If you’re considering selling your holiday property or French home, you probably have a lot of questions. In this guide we’re going to take a quick look at some of the most common queries and provide some links to more in-depth information to help you decide whether to sell your French property.

How do I sell my French property?

Like any country, there are basically two options for selling your property in France: sell privately or appoint an estate agent (or, even, multiple agents, as long as you haven’t given one agent exclusivity).

Should I sell privately or use an agent?

They all differ in cost and level of involvement required, so you’ll need to assess your options to decide what suits you best. Selling through an agent is, in theory, more hands-off, though you may find you need to chivvy them along to keep them motivated. You may prefer to use a bilingual agent, even if your French is strong, so that any matters can be discussed thoroughly and clearly. Selling privately can save you money in the long run but is generally a bit more labour-intensive for you. If you’re weighing up your options, talk to our private sales team to find out more about the process.

Will Brexit affect the selling process?

As it stands the rules for selling your property and moving back to your home country shouldn’t be affected. You will want to speak to a tax expert about any dues you may be liable for, and fluctuating currency and a slightly tentative market may have an effect on the realistic sale price and the speed of the sale. The good news is that the pound’s loss could be your gain, as you may get more money for your euros.

How do I decide on the desired sale price?

If you’re selling a French property, your first step is to get it valued. We’d recommend getting three separate valuations, ideally from agents who have experience selling property in your area. Ask them how they came to the figure they propose, how quickly you think it will sell at that price, and how much lower than the asking price you should be comfortable accepting.

If the valuations come out lower than you were hoping or expecting, query the agent. Ask if there are modifications or renovations you could undertake to enhance the value or increase the appeal to buyers.

Additionally, if you do decide to use an agent, double-check whether the price they’ve quoted includes the fees they’ll deduct upon sale of the property. You don’t want to settle on a price and find out too late that around 7% of that is going to vanish!

If you’re selling up to move back to your home country, it’s crucial to speak to a currency expert when you’re deciding on the price you’re willing to sell at. You don’t want to finalise a sale and find out too late that it’s worth significantly less than you thought in your native currency. We recommend speaking to moneycorp, our currency partners. They can discuss your options with their free guidance on the currency market and offer helpful services and specialist tools that allow you to track, target and even fix an exchange rate so you’ll know exactly what your money is worth. While it’s tempting to go via your bank, this could chew a big chunk out of that sale price in less favourable exchange rates and high transfer fees.

How much will it cost to sell my French property?

As the vendor there are a number of checks that you are liable for, including asbestos and lead paint checks of properties over a certain age, and energy efficiency checks. To find out more about your legal requirements as a vendor, read our guide about the legal process of selling French property.

The overall cost will also depend on whether you enlist an agent (who will typically charge a percentage of the sale price) or sell privately, and if you sell privately your marketing strategy might vary wildly in budget.

With so many variables, its impossible to put a fixed price on the cost of selling your French property without knowing more about you, which is why we’d recommend speaking to appropriate experts ahead of time.

How long does it take to sell a French property?

How lucky do you feel? Again, the answer to this depends on a lot of different factors. How motivated are you as a seller? How realistic is your desired sale price? Where is your property located? What are the housing market trends? How well is currency faring? The answer could change week-to-week, so your best bet is to speak to an expert for an up-to-date time frame.

Choosing to sell your French property is a big decision, and we’re here to help you. Get in touch with our property team today to learn more about your options. We can also put you in touch with our trusted partners to make the sale, and your move, go as smoothly as possible.