I set up my business in France in 2003 when you could literally count the number of buying agents on one hand. As regular readers have probably guessed, I love my job and many of my clients have become friends.
Since then, thanks largely to tv shows on TF1 and M6, our number has increased and we even have our own national federation - http://www.fnci.fr/
I have delved into Wikipedia to help me explain what we do and you can see their definition here. They are talking about the UK market but the principle remains the same.
They are people acting as agents on behalf of a buyer and not the seller, as do traditional estate agents whose job is to obtain the maximum price for a property for the seller. Buying agents represent the buyer's interests and normally undertake negotiations on their behalf to acquire a property for the best possible price and terms.
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.
Couldn't have put it better myself.
For info my fees are €500 then 2.75% and you are tapping in to over 25 years experience of the international property market.
Feel free to get in touch.
That's it...shameless plug over!
www.cognacproperty.com
1 comment:
Nothing wrong with a shameless plug every now and again, I wasn't even aware of buying agents until I started reading this blog. I think in instances e.g. when buying overseas a buying agent can be money well spent.
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