How to properly negotiate the purchase of a house?

You're planning to buy a house in Collioure but you're not sure how to negotiate the purchase price? Here are our tips for successful negotiation of your property and a successful real estate purchase.

1. Know your budget

To negotiate the purchase price of a home in Collioure, it's essential to establish your budget beforehand. This will allow you to set a price you can't exceed. It is therefore essential, before negotiating the price of the property, to evaluate your budget or financing capacity. To do this, you will need to consider:

• Your personal contribution capacity, which will depend on elements such as your professional situation and your purchasing power;
• Your debt capacity and the repayment period you can accept.

To evaluate precisely your debt capacity, you should make an appointment with your banker or a loan broker.

2. Estimate the cost of the property

Once you have established your budget, you will need to estimate the cost of the property. You can start by analyzing the real estate market by comparing the prices of houses or apartments similar to the one you are planning to buy. To estimate the price of the property, start with the price per m² and take into account certain criteria to refine the estimate:

• The age of the property
• The condition of the property
• The equipment
• The location of the property
• The orientation of the property
• Possible work to be done

Some websites allow you to make this type of estimate.

Estimating the price of the property is not enough because you will have to anticipate additional costs, such as notary fees (7 to 8% of the sale price), moving expenses, and any work to be done. To negotiate the price of the house, it will be necessary to take into account the total cost of the purchase of the house in Collioure, including expenses.

3. Evaluate the work to be done

The work to be carried out will determine the total cost of the property purchase, so it's a good negotiating point.

If the work is to be paid for by the buyer, you can ask the seller to lower the price. To do this, you will first have to evaluate the amount of work by asking for estimates. To find out what work needs to be done, ask the question when you visit the property and look at the DDT (technical diagnosis file).

4. Preparing for the negotiation

Before embarking on a negotiation, it is important to know that there is an average negotiation margin. The negotiation margin is the difference between the advertised price and the selling price.

You can find statistics on the average negotiation margin in Collioure to see how much you can expect to lower the sale price. Typically, it is around 3% for apartments. apartments and 5.2% for houses. It is also higher in rural areas than in cities.

Also, during the visit, remember to point out all the small defects of the house which could support your negotiation.

5. Ask the right questions to the seller

It is important to talk to the seller before you start negotiating the price. Ask the right questions:

• Why does the seller want to sell the house?
• Has the house been for sale for a long time? If so, the seller will be quicker to lower the price;
• Has the seller already made an offer to purchase another home? If this is the case, he will certainly want to sell the house as soon as possible and the negotiation will be easier.

6. Ask a real estate agent for advice

To help you, you can ask a real estate agent or a real estate negotiator for advice. They are specialists who will help you find the right arguments and succeed in your negotiation. Of course, using a professional will incur agency fees, but often the gain is far greater than the expense.

7. Take your time

An important tip is to take your time! If the property is not necessarily in high demand, there is no need to hurry. You can always give the seller time to think about it and call him back later, maybe he will accept your proposal after a few weeks of reflection.

8. Negotiate agency fees

One of the things you can really negotiate on is the agency fees. These fees are often high (they represent between 4 and 8% of the net selling price) but it is possible to negotiate them. If the property is sold under a simple mandate, you can even ask for quotes from several real estate agents to obtain the lowest agency fees.

Even if you don't manage to lower the selling price of the property, you will at least have saved on agency fees!