FAQ : Role of An Estate Agent

After arranging times and dates you will visit your selected properties with the estate agent who has the property for sale. At this stage you may be asked to sign a confirmation of your visit (bon de visite). Why is this? Because the house, in all probability, is listed with several agencies, and the owners themselves may be actively marketing the property. Your confirmation of the visit enables the agent to show that you are his or her client.

If you decide to buy a particular property it is usual to sign a preliminary contract
( sous seing privé). This preliminary contract contains all the conditions of the agreement between the seller and the buyer. A seven day cooling off period follows, during which you may, without giving any reason, withdraw from the sale and reclaim your deposit.

The preliminary contract may be drawn up by either the agency or the notaire. At this point it is usual to pay a deposit of between 5% and 10% of the purchase price into a trustee account.

After signing the preliminary contract the notaire begins the conveyancing process which will result in you becoming the new owner of the property. This process will usually take a minimum of two months.

If there is a legitimate reason why the sale cannot proceed, for example, the refusal of a bank loan, the preliminary contract between the seller and the buyer will be considered terminated and the buyer's deposit will be refunded.

Most houses listed for sale in France are listed with several agencies and the owner also has the right to sell their house privately. Unless it has an exclusive right to sell the house, an agency is only entitled to its commission if it can show that the sale is the result of its marketing efforts. So the agency is, quite naturally, reluctant to give you information that could let you go directly to the house without them.

While this can be frustrating there are two advantages for you as a buyer:

1)If the house is with several agencies the chances of you finding out about it are multiplied

2)Different agencies charge different commission rates. Once you know a house is on the market you can look around to see which agency is offering the lowest price. If you do find a house offered at a price lower than the price shown on this site, please let us know and we will do o ur best to match it.