Thinking of selling up & moving back to the UK due to huge increase of cost of living here for our family & commuting to work in UK & exchange rate etc etc etc. But before going any further just thought Id ask if anyone can tell me what the procedure & costs of selling a house over here is? Will be getting some agents in soon but would like to hear from someone with 1st hand experience of selling theirs. Live in Ruffec.
Many thanks Mike

Estate agent here are expensive - 7 to 10% usually. Of course the buyer then has an additional 7 to 8% to pay to the French government.
Why not try to sell you house privately? Not sure it is a good time to try and move - house prices have been falling and the pound rising. Anyway I hope you fulfil your desires.

have a look here

http://www.frenchentree.com/france-selling-houses/

Use all options available to you. The buyer pays the Notaires fee which includes the taxation, and of course agents commisions are negotiable ours ended up at 3.5%

Everyone told us 18 months to 2 years to sell but we did it in 12 weeks. Just lucky I guess. The pain was the English solicitor, engaged by the buyer, who dragged his heels and added a further 12 weeks due to his incompetence. Good luck

Any agency fees are paid by the purchaser, as are all legal fees. Note that if the sale price is over 150K euros, you will need a "Fiscal Representative" approved by the French fiscal authorities. You can expect top pay for this. Probably around 1 to 2% of the sale price. Google to find out more. There are a few companies who provide this service. Otherwise, the only fees paid directly by the vendor are the various surveys (Energy/Termites etc.). Your agent or Notaire will advise.

The requirement to appoint a fiscal representative only applies to non-residents where the sale is subject to capital gains tax. As the OP is currently living in the property and is therefore resident here, the requirement doesn't apply.

I do wish you luck in selling your property. I am trying to sell mine and have been so disappointed by the lack of service given by Immobiliers. They dont turn up when they say they will then they dont get back to you after to arrange an alternative appointment. Just bad manners and lack of customer service in my book. Of course there are good and bad out there but personally I would push it yourself as I am doing.

You can advertise free on here http://www.leboncoin.fr/ I think the success rate, at least for getting viewings, is far higher than it is with agents here, who are next to useless. It's also a way for the buyers to avoid the agents' very hefty fees, too, because sales are private.

Good luck with selling your house and getting back to the UK!