Advertise Your Property In France

Price

The first thing you really should do is come to a decision on the price you wish to advertise your property for.

Be sensible. Look around at other houses in the same region as your yard. See how much they're selling for.

Don't be 'over-enthusiastic' with your price - putting your estate for sale for way more than other residences in your locale isn't a superb idea - all those other homes will sell earlier than yours make no mistake.

Price your dwelling with a little negotiation room - don't massively inflate the cost thinking that you'll be negotiated down, you just won't get people enquiring about your house.

Be aware you'll must pay for the statutory checks to get done on a home so build the cost of those in to the price (potentially budget close to €1000).

Also do not forget that it is now a legal requirement to exhibit the Energy Efficiency Rating on your property advertisement.

Decide what you're offering. What fixtures/fittings/furniture you're leaving for any purchaser.

Description

Next is to get together a description. Do a write up about your own home. Put all the information in a structured order and don't be afraid to expand on the detail. For instance don't just write '1 bedroom'. Write something like this as a substitute: 'Large bed room with high ceilings reached from the landing at the top of the ornate staircase. Tastefully renovated with exposed stonework and authentic oak floorboards. We shall also be leaving all of the bedroom furnishings for the new owners.'

Add some detail regarding the surrounding locale into your description pack. Information about universities, health professionals, dentists, community stores, community attractions, why it is really good to reside in the area you're offering your property, why your home is really a good buy. Don't forget to put in the information everything you're leaving and everything you're taking.

For those who have it also include a 'plan castre' or 'plan cadastral' detailing the boundaries of the house.

As part of your description don't use phrases like 'no dreamers please'. This is quite off-putting to folks (no matter if or not they are really dreamers). And let's face it, we were all dreamers at one point, and those dreamers Might just be the people who buy your dwelling.

Photos

Take pictures of the house. Make sure you take the photos on a good day i.e. not when it's raining or snowing. Take the photos during the day (sounds obvious but some people really do take pics of the garden at night!). Just before you take the shots ensure you tidy the house up as much as possible - you'll discover the French don't do this at all in most situations. Be sure you take loads of shots. Chances are you'll not need tham all but you will be able to sort through them all and look for the best ones. Be sure you take images of all of the rooms regardless of how insignificant you think that they are. Take photographs of the surrounding location. Take shots of one's road where your house is. People need to see it.

Sign

This step is optional, but if you'd like to sell your home with the minimum amount of commission and get the widest exposure for your property this really is worthwhile carrying out.

Make a sign. Sure I know it's all slightly 'Blue Peter-ish' but you do wish to sell your house don't you? So, on the sign write 'A Vendre' and put your phone number (preferably a French telephone number, but in case you use a UK number make sure you put the dialing code). Stick it up in one of the windows in which it can be noticed.

Email

Get a free e-mail address. Why? Because you don't want to use your personal electronic mail address to provide out to buyers, you want an email address you'll be able to dispense with after you have sold your home. This e mail address should also only be utilised for enquiries etc. about your home.

Promoting

Now you have to promote your house. Don't stint on your marketing. Market it where-ever you possibly can. Get as much exposure for your residence as you possibly can. Don't assume it to sell just since you have put your property on one particular website.

So exactly where do you advertise it? Well an particularly very good place to start is on France House Hunt - it will get loads of targeted visitors daily.

Use any services the site might have to give your property much more prominence - for instance on France House Hunt we've a 'Reduced Price' and 'Negotiable Price' tag.

Be sure you put up as many images as possible. Pics attract peoples attention, it's no good putting up a excellent description of your house if you're not going to have any photographs.

Seek other internet sites that permit you to list totally free and add your property.

Do a 'signature' for your e-mail which has a url to your house on FranceHouseHunt (locate your home in the listings then duplicate the address in the browser).

Take a look at internet message boards (particularly forums about the locale your house is located in). You could find them by performing a search in Yahoo and google (e.g. forum Limousin). Most forums will allow private sellers to add a house advert. Be sure you put a hyperlink to your home in your post.

Speak with people. Mention that you've got a property for sale (again, don't forget to tell them the place they will see the property on the net).

Get a dedicated website for your house - there are many places in which you can get a totally free account and design a web site really very easily.

Reply

Once again this may sound apparent but you need to reply to enquiries even when it is just to say 'I'll get back to you in a day'. It truly is Extremely frustrating for house hunters to send out an enquiry about a home and to not receive a reply...so give them one.

Don't place your house up for purchase just as you're about to go on holiday! Chances are you'll get enquiries and you won't manage to respond to them when you're on holiday.

You are going to get enquiries from buyers who's principal vocabulary is not English, so be prepared to talk/write in extremely uncomplicated words.

Be polite and friendly when you reply (even if the enquiry seems rude or abrupt). Again it may sound apparent but you'd probably be stunned at the rudeness of many people when responding to enquiries. The potential purchaser needs to have confidence in you and like you, so give them cause to trust and like you.

Be ready for some strange requests for information (we've been asked to get people careers and can a person from Germany living in Belgium claim unemployment benefit if they buy a home in France!). Everyones considerations for buying a residence in France is different. You may well get some requests for which you've no answer. If you don't know the answer inform the enquirer you don't know but you will do your best to find out for them - don't just ignore it.

If the enquirer has asked for particular details about a house be sure you tell them, then give them other information which you consider may very well be beneficial to them (e.g. your prepared description). Sometimes (in truth quite a lot of the time) you will get extremely short enquiries like 'more information please', treat these enquiries as you would any other....as if this was THE one that is likely to buy your property....after all, it may well just be.

In brief, YOU have to stand out from the crowd together with YOUR home, so make sure you do.

Keep in mind this may be your only chance to 'SELL' the property to the enquirer ...make sure you do.

Agencies

Approach a property agent (immobilier) to market your property. Do your research ahead of approaching an organization. Find one which can talk with both French and English clients. Find one which specialises in property in your region. Use search terms on Google that you think buyers may perhaps use to search for property in your region, pick out companies that are on the 1st webpage of the results to talk to about advertising your property.

Don't forget, you're not selling a property in England you're offering a house in France, and folks do things differently in France - you could have your property marketed by many immobilier not just one.

Check the amount of commission that the agency is charging.

Notify the agency if there is any negotiation in the price.

Ensure the agency puts the home on their website.

Visits

If you're going to try and do the visits (rather than your agency) be sure you know what you are going to say. Work out a plan of how you are going to show people round your property. Plan out a script and be sure you recall all the items on your script.

Encourage people to take notes and photographs - they have come a long way to see houses and so they almost certainly have quite a few to view and will likely have previously viewed a load, so they need to be guided to 'keep in mind' your property by taking notes and pictures.

Point out interesting characteristics of the property - discuss them. For instance in the event you did the renovation of the stone wall describe the way you did it and what materials you utilised (without boring them to death that is).

Encourage the viewers to ask questions. Ask them questions - determine what exactly it is they want from a home/why they're taking a look at your house, then explain to them why your home might be suitable.

Don't be over-powering. If they need to be left alone to mooch around the house, make it possible for them. You go and wait for them out of doors, let them discuss amongst themselves.

Be honest! Don't attempt to hide things, they could spot what you are attempting to hide.

Encourage the viewers to have a stroll about the village or neighbourhood when they have completed the viewing.

Give them a printed copy of your prepared description.

Don't bake bread to make the house smell homely. That doesn't work. No, seriously it doesn't.

Smile.

If people are quite plainly not interested in your house, don't flog a dead horse. Allow them go, don't try and keep selling the house to them - if they're not interested, they're not interested!

Offers

If someone makes an offer on your home don't give a response straight away (unless it's a ridiculous offer of course). Consider it, talk it through with someone then give an answer.

Get the offer in writing (by electronic mail or on paper).

Once you've received the confirmation you then can start to do the statutory checks. Get them done as quickly as you can.

When the checks are complete you can begin to put in writing the compromis de vente or equivalent. Bear in mind as soon as you sign it you're obliged to sell it to the buyer, in the event you decide you want to sell it to somebody else you'll be penalised.

The final matter you have to organise is a notaire. Find one that can at the least communicate in English (search online).

Other Tips

Don't get your hopes up on a visit.

Keep trying.

Keep being nice.

Keep answering any enquiries.

Keep telling people about your property.

Don't celebrate until finally the notaire delivers you your cheque.

To find your ideal properties for sale in France use the premier French properties for sale portal France House Hunt