LET THE BUYER BEWARE!

Caveat emptor

The other day I had a couple come into my office in St Junien looking for a property in the country., nice views, bit of land etcetera. Nothing unusual about that I hear you say, however, I noticed that they had obviously done the tour of the estate agents in the region and were clutching several glossy leaflets. It is always good to shop around when searching for your ideal property so I was not really surprised.

What did amaze me was that one of the properties they had identified as a possible purchase was priced at 275,000.00 euros including agents fees. I had the same property for sale at 260,000.00 euros including agents fees The leaflet even appeared to have my photo on it! I pointed out the price difference and asked if this price actually included notaires fees as well - It certainly did not. The couple concerned were a little shocked that they would be paying 15,000.00 euros more for the same property purely to line the agents pockets! Clearly not all agents will have the same property so you may have no choice but to pay up.

Most estate agencies offer the same range of services so my advice would be to check out all your local agencies for details of the fees they charge before committing to any visits. Once you have visited a property with the agent, you cannot then buy the same property through a cheaper agent. You would still be liable for the agents fees. Please beware!!