I work with Coast and Country who are excellent and honest estate agents on the French Riviera – unfortunately not all immobilier (French estate agents) are as reliable.
Recently I had the unpleasant experience of dealing with two agencies in Pezenas who proved to be dishonest, deceitful and devious – combined with a client who was a sad and silly little man I found I had worked for many days only to be abused and cheated. The problem is that the commissions for selling a house are very large and this makes people greedy. It also explains why many owners despise estate agents and many buyers try to avoid them if possible.
This is a recent mail from a reader and my reply outlining my plan to put myself out of business…I write about other ideas on my blog at www.Twiku.com
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Hi Tony,
I am writing to see if you know of a good website or method to sell a house in France that avoids the bastard Estate Agents, who are worse than incompetent, useless, etc etc.What would you advise?
Love your websites blogs etc, keep up the good work.
Kind Regards,
Eamon
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Hi Eamon
This is exactly what I am working on – a system to completely eliminate estate agents and help owners and buyers to get together, thus selling more efficiently and faster plus also saving the huge theft of “commission” for absolutely nothing.
I hope to be beginning an ebook explaining what can be done and how to do it – also I am working on some software to show what properties are listed for sale in any place and how to locate and contact the owners directly.
Best wishes
Tony
Hi Tony, i do hope you are successful in finding a way to avoid French estate agents. Recently I found a web site selling houses privately that had been shut down by the courts, the french estate agents in the area objected to it. I’m sure if they get wind of what you’re up to they will object as well. But it would be nice to be able to sell without them. So good luck regards Christine. PS on the web site you could still see the houses but weren’t allowed access to the owners details.
Yes there are some awful sharks out there in the real estate trade but there are also some efficient and honest agents. I am a not an estate agent but a property finder in the Tarn area of France. I work for clients who have not got the time to search for a property or cannot speak French well enough, and it is my job to protect the potential buyer from the ‘sharks’, to get them a good deal and protect their interests. Tarn Property Services works exclusively for the buyer. Having lived in the Tarn for 20 years now, we know the area well and apart from being able to guide our client through the search and purchase, we help them settle in. It all entails a lot of work and occasionally either the agent or the client has no moral ethics and do the dirty on you. It’s infuriating, time wasting and hurtful, but that’s life.
Everyone it seems, is jumping on the band wagon; my biggest gripe are the big firms in the UK that advertise and pass their ‘catch’ to agents in France, who do the minimum, don’t know the area but are happy to cash in the commission and then let the purchaser is left to get on with the struggle.
One cannot judge all agents the same way. It helps to know which is the good, which the bad and the ugly, but without help, that’s for you to judge!
I am an agent in Australia and I can empathise with you,we have the same deviousness and incompetance in NSW.However there is a little used system here which may be of interest to you wherein the owner/vendor sells their own property,it is a kit,would you like me to locate and send to you,it may assist in circumventing the French system.Regards,John
Hello John
Thank you for writing – I would be very interested in learning more about the “property kit”.
I look forward to hearing from you
Best wishes
Tony
This post about French estate agents hit a nerve. I am told that half the sales of property in France are not through agents, some sites cater for sales direct from owner to buyer including http://www.pap.fr/ and http://www.entreparticuliers.com/ . The pathetic creature I wrote about seems to have recognised himself from my description of a “sad and silly” little man and challenges me to publish names – tempting, but I would rather do something useful and not waste any more time.
Tony
I may be wrong but my experience in France is that Big seems to be better and more reliable, big agency, big developer, big management firm, big bank etc etc etc.
But what’s absolutly essential is finding reputable people such as youself. I have followed your advise on three seperate occaisions and been rewarded with positive outcomes. Keep up the good work!!
Fred
For Fred – why big? I’ve worked with big agencies, some are very good, others are just interested in selling and grabbing the commission. I have also worked with excellent smaller agencies, efficient and with much more personal attention. I am the intermediary so it doesn’t really matter big or small, my clients all get the same caring attention.
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Hello Everyone
I can’t leave Tony’s postings about French agents go uncorrected, so I will make one last post and then get on with my life. It is very sad that he attempts to influence so many non-French people in such a negative fashion. Once I had dispensed with his services after he had acted in the way he did with the agencies involved, I had nothing but good experiences of honourable French people in the property industry.
I rescued the disastrous situation he put me in and am now a happy resident in the South of France. Of course there will be agents to steer clear of, as in any country, but naturally his own views are shaped by self-interest. I have no vested interest in the property industry – I’m just someone who has experienced the propaganda of this website and then the reality of dealing with decent French professionals in buying here.
Blogs like this will always attract negative comments rather than positive ones, (‘conspiracy theories’ will always be more popular), but I urge all out there who are reading this to remain openminded and make your own decisions. Living in the South of France is a great experience (I spent a lot of time here years ago, before my permanent move recently) and I thoroughly recommend it to anyone who is considering it. Just please don’t be put off by the constant criticism of this site’s webmaster regarding the process of buying here.
I refuse to be drawn into the petty name-calling in Tony’s posts about me and his comments about the highly professional agency involved in my purchase. Suffice to say that all intelligent purchasers will ask themselves whether the advice they’re reading serves its author financially or not….
This is my final post on this website and I don’t intend to visit it again, so I will simply wish those of you who are looking a suucessful search and hope you will be as happy as I’ve become down here.
Regards
Leigh
This is a good comment – if someone is involved financially in giving help and advice then this is always relevant and must be considered in relation to any advice given. In this case I invested a lot of time and expense in finding the client a suitable property, which he has purchased and I am delighted he is very happy with it as a lot of work and time went into this.
I have no idea why he then arranged with the other immobiliers to ensure I was removed from this deal and cut out completely from any commissions, thus ensuring I lost money – but is was solely his action, probably done though the suggestions or advice of the other agents – who certainly gained substantially financially from my removal which could only be done with his agreement.
However this is now history, I am glad he is happy and contented – it is a closed chapter and it has taught me not to trust people when so much money is involved in what are exorbitant commissions.