Have you ever wondered why French real estate agents NEVER provide the address in their listings?
In a nutshell: too many agents chasing the same listings, so their priority is to make sure neither the prospective buyers nor the other agents can find the property!
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Only a small percentage, around 15% of property listings are signed exclusively with one agency. Instead, most sellers choose to list their property with multiple agents, so on a non-exclusive basis.
Let me paint a picture for you: the first listing contract is signed with a commercial agent with a national network who has heard about the house being for sale from the gardener. (They usually pay the gardener for the tip).
The second contract is with the cousin of the neighbor's mother, who recently became a sales agent with a network that focuses on English-speaking clients.
And also, the seller signs a “mandat” with a well-known local agency in the nearest market town. And if the property doesn't sell quickly, the seller may sign up even more agents.
This is why you often see the same property listed on various websites, sometimes at different prices because each agency has its own commission scale. Ultimately, only the agent who successfully sells the property receives a commission.
In other words: In this non-exclusive context, all agents are competing for the opportunity to earn that commission.
And that's not all. Sellers have the option to sell their house privately, without having to pay any commission. They can list it on platforms like Le Bon Coin or other similar websites at no or very lost cost.
This is why listing details are vague, without any address or photos of the front of the house.
Sometimes, agents purposefully give the wrong town or village (in other words: they lie). This is done to prevent you from finding the house on your own and contacting the seller directly, which would result in the agency losing out on the commission. It is also to prevent other agents from recognizing the house and trying to get a listing mandate from the seller…
So, it’s a sad reality that agents act rationally by investing minimal time in learning about the property they are selling and being protective of the listings they have obtained. Obviously, that doesn’t help you as a buyer. But now you know why!
To learn more about the French real estate context, visit www.frenchproperty.coach or call Pierre Guillery on +33 6 8434 8992
To download a full guide about how to handle your French real estate agent, visit: https://www.frenchproperty.coach/brochure
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