It's a strange market here in France at the moment. Some vendors have slashed prices (from a silly starting point in most cases), some refuse to budge and - according to Century 21 at least - some have put prices up.
There's an online tool that helps you track individual house price changes on portals such as Se Loger and you can while away many an hour just browsing around. I don't want to give away too many trade secrets on here but send me a direct email and I'll send you the url.
One terrific house that I visited recently has come down in price by over €100,000. On the surface it looks as though it's now a real bargain but, of course, one can't automatically assume that this is the case.
It's my job to try and find other similar houses as "comparable evidence" so that between us my client and I can make a proper judgement as to whether it provides value for money.
I have a mandate going through where my clients had an offer accepted that was around €20,000 (8%) under the asking price. The house had just come on the market and had been competitively priced and we think that we have struck an exceptional deal.
Don't be misled by dramatic falls in price or, alternatively, put off by owners refusing to drop much.....research, research, research and then act decisively and you won't go far wrong.
www.cognacproperty.com
