One of our English speaking French real estate agents reminded us of the continuing problem of the Mandat Simple for French property Buyers and how it can waste the buyer’s and seller’s time. There are advantages of this type of mandat but also disadvantages, one is noted below.
A mandat simple as explained here allows more than one French real estate agency to advertise the property and this can create the following problem:
The buyer was working with a French agent three months ago and viewed a selection of properties. Then the buyer stopped viewing properties due to a personal illness.
Then last week the buyer feeling no loyalty to the agent who had showed her properties called a new agent since she saw a property she liked for sale on the internet. This new agent is the one who phoned and told us this story.
Tony said “I spoke to the buyer and after listening to her needs I advised her the property she saw the ad for was not in her selected area but I knew another property with another agency that could suit the buyer”.
The buyer accepted the suggestion and the agent booked the visit to take place with the help of the second agency. The agent also obtained a photo brochure of the property and gave it to the client before the visit so the buyer had all the details on hand. The address of the property was not on the brochure.
The agent set up a visit to the property and made sure the timing matched the buyer’s needs since the buyer was only in town for a few days before leaving on business.
Tony accompanied the buyer to the RDV point to meet the other agent and the agent with the ‘mandat simple’ brought them in her car to the apartment building.
Once the buyer arrived she realized they had been at the same building a few months ago but since the publicity showed photos she did not recognize, price and details that where different as the previously seen apartment she proceeded to do the visit.
Within the first few minutes of the visit the buyer realized it was the apartment she had seen before, the angle of the photos just happened to be different and the price different so the time of the visit was wasted.
The time of the seller was wasted too since they had to come home to open the apartment for her ‘listing agent’
The time of the agent who has the listing was wasted as well since the buyer had seen the property before and rejected it in the past.
The time of the agent who proposed the property to the buyer was also wasted.
Solution:
One
As a French property buyer make sure you keep note of the address of the properties you have visited so that any agent you work with can check ahead of time if you have seen the property or not. Also keep a brochure of the property so you can compare photos.
Two
Find an agent to work with that you feel confident in and work with them consistently so they will know places you have seen before and be able to avoid this big time waster taking place.
Check out our 110 Tips French real estate buyers guide here
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