Go on, make a cheeky offer!

Property in France is by and large negotiable but it’s not a free-for-all. Jacqui Reddin-Williams shares her experience of negotiating the best deals

We spend an amount of time disabusing our clients of the idea that they can follow the screaming headlines they have read imploring them to offer 30% under the asking price. It might very occasionally be true, but statistically it is a very long way from it. Most deals are agreed much closer to the advertised price.
You cannot apply a formula to the very individual and current circumstances of any property that tugs your heartstrings. You wouldn’t do it at home, and you can’t do it in France.

But where exactly are these headlines? Can anyone remember actually seeing them in print? There is something of the urban myth about all this.

For the purposes of selecting properties to view, by all means add a margin to your budget.
And be prepared to spend what you have to, to achieve the ‘right’ property at a fair price.

To be clear, if you have seen or heard that every sale is a fire-sale, it is bad advice.
Read on to understand why.

What is any given property worth?
Good question.
As professionals it is difficult to draw comparisons between unique individual rural properties.
However, we will apply skill and experience in doing so.
As a buyer you will rapidly develop an instinct - and you will be of course be influenced by what you like.

A sensible valuation will be influenced by a huge number of factors. Geography, local environment, condition, potential…...And all those subjective factors such as a ‘magnificent’ view. It’s not a price per square metre.
You might reasonably ask whether the property was valued by a professional, or is it what the vendor needs to achieve in order to satisfy the bank?
Of course, all the prices you see advertised have one thing in common.
So far, no-one has agreed to pay that price.

Doing your homework
Let’s assume you like the property.
What do you know about the situation of the vendor? We are asked two questions almost as standard. ‘How long has it been on the market’ and ‘Why are they selling?’

Agents have a duty of care to all parties and issues of privacy come in to play here.
And how relevant are those questions anyway? A property may have been on market 2 years at one price and 2 days at the current price, so reframe your question, and be prepared that it may be received as a buying signal rather than idle curiosity.

Why someone is selling may be deeply personal. Do you really need to know? Is the real question that gets to the heart of the matter actually, ‘Are they negotiable on price/contents/timing’?

Showing your hand.
You’ve found one you really like. Butterflies. You nudge the other half. Do you now ‘kick the wheels’ and find fault with something you fundamentally like in an attempt to reduce the price, or do you show a human interest in what has been a happy home for the outgoing owner? Friends or enemies?
The price of goodwill is hard to calculate yet expensive to ignore. You might consider that even if the vendor is leaving the country forever, their friends and neighbours are probably not and you have a four month process to navigate from agreed deal to keys in hand. And this same small community afterwards.
First steps towards integration or isolation?

The detail.
How are you funding the purchase? No-one need be offended by being asked the question.
We assume most of our interested readers are potential buyers. Consider your own position as a seller. You would want to know the detail of any offer, right?

So cash is king? Nothing else counts? Not true. Sometimes a mortgage is simply a smart fiscal move. It need not be a disadvantage. And we’ve also noticed a trend….cash no longer always means cash. It might traditionally be defined as meaning the immediate financial ability to proceed without further consideration. €100k sat in the bank waiting to be spent.

It has come to be used - sometimes - as almost any set of circumstances other than needing to raise a loan. ‘If I sell something…’ ‘If I release equity…’ ‘If I win the lottery…’ ‘If it is meant to be...’
As an agent - and speaking on behalf of many vendors - I would rather deal with a buyer who tells me they need a mortgage and can demonstrate some likelihood of achieving one, than someone who says they have cash simply in order to gain agreement, only to turn out to need a loan when it comes time to sign on the dotted line.

Yes, real ‘cash’ will help your position, but decent agents and vendors are not wedded to ‘cash only’.

Are you a negotiator?
If you’ve found a property privately, you are probably on your own from now and until you get the keys. Maybe the bloke in the bar can play a starring role………
Or can you trust an estate agent? Might the fee represent good value from here on in?
What price assessing the vendor’s valuation and navigating the legal system?

If you have found an agent you like and trust, ask them about their experience in negotiation.
A decent but inexperienced agent will take advice from a senior colleague. You do not need your trust to be blind.
A good negotiator will not tell you what to offer, but they will guide you respectfully.
‘Will you help me negotiate a fair and equitable deal?’
‘Bien sur!’

Pitching your offer
Sometime a clumsy first offer may be the last chance you get to to buy the home of your dreams.
In an effort to follow the advice of the man in the pub, you make a low offer ‘to start the ball rolling’. Right? Maybe. Or maybe the ‘old French’ owner is so offended that they will not listen to a second bid. They will now not deal with you on any terms. Or, your ‘first’ offer is used by the vendor to stir up interest from other parties.
You have confirmed their reluctant instinct that they might need to ‘move on the price’.
Well, human nature will now insist that they do as well as they can. And that might not come from working with you…

So timing is critical. This may manifest in some luck - that the property and the vendor have found ‘their time’. And/or in the speed with which you act having found a property of interest to you.

What price coup de coeur?
Of course you may find the home of your dreams at a price just out of reach.
You might be well advised to say so. Your humanity may be well received by agent and vendor. You need not look like a ‘dealer’. We are not on TV.

Playing hard-ball with a property for which you have an emotional attachment may not be a smart negotiation.
In an attempt to save, say, €2000 on a property you plan to enjoy for 10 years, you risk losing the deal. For €200 a year. Or €4 a week…

Confirming the deal.
Fast-forward, and we’ve negotiated a happy outcome for all parties.
Be clear now - not later - about your timescales and expectations.
It’s worse than tiresome to be arguing about fridges and strimmers when we are all meant to be focused on the property.
Beware ego. This need not be about ‘winning’.
A good deal is mostly about getting the right property.
And secondly about the price.

May you live happily ever after, as buyer or seller.

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First published in French Property News magazine