Real vs. advertised price

[Andre1979]

Hi there!

I'm new on this forum so thank you for your patience

I will be starting my property hunt in the French Alps this year and I have a question for the more experienced people out there. I heard something that I would like to get confirmed. A colleague told me that the difference between the "real" price of a plot or a property can be quite different from the advertised price online, particularly when the seller is targeting foreigners. How much, on average, would you say that the price of a property can be negotiated down from whats shown online?

The underlying story behind this is that apparently there is a rule in France that if someone offers the seller the asking price, they are obliged to sell so they list a much higher price than what they would be happy to sell for. Can anyone confirm or debunk?

Thanks in advance!
Andre

 

[Veronica]

Hi there!

I'm new on this forum so thank you for your patience

I will be starting my property hunt in the French Alps this year and I have a question for the more experienced people out there. I heard something that I would like to get confirmed. A colleague told me that the difference between the "real" price of a plot or a property can be quite different from the advertised price online, particularly when the seller is targeting foreigners. How much, on average, would you say that the price of a property can be negotiated down from whats shown online?

The underlying story behind this is that apparently there is a rule in France that if someone offers the seller the asking price, they are obliged to sell so they list a much higher price than what they would be happy to sell for. Can anyone confirm or debunk?

Thanks in advance!
Andre

If you think about it logically if someone offers the asking price of course they will sell. I don't think that there is any law that says they must though.
Some immobiliers ask far higher prices though than others so if you find a property you like look on other sites to see if you can find it for less. Leggets for instance is notorious for raising prices.
Other than that go with your gut, compare prices to other similar properties and make an offer. We recently bought a house with land in France, offered 10% below asking and it was immediately accepted so we wished we had tried for a little lower. Having said that the property is lovely and well worth what we paid and more so we are happy.

 

[PostBrexitInvestor]

There is no hard and fast rule about the relationship between the advertised price and selling price. It is simply down to supply and demand. As @Veronica said, you need to go with your gut feeling.

 

[diyhelp]

One thing I would definitely recommend, if you really want the property then don't lose over the sake of just a couple of thousand euros. Think long term.