Be careful of signing "exclusive deals" with estate agents. Although the fees may be lower if you or anyone else sells the property the agent with the exclusive deal will still demand their fees, and have legal right to do so.
Ask the agent how they plan to market your property - you may get a blank look but at least it may show if someone is on the ball or not.