FAQ FOR SELLERS
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PLEASE NOTE!
AT THE MOMENT, IMMOGO IS OUT OF ORDER.
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I would like to sell my house in France. How do I go about it?
Putting your house up for sale on Immogo is very easy:
1: fill in the form with your name and contact data and a description of your property, and add as many photos as you wish. Click on ‘PUBLISH’.
2: upon reception of your request I will edit your text if needed and take care of the translations.
3: I will put your house online and send you confirmation e-mail.
4: if anyone asks information about your house, I will directly send him your contact data (after a manual check to filter out house brokers and crooks). You will receive a copy of this e-mail and with it the coordinates of the interested party.
5: if the person asking information does not contact you soon, you are free to take the initiative to try and sell your house. In fact, I recommend it, since you are now your own ‘real estate agent’, since Immogo only does the advertising.
What do we do for you?
Our investment in your success is that we edit your description and translate it into French and Dutch. Also, we advertise for Immogo to get as many visitors as possible. Any interested parties we immediately mail your contact information (with a copy to you).
What do you do?
You are responsible for sending in the best description and pictures you can produce, and for the ‘commercial’ contact with the prospective buyers. You play the role of house broker, send people additional information and organise visits to your house. The official part of the buying process (deeds and technical controls etc) you can leave to your notary public without additional costs.
Do I need to sign a contract?
No, you don’t. Immogo is just an advertising medium. The simple fact that you offer us your information to promote your house online means that you agree with the price we ask for advertising your property. We do have a contract, which is based on trust. Trust works fine without signatures.
What do I do when I find a buyer through Immogo?
If you sell your property to someone who found it on Immogo, you contact me to give me the good news, so I can send you an official invoice for my effective publicity activities. The price is related to the value of your house. An overview with the prices is found here.
And if I don’t sell through Immogo?
If the advertising on Immogo does not work (or not good enough), it is of no use to you. In that case, I will not bill you for it. You owe me nothing. It is free. You get a 100% rebate. In short: I will remove your house from the site and that will be that. With this ‘modus operandi’, Immogo is probably the sole advertising agency in France that only sends a bill for advertising that works.
How does Immogo check to whom I have sold?
There is no control. If you tell me your house was sold through a real estate agent or to a passer-by that saw the sign in the garden, I will be the first to congratulate you and remove the ad from the site. You do not have to send me copies of the deed or other documents to prove you are telling the truth. Your word is good enough.
Are you not afraid to be cheated?
No, I’m not. Life is too short for hunting financial ghosts. I just try to fulfil my part of the deal as well as I possibly can: Final text edit, translations, quality online presentation, customer relations management, external advertising. If I do my job, people will be ready to pay for it. Don not forget that if you sell your house yourself by advertising on Immogo, you will save thousands of Euros! Believe me, the average person is just as honest as you are. Most people will pay me with a big grin.
Immogo, the house brokers and the notary public
Do I still need a real estate agent?
If you find a buyer through Immogo, you have to do your own 'selling' and showing around. From there, a notary public can do the entire transaction. He will write up the ‘compromis de vente’ (preliminary deed) and can organise the contact with the obligatory expertise specialist for lead-containing paint, asbestos, the new energy balance and in some areas termite control, as well. So for all this, you don’t need a house broker any more. Try to pick a multilingual notary, so it will be easier for you and the buyers to follow the process.
How do I determine the price of my real estate?
Immogo is neither ‘agence immobilière’, nor notary or real estate specialist. It is an online magazine offering advertising service for house owners. I cannot give advice about prices or other technical aspects of real estate. That kind of knowledge is best found with a notary public of a real estate agent. Whichever price you decide on, it is wise to publish your own net price on Immogo, augmented by the Immogo advertising costs. The lower you start, the more chance you will have in selling the house yourself, through Immogo and saving the estate agents fee or the ‘frais de négociation’ the notary asks if he finds you a buyer.
Can I still sell my house through an agency?
Of course! Immogo will invest in the quality and the success of your online presentation, taking a certain financial risk (like a partner should), but does not limit your freedom to sell in any other way. As a matter of fact, I strongly advise you to also put your house up for sale through a couple of geographically well-placed brokers. Do not put all your eggs in the Immogo basket. Unless you are not in a hurry and would like to try the relatively cheap Immogo-way before putting some agents at work. But please remember Immogo can’t help you pricing your real estate and does not know your local market. To professionally price your house, a real estate agent or notary can be very useful.
What do I do when my real estate agents protests?
It might happen that a real estate agent gets up on his hind legs when he finds your house cheaper on Immogo. Do not be intimidated. You have the right to put your house for sale wherever you like, using the same net asking price. If the broker wants to add his commission, he’d better start earning his fee by finding you a buyer before your can find one yourself through Immogo.
Contacts between buyer and seller
The buyer speaks a different language. Now what?
In the first contacts you might be able to get by using the on line translators, like http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr
Don’t expect any miracles though. These machines will come up with very literal translations and have a hard time dealing with fixed expressions.
What if the buying process becomes more serious?
Personally, I would say the foreigner would have to organise for a translator. There are several companies that can help you in the selling process, from the first negotiations down to the signing of the final deed. They usually charge a reasonable price (1 to 2%, or an hourly fee) so you are still saving compared to a house broker, and certain of objective advice. I’ve collected some addresses for you. Mainly Dutch, but they do business in English as well.
The price of advertising on Immogo
Immogo used to charge 1% of the published price. Why did it change?
Unfortunately it seems (the specialists do not agree) forbidden for a non-house broker to ask a percentage for no matter which real estate-related service. A less clever seller might think that Immogo is asking a commission on the sale instead of an advertising fee. And earning a commission on a real estate sale is only allowed for brokers with a ‘carte professionelle’. I may well insist that I’m just an advertising professional and I’m free to charge any fee I like (as long as the price is clear to all parties concerned from the word Go). But it is the word ‘percentage’ that leads to confusion. Therefore, I’ve decided to ask a fixed price for my online real estate ads. A price determined in advance, that doesn’t change anymore during the process. A fee that is only charged if the buyer found the house on Immogo. If the house was sold any other way, the advertising on Immogo was ineffective. In that case the seller will receive a 100% rebate. The invoice will be null.
Why are the ads on Immogo so expensive?
It is true, if your house is priced 780,000 and you find a buyer through Immogo, I will bill you 7,000 euros. That is a lot of money for an online advertising page, even if the translations are included. The bottom line is that you, as a lucky owner selling through Immogo, help financing the No Cure No Pay-system. You also pay for all the owners that publish on Immogo but sell their house by another means. They get their advertising and translations for free. These sellers are still less lucky than you, because often they have to pay quite a hefty commission to their house broker (logical in a way, as the services of a broker and Immogo are very different. Immogo only offers a means of publicity and nothing else). What’s more, please consider that the more expensive your house, the luckier you are because the more you save on external fees. And finally, if you really find advertising on Immogo to be to expensive, please... don’t. No hard feelings.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
PLEASE NOTE!
AT THE MOMENT, IMMOGO IS OUT OF ORDER.
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
I would like to sell my house in France. How do I go about it?
Putting your house up for sale on Immogo is very easy:
1: fill in the form with your name and contact data and a description of your property, and add as many photos as you wish. Click on ‘PUBLISH’.
2: upon reception of your request I will edit your text if needed and take care of the translations.
3: I will put your house online and send you confirmation e-mail.
4: if anyone asks information about your house, I will directly send him your contact data (after a manual check to filter out house brokers and crooks). You will receive a copy of this e-mail and with it the coordinates of the interested party.
5: if the person asking information does not contact you soon, you are free to take the initiative to try and sell your house. In fact, I recommend it, since you are now your own ‘real estate agent’, since Immogo only does the advertising.
What do we do for you?
Our investment in your success is that we edit your description and translate it into French and Dutch. Also, we advertise for Immogo to get as many visitors as possible. Any interested parties we immediately mail your contact information (with a copy to you).
What do you do?
You are responsible for sending in the best description and pictures you can produce, and for the ‘commercial’ contact with the prospective buyers. You play the role of house broker, send people additional information and organise visits to your house. The official part of the buying process (deeds and technical controls etc) you can leave to your notary public without additional costs.
Do I need to sign a contract?
No, you don’t. Immogo is just an advertising medium. The simple fact that you offer us your information to promote your house online means that you agree with the price we ask for advertising your property. We do have a contract, which is based on trust. Trust works fine without signatures.
What do I do when I find a buyer through Immogo?
If you sell your property to someone who found it on Immogo, you contact me to give me the good news, so I can send you an official invoice for my effective publicity activities. The price is related to the value of your house. An overview with the prices is found here.
And if I don’t sell through Immogo?
If the advertising on Immogo does not work (or not good enough), it is of no use to you. In that case, I will not bill you for it. You owe me nothing. It is free. You get a 100% rebate. In short: I will remove your house from the site and that will be that. With this ‘modus operandi’, Immogo is probably the sole advertising agency in France that only sends a bill for advertising that works.
How does Immogo check to whom I have sold?
There is no control. If you tell me your house was sold through a real estate agent or to a passer-by that saw the sign in the garden, I will be the first to congratulate you and remove the ad from the site. You do not have to send me copies of the deed or other documents to prove you are telling the truth. Your word is good enough.
Are you not afraid to be cheated?
No, I’m not. Life is too short for hunting financial ghosts. I just try to fulfil my part of the deal as well as I possibly can: Final text edit, translations, quality online presentation, customer relations management, external advertising. If I do my job, people will be ready to pay for it. Don not forget that if you sell your house yourself by advertising on Immogo, you will save thousands of Euros! Believe me, the average person is just as honest as you are. Most people will pay me with a big grin.
Immogo, the house brokers and the notary public
Do I still need a real estate agent?
If you find a buyer through Immogo, you have to do your own 'selling' and showing around. From there, a notary public can do the entire transaction. He will write up the ‘compromis de vente’ (preliminary deed) and can organise the contact with the obligatory expertise specialist for lead-containing paint, asbestos, the new energy balance and in some areas termite control, as well. So for all this, you don’t need a house broker any more. Try to pick a multilingual notary, so it will be easier for you and the buyers to follow the process.
How do I determine the price of my real estate?
Immogo is neither ‘agence immobilière’, nor notary or real estate specialist. It is an online magazine offering advertising service for house owners. I cannot give advice about prices or other technical aspects of real estate. That kind of knowledge is best found with a notary public of a real estate agent. Whichever price you decide on, it is wise to publish your own net price on Immogo, augmented by the Immogo advertising costs. The lower you start, the more chance you will have in selling the house yourself, through Immogo and saving the estate agents fee or the ‘frais de négociation’ the notary asks if he finds you a buyer.
Can I still sell my house through an agency?
Of course! Immogo will invest in the quality and the success of your online presentation, taking a certain financial risk (like a partner should), but does not limit your freedom to sell in any other way. As a matter of fact, I strongly advise you to also put your house up for sale through a couple of geographically well-placed brokers. Do not put all your eggs in the Immogo basket. Unless you are not in a hurry and would like to try the relatively cheap Immogo-way before putting some agents at work. But please remember Immogo can’t help you pricing your real estate and does not know your local market. To professionally price your house, a real estate agent or notary can be very useful.
What do I do when my real estate agents protests?
It might happen that a real estate agent gets up on his hind legs when he finds your house cheaper on Immogo. Do not be intimidated. You have the right to put your house for sale wherever you like, using the same net asking price. If the broker wants to add his commission, he’d better start earning his fee by finding you a buyer before your can find one yourself through Immogo.
Contacts between buyer and seller
The buyer speaks a different language. Now what?
In the first contacts you might be able to get by using the on line translators, like http://babelfish.altavista.com/tr
Don’t expect any miracles though. These machines will come up with very literal translations and have a hard time dealing with fixed expressions.
What if the buying process becomes more serious?
Personally, I would say the foreigner would have to organise for a translator. There are several companies that can help you in the selling process, from the first negotiations down to the signing of the final deed. They usually charge a reasonable price (1 to 2%, or an hourly fee) so you are still saving compared to a house broker, and certain of objective advice. I’ve collected some addresses for you. Mainly Dutch, but they do business in English as well.
The price of advertising on Immogo
Immogo used to charge 1% of the published price. Why did it change?
Unfortunately it seems (the specialists do not agree) forbidden for a non-house broker to ask a percentage for no matter which real estate-related service. A less clever seller might think that Immogo is asking a commission on the sale instead of an advertising fee. And earning a commission on a real estate sale is only allowed for brokers with a ‘carte professionelle’. I may well insist that I’m just an advertising professional and I’m free to charge any fee I like (as long as the price is clear to all parties concerned from the word Go). But it is the word ‘percentage’ that leads to confusion. Therefore, I’ve decided to ask a fixed price for my online real estate ads. A price determined in advance, that doesn’t change anymore during the process. A fee that is only charged if the buyer found the house on Immogo. If the house was sold any other way, the advertising on Immogo was ineffective. In that case the seller will receive a 100% rebate. The invoice will be null.
Why are the ads on Immogo so expensive?
It is true, if your house is priced 780,000 and you find a buyer through Immogo, I will bill you 7,000 euros. That is a lot of money for an online advertising page, even if the translations are included. The bottom line is that you, as a lucky owner selling through Immogo, help financing the No Cure No Pay-system. You also pay for all the owners that publish on Immogo but sell their house by another means. They get their advertising and translations for free. These sellers are still less lucky than you, because often they have to pay quite a hefty commission to their house broker (logical in a way, as the services of a broker and Immogo are very different. Immogo only offers a means of publicity and nothing else). What’s more, please consider that the more expensive your house, the luckier you are because the more you save on external fees. And finally, if you really find advertising on Immogo to be to expensive, please... don’t. No hard feelings.
