[Gfplux]

We have a very small holiday house (Bastidon) with a small garden 6k outside Sainte Maxime (83) that we bought new 26 years ago. It is 200 meters from the beach and is in a small development with a coded barrier.

We are now going to sell and are aware this will be a lengthy process but that is not important.

We intend approaching 3 estate agents in the coming weeks to value it and intend choosing one to market the property.

Any and all advise welcome as we have never sold property in France.

We are in France until mid September. Returning to sign papers if needed will not be an issue.

We intend selling with all contents included but accept that there is no value but have no desire to keep anything.

What should we tell the estate agent and what should we be asking.

What % commission would we expect to pay

What legal fees would be involved.

Any help much appreciated.

 

[Crabtree]

If you are selling then you will pay no legal fees or taxes that is notaire fees and state/regional taxes.That is down to the buyer.Likewise you will not pay estate agents fees again that is down to the buyer.I have no idea what the valuation would be frankly

 

[Crabtree]

Forgot to add that you will need to pay for "diagnostics" that is a house survey and if you have a fosse then it will need inspecting to see if it is up to date with current normes but I suspect that you will be on a communal system

 

[Piperade]

Hope this isn't teaching Granny to suck eggs - but be wary of an agent who values your property the highest. Human nature being what it is, you might be tempted to go with them. Remember it's in their interest to acquire property to sell.. that's how they make their money.
Sign up with them - and you could find yourself with no offers because the price is too high.. and then you'll be forced to lower the price to sell it.

Might be worth studying the for sale ads and looking for properties similar to your own. Having found a similar property, divide the price by the living area in sq metres to calculate the price per sq metre..

Eg: Price for a similar house = 250,000€; living area 125 sq metres... Price per sq metre 2,000€

Living area of your house: 135 sq metres.. Therefore approx valuation of your house: 135 x 2000 = 270,000€. This figure then has to be adjusted to take into account proximity to shops, condition, facilities, etc etc. It will give you a ballpark figure.
Good luck!

 

[Bevdeforges]

One other caveat - it seems to vary by region, but it may or may not be the "custom" in your area to give one estate agent an exclusive on showing and selling the property for an initial period of time (say, 3 or 6 months). Normally (and without an "exclusive") it's kind of a free-for-all, with all the agencies in the area able to show the place once they get wind it is on the market. (I suspect this is related to the notion that it's the buyer who pays the agency fees.)
Cheers,
Bev

 

[Gfplux]

Thank you everybody. I intend to take action on Monday.
To the question of exclusivity. Very confused.
Is it best to give exclusivity to an immobilier or give it to a few.
In this area there are almost more immobilier than can be counted!

 

[Bevdeforges]

I think you want to ask the individual immobilier what they offer if you give them an exclusive. (Who knows - they may have someone lined up already who is interested in the place?)

Lots of folks I know have done either 3 or 6 months with one immobilier as "exclusive" and in most cases, they sell the property within that time, sometimes quite quickly (within a few weeks). But that depends on how the market it at the time, too.
Cheers,
Bev