Estate agents fees. Are they worth it?

[Polarengineer]

Sorry DaveW.
Personally I don't think estate agents are worth what they demand.
One could just as easily advertise one's property on the net, as one does with a car sale.
When I sold my Dutch property I invited 3 agents to quote thier fees and what they would do for the costs. All undervalued it ( probably for a quick sale/turnover) and wanted to charge extra for what I considered part of their work. I sold it myself without them and at a much better price.
What is the general experience here in France?

[tagh]

Waste of money

[Lori]

Waste of money

Totally. Glad in this house purchase the seller paid the agent fees.

[DaveW]

How about the registration and notaire fees?

[Lori]

How about the registration and notaire fees?

Also outrageous, but unavoidable.

[exile]

Waste of money

Totally. Glad in this house purchase the seller paid the agent fees.

Which of course means that you paid it as part of the purchase price - all priced in so it looks like a bargain.

[Polarengineer]

How about the registration and notaire fees?

I understand that these fees are mostly taxes like UK stamp duty. The notaris is the tax collector and makes not much himself out of the deal. Please correct me if this is not so.

[niemeyjt]

extortionate - and sometimes I wonder whose side they are on.

I’m in the process of selling my house, so all the photos have to be taken by estate agents. One of the photographers was a real star, he did all the usual indoor outdoor shots and then sent his drone up. I guess it was a good one, he certainly knew how to control it. I was concerned that we were standing in the drive admiring this thing and our cars were parked next to us. He shrugged and just said he would photo shop all that stuff out, including any detailed views of the neighbours property behind me, which isn’t exactly close.

Another France Estate Agent "feature" - edited photos. When selling UK houses we were always told any editing of a photo was a no-go. Photos had to show the real thing. But why is it even with editing so many French house photos are, for want of a better word - crap. And why don't people tidy/rearrange their house in advance?

[Nomoss]

why don't people tidy/rearrange their house in advance?

Because they are so used to seeing the mess it has become invisible to them.

[Blaze]

And why don't people tidy/rearrange their house in advance?

They don't seem to realise that it can make a difference ! It's the same with cleaning, for example, a fridge before selling : it will not only guarantee a sale, but may get them more for it.
I haven't watched it, but I think Stephan Plaza did a series on how to present your house for selling.

I once worked for a French estate agent friend for several months - it was an eye opener. The most laborious part was prospecting for properties : ringing people who'd advertised privately to try to persuade them to put their property with us. The worst people for showing round were Brits as most didn't know what they wanted, just what they didn't want. The French weren't nearly as fussy. There were some real tips and my friend was surprised when I told her that advising sellers to tidy up and that the smell of coffee, baking or flowers could be far more enticing to a buyer than the sight of an ado's unmade bed and dirty socks.

I also remember a French woman saying she wanted to sell to Brits as they would pay more, and she wanted the highest bidder. I told her we weren't an auction house and perhaps she should go elsewhere !!! My estate agent friend thoroughly approved !