FAQ for private sellers of property in France

What do we do for you?
Our investment in your success is that we edit your description and translate it into as many languages as you like. Also, we advertise for Zorro Immo to get as many visitors as possible.

What do you do yourself?
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. Zorro Immo is just an advertising medium.

What do I do when I find a buyer?
If you sell your property, the only thing you have to do is to let us know, so we can take your internet page down. We recommend you leave the house until the final deed is signed, just to be sure.

Zorro Immo, the house brokers and the notary public

Do I still need a real estate agent?

If you find a buyer through Zorro Immo, 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?
Zorro Immo is neither ‘agence immobilière’, nor notary or real estate specialist. It is an online magazine offering advertising service for house owners. We 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 Zorro Immo. The lower you start, the more chance you will have in selling the house yourself, through Zorro Immo 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! As a matter of fact, we 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 Zorro Immo basket. Unless you are not in a hurry and would like to try the relatively cheap Zorro Immo-way before putting some agents at work. But please remember Zorro Immo 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 Zorro Immo. 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 Zorro Immo.

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 Google. 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?
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. Have a look at the links page.