Buying agents - why you should use one...

OK - I'm biased as that's what I do for a living but if you're seriously considering buying a property in France then it makes absolute sense to use one.

You can get a good idea of what a buying agent does by reading this piece on wikipedia. The pertinent paragraph is:

The main advantages of using a buying agent are the savings in time and money and access to properties not available on the open market.

Whilst nearly all charge a registration fee (anything between £500 and £2500) and a percentage of the purchase price of the property (usually between 1.5% and 2% of the sale price), the agent’s negotiating skills and access to properties before they reach the open market often mean that clients purchase properties for substantially less than they would if they went to estate agents or vendors directly.

Buying agents will preview properties for each client, shortlist the most suitable, and usually accompany clients on viewings of the shortlisted properties.

Now, if it makes sense to use one in the UK or USA it must make even more sense if you're buying in a country with a different process, legal system and language.

Just make sure that the person you use is fully legit. Ask to see their "carte professionelle" and copies of their professional indemnity insurance.

A good starting point would be to look here to see if there's one near where you want to buy or by contacting the French national federation of house hunters here.

It's worthwhile doing the research - a good buying agent will save you time & money as well as giving you peace of mind.

www.cognacproperty.com

Property finder network takes off

Mixed messages still coming out of the UK.

FTSE 100 over the 5,000 mark (hurrah) and house prices are either on the rise (Halifax) or it's a false dawn (Ernst & Young).

One thing is for sure though. The activity levels of our French property finder network are beginning to take off.

I'm not claiming that we're all inundated but as the guy from Savills so eloquently put it "A year on (from the collapse of Lehman Brothers) power has been restored and there's a flicker of hope".

I've just taken a phone call from Caroline who is based in Mayenne. She has had clients over from Thailand and, after a week-end of hard negotiations, they have just had an offer accepted on a beautiful property. I'm thrilled for Caroline as she had put her heart & soul into finding something truly special for them.

Janine in Bayeux is flying - she's bought two houses for clients in the last few weeks and is slap bang in the middle of another search now.

Rebecca in Nice reports the same with a couple of offers accepted and more clients out shortly.

We've also just taken on mandates for further searches in the Dordogne, Aquitaine, Perpignan and Chamonix too.

The good news is that a lot of these enquiries are non-UK related (we've recently been instructed by clients from Hawaii, South Africa, Sweden, Canada and Asia)....hopefully this means that when the UK market does come back we should have real cause for optimism.

If you'd like to discuss joining the network (we're currently 12 across France but plan to be 50 by the end of 2010) you can email guy@frenchentree.com and he'll send you a prospectus.

Alternatively just pick up the phone and I'd be happy to chat about it.

www.cognacproperty.com