Why did the job of real estate hunter develop in France?

Real estate agencies

The portfolios of apartments for sale

On the French market, real estate agencies each have their own portfolio of apartments for sale that they share little or nothing with other agencies. When you know that a city like Paris has more than 2,000 agencies, it is easy to understand the difficulty of finding the property of your dreams. The apartment you are looking for could be put up for sale in more than 100 to 200 agencies. Since many buyers have little time to devote to their research, it is almost impossible for them to contact all of these agencies.

Capturing a purchaser

When the agency does not have to sell the corresponding apartment

When an agency does not have the apartment that a buyer wants in their portfolio, real estate agents will tend to present properties that are close to what they want. They want to capture the buyer and prevent them from going to the competition. This is where the trouble starts for our purchaser. Some unprofessional agents will show him around apartments that are sometimes very far from what he is looking for. All buyers have been confronted with this situation which generates disappointment and loss of time.

The amount of subjectivity in buying an apartment or a house

It is complex to fully understand what a buyer wants. This requires spending time with him, listening to him, sometimes understanding between the lines but also visiting some apartments in his presence. This is a crucial step. It usually takes two or three visits to understand exactly what a buyer wants. The real estate agent will therefore seek to present apartments at all costs, even if they are far from the wishes of the buyer.

Agencies rarely call buyers back

This is a criticism of agencies that we hear regularly. The reasons for this are multiple and complex: a large number of buyers in the agency file, some agents within the same agency do not always share apartments with their employees, faulty mailing systems, antispam, communication increasingly focused on email at the expense of telephone calls, etc.

What does the apartment hunter offer

A privileged relationship and a perfect knowledge of real estate agencies and how they work Know who to contact, how often and when. The multiplicity of actors and their way of proceeding make the search for apartments sometimes a complex quest for those who do not know the rules.

Don't waste time for buyers

The apartment hunter ensures that each apartment visited corresponds perfectly to the specifications. Either by pre-visiting the apartments, or by inquiring deeply enough with the agent to have a clear vision of the property before offering the client to visit it.

Real estate advertising sites

They are numerous: around twenty main portals that offer a large number of real estate properties for sale. Buyers post alerts to be notified of properties that match their search. To learn more about this subject, we suggest that you consult a Study on the ranking of real estate portals in France.

Numerous real estate advertising portals

There are about twenty sites that present more than one million properties for sale. The offer is huge and yet few ads correspond to the wishes of a single purchaser. Sorting and filtering these ads is the key to not wasting time.

Sort and filter real estate listings

Most sites offer sorting by city or district, surface, price, number of rooms and sometimes more precise filters such as the floor, the neighborhood, the presence of an elevator... One of the strongest limits is the location of the goods for sale. It is very rarely accurate. Indeed, there is fierce competition between real estate agencies. By publishing the location of an apartment, an agency takes the risk of seeing a competitor approach the seller. The buyer will therefore be able to select ads that match his request using the filters. However, these tools have limitations, the two main ones being the very frequent absence of a precise location and the vagueness that agencies deliberately leave in the writing of their ads. You can consult An article on deciphering real estate ads.

The alerts

Practical, they allow you to be notified as soon as an apartment corresponding to the wishes of a purchaser is put on sale and to be notified by email. The limitations of this tool are the same as for filters.

Personal filtering

It is unavoidable. The buyer will have to sort himself among the ads filtered by the ad sites engines. He will have to read, select and finally contact the agencies or sellers to try to obtain as much information as possible in order to ensure that the apartment corresponds to what he is looking for.

What can a real estate hunter contribute?

Professional software capable of scanning all websites

Some real estate hunters use professional software that allows them to scan all real estate ad sites on the net. These programs have much finer filters than what ad portals offer. In particular lexical filters. This is a guarantee of maximum efficiency in the use of real estate advertising sites. In addition to efficiency, here again, the real estate hunter will relieve the buyer of the time he will spend looking for a property on the internet.

The multiplication of search channels

Agencies, websites, newspaper ads, social networks... the means of communication have evolved considerably since the 2000s. Real estate ads have evolved with this upheaval in communication channels.

Ads shown on social networks

It is one of the big news. Real estate is presented for sale on social networks. Mostly on Facebook. Announcements are sent by an agent or agency to their customer network. This communication is much less broad than real estate advertising portals but, on the other hand, much more targeted. TIP: When you call an agency to inquire about an apartment, find out about how they communicate on social networks. Do not hesitate to follow the activities of agencies that could have the rare pearl for sale.

Beautiful apartments sell quickly

Whatever the activity on the market, it is a constant: quality apartments presented at a consistent price sell quickly. The reason is simple: they represent a small share of the market and are in demand by a lot of buyers. Demand, even in times of real estate crisis, is stronger than supply. The more active the market is, the more this difference between supply and demand widens. Many buyers have faced this situation. They passed by an apartment they wanted to buy. The causes: too slow purchase decision, too important negotiation, a better financing case chosen by the seller.

The expertise of a real estate hunter can make a difference

When buying these apartments coveted by many buyers, the buyer must be lucid, have a precise understanding of the selling price of the apartment in relation to market prices, obtain information on the offers to purchase submitted, on the profile of the sellers. A real estate hunter is familiar with these situations. He knows how to handle them. It can help you make a difference. In particular on how to write an offer to purchase : one of the important points for the success of your acquisition.

Fluctuations in the real estate market

Sales prices are constantly changing. The attitudes to adopt for a buyer in order to optimize their purchase will depend on the market situation. Rising markets favour sellers and falling markets favour buyers. Other factors such as sales volumes and specific economic situations can also be taken into account. These various elements are not easy to analyze for a buyer who is not used to observing the fluctuation of real estate markets. For Learn more.

The contribution of the real estate hunter

It will tell you about market trends and what they mean for the duration of the search, the attitude to adopt when you find the apartment of your dreams and how to best conduct the negotiation.

Lack of time for research

Moreover, in addition, buyers, busy with their professional obligations, have little time to devote to their search for an apartment. Faced with the difficulties of finding the property that corresponds to their wishes, they prefer to mandate a real estate hunter who will take care of their request and save them unnecessary losses of time.

Buyers' time management for the real estate hunter

This is one of the important aspects of his job: to limit as much as possible the time that a purchaser will spend looking for an apartment. Avoid unnecessary visits, advise, negotiate, prepare contract signatures, present decorators, architects, movers... The hunter's mission is not limited to research but also includes support throughout the real estate acquisition process.

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