French Property Buying

To work in their own right an agent must possess a carte professional which is granted to those who have met standards or have considerable experience.

They must also hold indemnity insurance and some may have a fidelity bond, piéce de garantie, which covers the payment of any deposits.

Those who do not have a bond set-up are not in anyway lesser just remember that any deposit will be paid to the notaire.

There are professional bodies that agents can join these include FNAIM (Federation Nationale des Agents Immobiliers et Mandataires) or SNPI (Syndicat Nationales Professionals Immobilier). Both sites feature property to buy and rent.

FNAIM website
SNPI website

On the sticky question of fees there are no government guidelines just expect to pay a higher percentage for cheaper properties.

Also prices can be quoted net vendeur, which excludes the agents fees, orcommission comprise (written as C/C) which does include the fees.

Many websites with UK connections will split the commission but just make sure, you shouldn’t be paying more if you buy through such a site.

And be aware when you are meant to pay any commission – you don’t want to be left short!

Once you have found an agent the details you receive might not be exactly what you were expecting.

Often in rural areas you may only have a sheet of paper with a couple of particulars, possibly a photograph and a price, the rest is left to your imagination.

What the agent is hoping is that they can get you to view the property on a one-to-one basis, but often they are small set-ups with little time for detailed print outs.

Also don’t expect to be able to drop in on an agent’s shop and go off and view a property.

Although there is no harm in looking at particulars you will most probably arrange a time to view at a later date.

So if you are short on time visit agents first, then view properties with them and decide later if you have found what you are looking for.

And if you are viewing in a rural area make sure you have a good map, a mobile phone, the number of the agent, plenty of petrol and a bite to eat.

Rural properties can be difficult to find for both yourself and very often the agent and remember many shops and petrol stations close for two-hour lunch breaks.

It is also the case that large amounts of property are sold without the services of an estate agent.

Tracking down these properties can be very difficult especially if you are only in the region for a few days.

If you can spend some time in an area pick-up the local newspaper or property magazines and look out for the letters AV on property, which means a vendre, or for sale.