I'm afraid that I have to disagree about the need to provide floorplans - if the details are suitably comprehensive and give approx room sizes, plus written description and good photos, then most intelligent people can work out the rough layout, sufficient to decide whether or not to view. From the Agent's perspective, if we provide all the information at the click of a mouse button we're doing ourselves out of a job since potential clients will decide about a property before viewing it and may reject the ideal house. Whereas face-to-face discussion about potential properties provides the opportunity to conduct a structured triage followed by visits to only those properties that truly meet the client's criteria - less time wasted for all concerned!
It works for me but many of clients complain that (French?) agents have dragged them to totally unsuitable properties on the off-chance that they will like them, wasting their limited time in the area. Estate Agency is a job that requires empathy and understanding of the client's needs rather than an on-line sales pitch that gets lost in the information overload.
You are absolutely right Doug...too easy to forget that if you run a business in France you tend to be penalised, and if you dare to employ anyone else...you seem to be responsible for them for the rest of their natural life! The odds are stacked against businesses in France...and so I agree, its much harder to offer a similar type of service. I do though stand by the fact that floor plans could be offered, decent photo's (often French estate agents will photograph a door knob or tap.....why???) and a questionnaire for viewers to establish their situation. We have even had an American couple view the house...stay for nearly 2 hours...questioned us at length on local builders and who we would suggest to put in the pool and a new kitchen....and then tell us they will be back once they have gone home to New Mexico and put their house on the market!!!!! now that really peed me off!
You forgot to mention the Japanese knot-weed which I understand is becoming something of a problem in French properties. We are hoping to move to France from Spain and have a list as long as your arm of things to get checked out, including of course termites!! YUK.
If I may add to Richard's excellent comments above with which I wholly agree - as an Independent Agent working with a French Agency for the past 8 years, I have been constantly questioned about the level of our Agency fees, which we have maintained at 6% but capped at 12 000 €. It is not possible to compare against the UK system, or indeed anywhere else, without taking into account the way in which the property market moves here, ie much more slowly and less transactions than UK, as well as the huge overheads associated with any small business in France. In order to employ an Agent on a salaried basis and pay just SMIC a business can pay out up to 3000 € per month in salary and social charges etc, without taking into account the global overheads of the office.
I work under the portage salaire system, but have to accept that only about 50% of what is paid Brut by the Agency to the portage company will be paid to me, and that's still without taking income tax into account. So, in order to get some sort of living out of the job, the Agency fees have to be set higher.
A typical small Agency in our area of Brittany may at present see each negotiator selling on average two properties per month, and even with the excellent commission percentage that I enjoy this does not provide a particularly good income when most houses are selling for under 100k. As Richard has highlighted, the travelling costs, plus communication costs, and the fact that we do all the running around that would be done by the Solictor in the UK (like many Agencies we prepare and sign the Compromis de Vente with the clients ourselves before passing the dossier to the Notaire) all needs to be taken into account. Trying to compare the job in the UK against the job here is not a realistic comparison at all!
No need to incur any additional expenditure as you will find that many of the diagnostic immobiliers will re-do the diagnostic checks free of charge if they have expired before you have sold your house - just make sure you sign a contract with them that makes that clear
Oh and also be wary of them setting a high price, calculating the commission on that price then fixing that amount so if u drop the price their commission on the mandate stays at the original amount!
I disagree Richard, I would advise people to only have the necessary reports done to market their properties as some of the tests have to be re-done and have an expiry date. With it being not uncommon for houses to be on the market for a couple of years or more in today's climate, this could incurr extra expenditure.
Shop around for lower agency fees - most in my area will charge about 8% (depending on the sale price of course) but one agency (La Pacte) charges between 3 & 4 % on all sales
Make sure you sign a contract of 'non exclusivité' with the agent - more sneaky agents have been known to get customers to sign an 'exclusivité' contract which will tie you down to that agent until the contract expires
We are in the process of selling our house - should be signing the acte on Friday. We paid 5.5% agency commission and around 420 euro for the DPE - see my blog post: DPE Costs & Experience.
I understand that the buyer pays the Notaires fees...at least I am not expecting to pay any on Friday I hope!
As it is our principal residence we won't be liable for any plus value - well actually with the state of house prices and the number of factures we've presented for the renovation work there wouldn't be any anyway! We broke even just about.
Best of luck! Ask around for best price on the DPE and what it includes and make sure they include the return visit on the around the date of the compromis for free.
I agree with you about the importance of floorplans Carol which is why I do one for every French property that I market....plus high quality photographs. I offer a 7 day a week service and am often on the 'phone with clients after 8.00pm. I hope that by bringing this kind of service to the French market, I can carve out a niche for myself
In the 4 years we have been in France…I have learned to adapt, well, a little bit. I have continued to work sporadically in the UK and now we will have a proper family house instead of just a tiny flat, I will stay here most of the time, working. I am at present a nurse in a college…and as such can return to our house in France in the holidays. I have also run my own businesses and am a bit of a workaholic, so should have realised France wouldnt be for me. But I still enjoy ‘downtime’ there…its just that I like plenty of ‘uptime’ too to balance it out.
Very much agree with that comment Brian…but then there isnt the degree of competition either. Everyone seems happy to charge the same and no one seems to have the business killer instinct…(think you can tell why France didnt work for me…!)