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.

The FNAIM is the Fédération Nationale des Agents Immobilier. Not an insurance but a club. All registered real estate agents are bound by law to have an insurance. Which they often use as an excuse for their hefty commission of 6-10%. You do not need an estate agent to buy or sell a house, but you do have to pas through a notaire.

The notary public only asks a commission (frais de négociation) if he finds the buyer for a house that one of his clients has asked him to sell.

If you find a house for sale by the owner (directly, not through the notaires offices) you only pay the normal notaire fees, mainly consisting of taxes.

So it is very advantageous to go look on the internet for houses fsbo.

Sorry but the FNAIM provides insurance, it isn't just a club, and is probably the largest real estate insurance agency in France.

I do not know where you live, but on the French Riviera commission is nearly always a standard 4% + 19.6% of VAT = 5%. Unless you have a really impossible to sell property you should be negotiating the agency down to this price. You can look at paying an agency as "an excuse for a commission" or as payment for a service but as you say you are not obliged to use them.

I have never heard of anybody using a Notaire as an estate agent, as you are suggesting, and I do not recommend calling Notaires asking them if they have any properties for sale or trying to get them to sell your property. They are solicitors and usually very busy people.

I don't see that fsbo is very advantageous in that it is simply a trade-off between time and money. There is nothing to stop you advertising your property simultaneously via agency and private fsbo web sites. However, Krek, that still leaves them the problem of how to do visits...

Phillip.

I’m sorry, Phillip, but you are mistaken.
The FNAIM does have a ‘Caisse de Garantie’ to make sure you get your money back if a member keels over, and it does have a code of ethics that all members should subscribe to, but it is nót an insurance agency. Have a look at their site:
On this page: fnaim.fr/la-fnaim/notre-action.html they describe their activities as such:
# Le lobby
# L'éthique
# Le Service Inter Agences
# La formation

So they lobby for their members, they have a code of conduct, they incite agencies in a certain region to combine their offer so as to be able to better serve the house buyers and they teach. In the header of the site they do say: Assurance d’une transaction réussie. But don’t let that fool you. It has nothing to do with insurance. It just means: we assure you of a successful transaction.

About commission: I live in South Burgundy and the standard commission here is 6%. But then, the prices are lower than in PACA.

Next. I quote:
“I have never heard of anybody using a Notaire as an estate agent, as you are suggesting, and I do not recommend calling Notaires asking them if they have any properties for sale or trying to get them to sell your property. They are solicitors and usually very busy people.”

This is a dead give-away that you are either not knowledgeable or trying to pull the wool over the buyers eyes. One of the main sources of income for many notaires is the ‘frais de négociation’ – the commission they get if they find a buyer for real estate they are commissioned to sell. They will not send you away if you ask them about houses they might have for sale but will welcome you with open arms.

As a matter of fact, the notaires have their own real estate selling site: L'immobilier des notaires, where the offer of all (digitally tuned in) notaires in France is collected and shown.

I have my own real estate sales site (only for private sellers and with ‘human’ translation services) and do favour the selling ‘entre particuliers’. However, I always advise my advertisers to also use a couple of local agencies just to spread the risk and augment the possibility of success. Not everybody looks only on the net.

And indeed, in that case I also urge them to negotiate the brokers fee down to 5% and in any case never accept more than 6%. Some agencies ask 10% if they think they can get away with it.

Finally, your question of ‘visits’. Indeed, it can be harder if you don’t speak French. If you want to save thousands of euros by doing business straight with the owner you can do a lot better than by using an agent. There are specialized companies that to property scouting and pre-check, like Check Property Assist, who have inspectors all over France. Or find a friend who does speak French. Hire a translator if you have to! Anything is better than relying on the word and honour of a real estate agent who is paid thousands by the seller and in who’s best interest it is to sell fast and expensive.

Although I’d like to make a small exception for a few agents that have indeed I high standard of ethics, like – if I may – Mr Passmore of Sud Bourgogne Immobilier. Just so as you now I’m not against brokers on principle.