Welcome all,
We own a smallholding - an unrenovated farmhouse with several barns and outhouses on about 2 acres of very peaceful countryside between Tours and Poitiers which we had intended to renovate and move there full-time. Unfortunately, because of a massive change of circumstances, we are forced to sell and are unable for the next few years to plan to move to France full-time, although we hope to eventually. Would anyone be able to advise the best way to go about selling the property - local Notaire, local estate agents or perhaps agents based in England specialising in French properties. We would be very grateful to hear of the experiences of others or any advice. Thanks.

Hey Moises
Yes ask a local notaire but unless you know one, preferably try to find an "office notarial". This is just several notaires working together so that they each specialise (immobilier, family, business, etc). You can't negotiate the fees are this is fixed by law.
You can, in addition sign a "mandat de vente" with a local "agency immobili?re" but make sure not to sign an "exclusivit?" and put them in concurrence by signing with several, say 2 or 3 from different groupements (FNAIM and the like). Negociate the fees to no more than 7 %.
Hope this helps.
Keep in touch

I know this post is old, but should anyone come across this you may find the following helpful:
* you need a Notaire but it doesn't really matter which one, just ask anyone you know for someone they recommend. As stated above, their fees are fixed by law, and they all do exactly the same job.
* the normal commission is 5%, ie 4% + 19.6% TVA (French for VAT)
* I concur with not putting it under an 'exclusivite', it is not in your best interests
* FNAIM is not a network, it is the professional insurance that many estate agencies use. They do not share listings. Examples of groups that do: ORPI, ERA, Century21 and SIA (Services Inter Agence).
* go onto the search engines and pretend to be a buyer for your property. Type in the normal phrases you would use to look. Then go to the best looking free and paid listings and propose your property directly to them.

Please feel free to post any additional questions underneath this post and I will try and answer them.

Phillip.