Selling Property Advise (with back history)

[Kev_Mk3]

Please bare with me here as It is a long story and I am crap with Grammar (Pre warned!)

We have had a house in the Savigné-sous-le-Lude, Pays-de-la-Loire for around 20+ years. My mum and dad used it to spend the summers over in France slowly modernising with a plan to move over permanently but the latter never happened.

Back in 2015 my mum was diagnosed with cancer so after her operations and to aid the recovery they got in the car and drove over as usual to relax and enjoy. Fast forward to October 2015 when they where coming home & closing the house up suddenly my dad dropped to the floor and ended up in hospital. My brother was summoned from Australia and I flew home from holiday and drove over straight away. Sadly Dad passed away due to a CVA (blood clot to the brain) after having a cremation and funeral in France we managed to get home with mum and tried to carry on with life best we could.

2016 I dragged mum back over for a few weeks to France as she didn't want to go to do some paperwork and have a break from the UK, Also to face some demons (I also go to the Le Man 24hrs as its not far to travel) Sadly later that year mum was diagnosed with cancer again and after several months of treatment advised it is never going to go, they can only try to prevent it spreading.......

2017 She didn't go to France due to health and basically never wishes to return so this brings me to the issues..........

I am off over for Le Mans and to start the clear up of things with a view to get the house on the market to sell. We had a estate agent finally come out 2 year ago as the property is between 2 towns and basically she didn't want the business and made that clear as from what I can see we have 2 / 3 big issues.


1. We have no double glazing it was never lived in by us in the winter so never needed.
2. The central heating has never worked as 1 of the big cast radiators is cracked
3. The fos septique we have no idea if we have one or where it is. I have a rough idea but not 100%

No I am taking this on as mum isn't up to it so has anyone any advise on selling a house in France at all? Any advise via a English agent or even a online site that I can do the majority of the work from the UK?

Total newbie with regards to this so any help is really appreciated.

shame I cant find a webuyanyhouse.fr as I would just do that under mums instruction!

Many Thanks

Kev

[Stig]

Kev_Mk3 said:

Please bare with me here as It is a long story and I am crap with Grammar (Pre warned!)

We have had a house in the Savigné-sous-le-Lude, Pays-de-la-Loire for around 20+ years. My mum and dad used it to spend the summers over in France slowly modernising with a plan to move over permanently but the latter never happened.

Back in 2015 my mum was diagnosed with cancer so after her operations and to aid the recovery they got in the car and drove over as usual to relax and enjoy. Fast forward to October 2015 when they where coming home & closing the house up suddenly my dad dropped to the floor and ended up in hospital. My brother was summoned from Australia and I flew home from holiday and drove over straight away. Sadly Dad passed away due to a CVA (blood clot to the brain) after having a cremation and funeral in France we managed to get home with mum and tried to carry on with life best we could.

2016 I dragged mum back over for a few weeks to France as she didn't want to go to do some paperwork and have a break from the UK, Also to face some demons (I also go to the Le Man 24hrs as its not far to travel) Sadly later that year mum was diagnosed with cancer again and after several months of treatment advised it is never going to go, they can only try to prevent it spreading.......

2017 She didn't go to France due to health and basically never wishes to return so this brings me to the issues..........

I am off over for Le Mans and to start the clear up of things with a view to get the house on the market to sell. We had a estate agent finally come out 2 year ago as the property is between 2 towns and basically she didn't want the business and made that clear as from what I can see we have 2 / 3 big issues.


1. We have no double glazing it was never lived in by us in the winter so never needed.
2. The central heating has never worked as 1 of the big cast radiators is cracked
3. The fos septique we have no idea if we have one or where it is. I have a rough idea but not 100%

No I am taking this on as mum isn't up to it so has anyone any advise on selling a house in France at all? Any advise via a English agent or even a online site that I can do the majority of the work from the UK?

Total newbie with regards to this so any help is really appreciated.

shame I cant find a webuyanyhouse.fr as I would just do that under mums instruction!

Many Thanks

Kev

Hi Kev,

First, what sort of condition is it in? Are there ourstanding works/part finished jobs to do - or is it habitable?

1. We have no double glazing it was never lived in by us in the winter so never needed.
>>Obviously this would be preferred. French buyers prefer new builds as running costs are usually much lower, so you're probably looking at ex-pats (or developers, but FR market is very much in the doldrums)
2. The central heating has never worked as 1 of the big cast radiators is cracked
>>Get it fixed or bypass.
3. The fos septique we have no idea if we have one or where it is. I have a rough idea but not 100%
>>You'll need to get a certificate of inspection to get it sold, so you need to find it!

Get is valued and go from there. Lob it on leboncoin.fr at a reasonable price and see how it goes. Not a fan of Frech estate agents/notaires and it's even harder to do remotely (having done so myself).

Good luck!

[paulwirral]

I sold my holiday house in France last year , so I've a little experience, I also sold another house over there in 2004 but that's irrelevant now .
You definitely need a SPANC inspection for the fosse , it has to be done by a registered inspector, ask at the local Marie . You'll also need an energy report , much like what you need in England , but it also needs to include a termite infestation report , again the Marie will probably help .
It could be an idea to actually explain the complete situation to the mayor of your commune , you may be surprised how much help you'll get . They may even be able to assist in the sale , possibly know if someone looking to buy .
Your buyer will pay all the fees associated with the sale , notarie and agents fees .
To be blunt , stick it up so cheap its impossible for someone to resist and it will sell , probably to someone English .
I know a few people struggle to accept what a house in France is really worth , but France is full of old houses for sale as , as pointed out above , it's a very slow market . A friend of mine has had his house up for 2 years now and reduced the price by 75k , and it honestly looked decent value when it first went up for sale at just above €400 .
Good luck , if you don't speak the language find someone who does to help out , people will do this for a small fee .
As I said , your Marie's office should be your first point of call , preferably in person with a translator if necessary , it could save you a lot of stress .

[Kev_Mk3]

Stig said:

Hi Kev,

First, what sort of condition is it in? Are there ourstanding works/part finished jobs to do - or is it habitable?

1. We have no double glazing it was never lived in by us in the winter so never needed.
>>Obviously this would be preferred. French buyers prefer new builds as running costs are usually much lower, so you're probably looking at ex-pats (or developers, but FR market is very much in the doldrums)
2. The central heating has never worked as 1 of the big cast radiators is cracked
>>Get it fixed or bypass.
3. The fos septique we have no idea if we have one or where it is. I have a rough idea but not 100%
>>You'll need to get a certificate of inspection to get it sold, so you need to find it!

Get is valued and go from there. Lob it on leboncoin.fr at a reasonable price and see how it goes. Not a fan of Frech estate agents/notaires and it's even harder to do remotely (having done so myself).

Good luck!

It is in really good condition, they have done alot of work over the years and you could move in tomorrow and live rather happy in it. Just the issues I advised. Nice basement for storage, Double garage with extension on for the ride on lawn mower etc to live in, this will probably be included in the sale to!

The French market is a bit slow from what I have seen, not expecting mirricals or masses of money back. Our neighbour is a brit to and he has a shell that cant really be lived in and he has had some good offers so we will see what we can do.

The radiator I will look into when I get over as family friend owns a central heating business in the area so we will ask his imput. The Fos scares me but looks like I will need to get this done next!

paulwirral said:

I sold my holiday house in France last year , so I've a little experience, I also sold another house over there in 2004 but that's irrelevant now .
You definitely need a SPANC inspection for the fosse , it has to be done by a registered inspector, ask at the local Marie . You'll also need an energy report , much like what you need in England , but it also needs to include a termite infestation report , again the Marie will probably help .
It could be an idea to actually explain the complete situation to the mayor of your commune , you may be surprised how much help you'll get . They may even be able to assist in the sale , possibly know if someone looking to buy .
Your buyer will pay all the fees associated with the sale , notarie and agents fees .
To be blunt , stick it up so cheap its impossible for someone to resist and it will sell , probably to someone English .
I know a few people struggle to accept what a house in France is really worth , but France is full of old houses for sale as , as pointed out above , it's a very slow market . A friend of mine has had his house up for 2 years now and reduced the price by 75k , and it honestly looked decent value when it first went up for sale at just above €400 .
Good luck , if you don't speak the language find someone who does to help out , people will do this for a small fee .
As I said , your Marie's office should be your first point of call , preferably in person with a translator if necessary , it could save you a lot of stress .

Thanks alot of work ahead but think a stop in the village to see the Marie is first when we get over then to get the ball rolling.


Really appreciate the help and advise.

[magooagain]

There are a lot of house sale pages on Facebook. Mainly Brits selling and buying so no language problems.

[smifffymoto]

The fosse is your easiest problem to fix.When you find a buyer,it will be noted the fosse doesn't comply then just knock of the cost of a new fosse(about 10k).
It is about re couping money now not making a profit.Sell it a cheap as you can afford.

[Kev_Mk3]

magooagain said:

There are a lot of house sale pages on Facebook. Mainly Brits selling and buying so no language problems.

I'll have to have a look online tonight then. Thanks

smifffymoto said:

The fosse is your easiest problem to fix.When you find a buyer,it will be noted the fosse doesn't comply then just knock of the cost of a new fosse(about 10k).
It is about re couping money now not making a profit.Sell it a cheap as you can afford.

True we will never make money based on the valuation from the estate agent but how much we lose is the question.

[Mike-tf3n0]

We have been down here since 2001 and sold our first house in 2005 when our new house was ready to move into. We found the French estate agents were a complete waste of time so I took some pics and stuck them in 'French Property News' which produced more response than all the EAs put together and led indirectly to a sale. As others have said, speak to the Mairie, get SPANC to tell you what is required re the fosse and then get a quote from a local installer so that the potential buyer knows what he/she will be in for and also get the Termite/Lead/Asbestos inspection done for the same reason as above. If you do your own ad then include some really good pics with it, the EAs will take some but without any interest so yours will be far better. If it is a spectacular property think of placing it with a London West End estate agent, they always have wealthy clients looking for something new. Lastly, price it to sell, as others have said, there are any number of properties to be bought in France so unless it has some amazing USP it will have to be priced down. Remember, the first offer is often the best......................... Good Luck!!

[Kev_Mk3]

Thanks Mike.

Not an amazing property I will try to put a picture on the thread later to give a idea of what we are dealing with

[Rushjob]

In order to list your property for sale, all you need is a DPE report ( energy efficiency ) for a couple of hundred euros. The rest of the reports are only necessary once you have a deal on the table as they will form part of the Compromis de vente ( initial sale agreement ) at which point your buyer will pay the deposit having had the report including all of the diagnostiques included within it.

[leyorkie]

I’m near Le Lude are the agents there not interested? I assume you are thinking of La Flèche as the alternative.
We now have an English pub in Le Lude and lots of trades men use it there’s a few business cards around but there will be contacts for you including someone fluent in French

If you want more local info them pm me

[Kev_Mk3]

leyorkie said:

I’m near Le Lude are the agents there not interested? I assume you are thinking of La Flèche as the alternative.
We now have an English pub in Le Lude and lots of trades men use it there’s a few business cards around but there will be contacts for you including someone fluent in French

If you want more local info them pm me

Sadly no we are bang in the middle so haven't had much help - Yet.

I believe so I am going to pop down when I am over next as the Maserati owners club will be going to the venue after the 24hr race

I shall do as and when I need some help many thanks!