I won't go into detail about the bad experience I personally had with this agency during the sale of our house, which ultimately led me to cancel the mandate and choose another intermediary, in order to do it more calmly, quickly and at a better price.
In my opinion, this agency underestimated the recommended selling price of my house and then went for the offer made by one of its employees, who was close to the director of the Le Bec agency.
What's more, this same employee (who was therefore unable to buy my house) then looked for another house for sale in the local agencies... and having identified one, took the liberty of contacting the seller directly to offer him... to buy it directly, by recommending himself to the Le Bec agency!
You can't be an estate agent and a private buyer, and therefore condone such practices: the FNAIM should have been informed of any such collusion.
And since the agency still seems to deny any collusion in its comments, that it had no connection whatsoever with the buyer it presented to us, and that it claims that this buyer was not one of its employees, I would like to make the following available to everyone:
- Le Bec agency's recommendation of a selling price for my house, knowing that a month later this house was sold for 30,000 euros more by the other agency, which I trusted more,
- Mr B.R.'s offer to buy the house made by Le Bec Immobilier, given that he was the only person to visit it, and that no advertisement was displayed in the agency's window, on the agency's website or in any other medium, as required by the terms of reference,
- the CV of Mr B.R. indicating that he is in fact a real estate negotiator (...) and that he is an employee of Le Bec Promotion, another company in the Le Bec group,
- but also the trade register of company C. proving that this company was set up by Mr B. R. ... with the participation of company P., another company owned by the owners of the Le Bec agency,
I also have these documents available at the FNAIM, as well as the testimony on the actions of this Mr B.R. to buy another house directly from its vendor, and thus bypass the agency that had the mandate to put it up for sale... obviously by recommending the company Le Bec...
Response :
Dear Sir
I would like to follow up on your recent comments and respond to them with the utmost clarity.
First of all, we would like to remind you that our agency has always acted rigorously in the sale of your house, in accordance with its ethical commitments and professional practices in the property sector.
At your request, we carried out a valuation of your property, as you felt that the valuation carried out by your solicitor was inadequate.
Our valuation was between €40,000 and €50,000 higher than his, and was based on an in-depth analysis of the market and comparable properties.
It should be remembered, however, that at the time of this valuation, the property market was in a constant uptrend (post-COVID period), making any precise valuation more delicate.
When we met to submit our estimate, the sales strategy we had defined together seemed to suit you perfectly. You gave us a non-exclusive sales mandate, and we immediately started looking for buyers.
We quickly presented you with a buyer at the price agreed in the sales mandate.
In your comments, you state that you "finally cancelled the sale". We would like to make it clear that this statement is inaccurate, because in reality, despite an offer that complied with the terms of the mandate you signed, you chose not to take up the offer and not to sign the preliminary sales agreement. We have of course respected your decision and have ended all commercial relations, leaving you free to sell your property to the buyer of your choice.
You also mention a person whom you describe as a "collaborator". We would point out that this person was not, and never has been, an employee or representative of LE BEC Immobilier. There was therefore nothing to prevent him, in all legality, from using our agency to purchase a property.
We take the comments you have made very seriously, particularly those of a defamatory nature. It is unacceptable to make public accusations without any foundation or full knowledge of the facts.
We reserve the right to bring this matter to the attention of the appropriate authorities.
Our agency, founded in 1976, has always endeavoured to act ethically and in the best interests of its clients.