FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT
PARIS PROPERTY FINDERS
What makes you different from real estate agents?
Why can't I just search on my own?
Why should I choose Paris Property Finders over another search service?
How do you find properties for your clients?
If you find an apartment for me through a real estate agent, will I be charged a double commission?
Will I be searching on my own while you are searching for me?
Are you more expensive than a seller’s real estate agent?
Do you only work with clients buying prestige properties?
Do you provide rental search services?
Do you handle international clients?
How many clients does my search consultant work with at any given time?
Q. What makes you different from real estate agents?
A. Real estate agencies are under a contract with the property seller, protecting their interests, with no obligation to look after the interests of the buyer. They have an incentive to sell the property to you at the highest possible price.
Instead, Paris Property Finders provides personalized search service to buyers. We work exclusively on the buyer’s behalf. We never share in agency fees, or otherwise compromise our commitment to finding you the best property at the best price.Q. Why can't I just search on my own?
A. The fragmented French market can make that a formidable task. With no Multiple Listing System, individual agencies only list their own properties. They can’t and won’t show you properties listed elsewhere, though sometimes properties are listed with more than one agency – which makes for even quicker sale, before you have a chance to make your move.
Thus, buyers must go from one agency to another, leaving their contact information and hoping for the best. Should you happen to walk in at the right time, you might be in luck. But since good properties sell quickly, competition among buyers is fierce and agencies have no real incentive to maintain a relationship with you as a buyer.
Furthermore, France has the biggest private seller market in Europe: more than half of the properties change hands without the use of a real estate agent. So even if you had first access to the properties listed in the 3500 real estate agencies in Paris, you would still only know about half the properties on the market.
Q. Why should I choose Paris Property Finders over another search service?
A. With years of experience in the French property market, we haveextensive contacts with agencies, notaires, developers and private sellers. Since finding your ideal place is our full time job, we make sure to be the first to know about it, first to see it, and first to get you in the door. Our extensive database of properties and contacts – updated daily – helps us find even the most elusive, hard to find properties.
Most other search services merely do little more than look through public listings and pass those on to their clients. For the international buyer in particular, these agencies know that you are unfamiliar with the French market, and often present overpriced properties that would never sell to French buyers, or charge a premium in the form of kickbacks from the seller's agent. In contrast, the Paris Property Finders client pays the right price and sees the best properties available at the most favorable price – with no hassle and a totally transparent fee structure.
Finally, many supposed property search agents in Paris do not carry the requisite insurances and real estate licenses. From an investment perspective, their fees therefore cannot be included in the purchase agreement, and ultimatelyare not included in your capital gains basis when you sell the property. Most importantly, when you work with an unlicensed agent, you are not protected by the French real estate laws and regulations that protect you against their errors, missteps or misrepresentations. Whoever you choose to help you find a property, please ensure that they are properly licensed and insured to perform the services they are proposing. Your investment is an important one.
Q. How do you find properties for your clients?
A. We comb through listings, pound the pavement, talk to the neighbors and the concierges. We call and visit our contacts at agencies and related businesses. We leave no stone unturned in our search for the property you’ve been looking for.
We achieve results through hard work, our numerous contacts and extensive property database, which is updated daily – all to give you the finest selection of properties to choose from. Why? Because we don’t earn our fee until you’ve successfully made your purchase!
Q. If you find an apartment for me through a real estate agent, will I be charged a double commission?
A. No. Paris Property Finders significantly reduces its commissions in the event that we find the property through an agency to whom a commission is payable with respect to the property. The amount of this reduction is clearly set out in the contracts and agreed between us at the start of your property search. Should an agency commission be payable, Paris Property Finders negotiates the lowest possible commission rates on your behalf, often significantly reducing the agency fee to in essence swallow up the Paris Property Finders fee.
By using Paris Property Finders, the cost of your property search is generally lower than working directly with an agency. First, we know the market in depth, and ensure that you are looking only at properties that are well priced and meet your search criteria, whether these properties are being privately sold or represented by an estate agency. In practice, over half the purchase transactions facilitated by Paris Property Finders are of properties direct from a private seller, since we have first-mover access to non-agent properties throughout the Paris market. Thus either way we achieve our goal of minimizing your total cost on the purchase.
Q. Will I be searching on my own while you are searching for me?
A. Our services go beyond property searches, including providing market and negotiating expertise, providing resources to legal, tax, lending, renovation and other services. We do not take an upfront fee, instead relying exclusively on a success-based commission only if you find and purchase the property you are looking for. While we can exclude certain properties from your search, we work on an exclusivity basis with our clients, asking that they entrust their search entirely to our search consultants. The market is fierce and we are competing against the hundreds of other buyers who want the same property as our clients. As to our clients, we prefer to remain on the same side with you, not competing against you in our search.
Q. Are you more expensive than a seller’s real estate agent?
A. Paris Property Finders’ fees are 35% lower than the average estate agency commission. Furthermore, our comprehensive market access allows us to find your ideal property without using a real estate agent in many cases. In addition, with our in-depth market knowledge we help you to negotiate the lowest possible purchase price and terms. Using Paris Property Finders is an efficient, cost-effective way to find your new home.
Q. Do you only work with clients buying prestige properties?
A. Not at all - though we are always buying the best in the market in whatever price range. Much of our business is buying residential and investment properties. In Paris we start at about €500,000, which is the minimum price for a good one-bedroom apartment in the most sought after areas of the city.
Q. Do you provide rental search services?
A. We focus on property purchases, but we can work with rental clients as we do for our purchase clients – that is, a success-based commission for finding the right property. We also work with relocation services and others who provide rental services, and will be glad to get you in touch with a partner who can help you.
Q. Do you handle international clients?
A. Certainly. We have a network of legal, finance and renovation partners to make your property purchase smooth and worry-free. We are experts in maximizing the time of visiting clients. We pre-select properties and send you photographs, floor plans and other information. Once you are here, we accompany you to visits, and give you expert analysis. We’ll even provide you with a complimentary mobile phone for your use while here. Our partners in financing, renovation and decoration can meet with you along the way, so that you needn’t seek out any resources on your own. And French, English, Italian, German and more are spoken among our staff and partners.
Q. How many clients does my search consultant work with at any given time?
A. Each Paris Property Finders consultant handles a maximum of three buying clients at any one time. If you are an international client coming for only a limited time, your search expert will work exclusively with you during your stay.
Q. Do your services conform to French real estate laws?
A. Yes. Property search service is a professional activity governed by French law regulating real estate sales. Paris Property Finders is fully licensed, bonded, and insured, in accordance with the law.
Many of those who offer property search services in Paris do not carry the requisite insurances and licenses for their business. Whoever you ultimately choose to help you find a property, make sure that they are properly licensed and insured to perform these services.
If you have not found an answer to your question here, please call or email us and we will be happy to address your concerns.
