Go to Twiku for opinion and Fruk for my diary.
It was a hot and humid day in the south of France – one day I promise I will start a note with “It was a dark and stormy night” – but not today, it was too humid.
Today my delight was showing a couple from Ireland some houses in Herault – we looked at some yesterday and this their second day of searching for a home in Languedoc – my aim is to try to show the variety of both homes and towns. Every place has a unique “signature” a personal identity which can take time to find – my job, or part of my job, is to reveal these differences yet not to let my personal preferences and biases interfere.
OK, I admit, this is impossible – I cannot help exposing my personal likes and dislikes for villages and towns – I need to sell houses to feed my family, but cannot tell honest people that overpriced rubbish, is a dream home.
Perhaps we will starve, but I believe not.
It is clear in my head my duty is to the person looking for a home – the person selling is not my client. The problem is that the agreement I have is with the owner of the property, the person selling, and they are asking me to sell their home, they are not my client, but they are relying on me to sell their home.
I get a commission if I sell, but the buyer eventually pays this – so my logic is that my responsibility is to the person who stomps up the readies – that is, the buyer.
Yet – the person selling is sometimes desperate to sell – needs to sell – prices have been rising – dreams of capital and investments are in every scrap of media.
The first need of humans (of all animals) is not water, food or sex – it is shelter.
I know what I like and believe in our local region – I have contact and empathy with the local owners and suppliers – I try to help my clients (the people buying) and the people selling.
Thank goodness the sun shines in Languedoc an average of 300 days a year.