Estate Agents AIBU

Good to hear gmelon - different experiences and all that. Guess it’s the luck of the draw then and would depend how busy it was. My friend didn’t like it because she kept being “scheduled” for phone caoncersations a week in advance. Hence her frustration. The next poster obviously had same experience but obviously you didn’t which is good for the OP to know.

*CONVERSATIONS ?

I always use two EAs and only pay commission to the one that actually sells the house.

I agree with much of what PPs are saying, having recently sold our long term home. I certainly would be sceptical about anything the EA said.

The housing market can be very volatile, going on past sale prices is a good idea, but selling prices can go down, as well as up.
We kept a price in our heads that was the lowest we would accept and didn’t disclose it to anyone. Psychologically it helped deal with the ridiculous offers and pushy EA.

Another factor to consider is where/ what your next house is. You could lose or pay more your next property, by waiting for the full priced offer. It can be a balance, in a rising market you could soon make up the financial the difference in your new property.

It’s a tricky, stressful time made worse if you haven’t moved in a while, everything seems to have changed, especially the paperwork involved.

Good luck, I hope it does go smoothly.

GrannyBettie

<<I wonder whether we are talking about the same agent? >>

The odds are it isn’t but I am convinced EAs are a cloned species, the result of a mad experiment which crossed a snake, a shark and a teenager.

Sorry not to have read all the posts, but have you had feedback from the EA as to what people thought about your house, other than the price? Maybe there is something other than that which they're not happy about which cuases the EA to value it at the same price as the smaller house nearby? Have they got fesh decoration/refurbished kitchen etc?

Isn't the best way to judge interest in your property to look at how many viewings you've had. If you're getting loads of viewings at your asking price are the people actually capable of paying that price, are they tyre kickers getting a few decorating ideas? If you're getting very few viewings it's probably overpriced, even allowing for cheeky offers. Last time I moved which was a while ago now we had to prove we could afford to buy before being allowed to view, does that still happen? We're in the early stages of thinking about moving so be good to know how the process works these days. No one wants to find their ideal home based on what the estate agent claims theirs is worth to find themselves accepting such a low offer that they'd have to start over.

It's a good point FlexibleFriend.

I hadn't realised that house viewing had become a weekend activity for families. These people have no real interest. They are just on a day out. It was an agent who told me that. Dad comes into the office and asks: "What have you got for half a mil?" and off the lot of them go, Dad, Mum, Grandma and kids in the SUV to waste someones' time. The agents know they are sightseers but play along.

The time I was thinking about selling (to move nearer to a friend and then circumstances changed so I stayed) I didn't let buyers much past the front door without asking some pertinent questions to see how serious they were. Some didn't get past the front lobby.

Open House days can be useful if you can tolerate having that many people wandering around (not sure I could) but I'm told it adds an element of competition. If viewers hear other people saying complimentary things about a house it increases their own interest in it.

For most people this is the biggest personal financial transaction they will ever make but it is hamstrung by an inefficient and haphazard system. I don't know what the answer is but it isn't the way it works now.

You need to be tough with the EA and tell them you will not accept any viewings from people who have not been qualified to proceed with a purchase,also you want feedback from any viewer as to what they thought of the property.

We had 4 EA to value our bungalow. There was a difference of 100,000k from lowest to highest. If they haven’t got anything to compare it to then they don’t seem to have much more idea than the homeowners. We’d already decided it was worth somewhere round the middle of the guesses.
When we have sold in the past we have always told the agent to price to sell. We have also had the advice to reduce the price quite quickly after it went on the market. I don’t think they were listening to us?
We are all human and there is no doubt that we all want as much as we can get but most of us would prefer not to have our expectations raised, only to have them dashed.
On the other hand the properties all sold and we moved.

When I sold my house in Dover the estate agent was full of praise about it and how much it would market for. After four weeks they still hadn't managed to upload the photos they took on their website and trying to get hold of the person who was dealing with my sale was horrendous, never there, busy, on a viewing etc etc etc. They made the whole process so much more stressful! I now live in with my daughter who swears we are never going to move house again!

There's nothing like a bit of healthy competition. Go multi agency. If they think they'll lose out to another agent they will work harder. Do bear in mind that even in a healthy market this time of year is dead due to holidays. Factor in that it's even more quiet due to lack of confidence I would suggest if you aren't desperate. Wait. If you are desperate, you may have to accept a lower offer and could make a lower offer when you move on. Not a great time percentage wise for down sizing though.

Last November we sold our three bed semi (in tbe NW), using Purple Bricks. This cost us a lot less than the prices which local EAs were quoting. We also used PB's associated conveyancing services which we found to be swift and well priced. Our only word of warning would be that PB wanted us to put the house up for sale at £15K less than what we felt was a fair asking price. We stuck to our guns - so the house went on at "our" price - which it achieved. The whole process took exactly five months from the start to the day we moved. (Perhaps we were lucky.)

We have used House Network twice now (an online agent) and have been delighted with them both times. They are always helpful and always come back to you. YOU control everything through an online hub - including the price. I wouldn't hesitate to use them again if/when we move in the future. Far cheaper too, but you do pay up front. Can't praise them highly enough

Look at your house with the eyes of a buyer.
First impressions do matter and it's often the woman who views with the most critical eye.
Get an unknown unrelated person to critique your home and tell you their views, warts and all.
What you have grown used to over the years, thus don't notice, might be a glaring dealbreaker to a buyer.
Make sure the sealant roubd shower tray and bath are pristine and grouting between all tiles are spotless. No magazines cluttering the pmace or knick-knacks which you religiously dust. No doilies or fusty old fashioned lampshades...I could go on.
Just pare back. Fresh white bedlinen and clothes out of sight. Freshen up paintwork and have a welcoming front door with plantpots either side.
Less is more.
Recliner chairs with side tables full of tissue boxes and pills plus glasses and inhalers are a big no-no.
I don't mean to be rude and your home is possibly very smart, however, your home is your taste and buyers look for space and can be very picky.
The smell of coffee brewing and bread in the oven is irresistible, even if you are simply heating up some frozen supermarket rolls.
I have lived in various houses and felt immediately connected to those I chose.
Nil desperandum and best wishes.

Sorry...meant to type 'round' and 'place'.

Whatever you do, avoid the smell of coffee. I know some people like it but it makes others feel nauseous.

Anyone can set up as an Estate Agent and you do need to be careful, Surveying is a profession, Estate Agency isn't so according to who you have in your town it can be a good idea to look for someone with a few qualifications. You don't have to stay with one Agent you should give them a set time to sell your property and then tell them you are going to bring someone else in, the only thing is you will find you are paying a higher commission. This is a massive drop in price and I would be wary too. Has this Agency actually sent anyone to view yet? whilst five weeks isn't very long I think someone should have been to look by now. People do take up house viewing as a hobby and it isn't always easy for the Agent to work out just who is doing this. Summer ought to be a good time to look but with school holidays and so on Autumn/ Winter is sometimes a better bet. Good luck.

Slightly OT but I an intrigued by the American system. Whenever I watch a movie or TV drama where people are house hunting, they are invariably shown around a vacant property. I hear the word escrow which I believe involves a third party holding funds. What does a realtor do? Do they buy a house from one party and sell to another cutting out the dreaded chain we have in the UK?

I hope you did not sign a contract. You should ditch the agent, but then be careful about what to do next. Most agents nowadays rely upon the property and lots of photos being available on the internet. That does provide a wider audience, but how it is done is most important. Therefore you could tackle any agent to ascertain how they go about this and, of course, what their terms are.

Selling houses today is more complex and a real hassle unless you happen to be lucky. Finding a buyer is often the easiest part as the legal requirements today involve much more than just finding a solicitor. The list of questions that have to be answered is almost neverending and this is where you need to be very careful as buyers can and do take legal action if they find any answer misleading after they complete.

We had a similar experience a couple of years ago - had 3 agents round who all gave the same price. With no other properties like ours in the area to compare it to we felt the price was accurate. After only 2 viewings they told us to reduce the price which we did - another month later they said the same thing. We decided if we were reducing by the amount they were suggesting we might as well stay here and spend the money on improvements - again (we've been here 32 years and done a lot of work on it) so took it off the market. We then had one of the agents ring up a couple of months ago saying they had a buyer - he came and valued it again - at the price we had it up for before! Seemed to prove they'd all overpriced it in the first place. To tell you to drop by 100k so soon is not acceptable - if you're not tied in with them look at moving to a different agent. Agents vary so much - we were looking for a property recently and found one which looked just right - after 3 attempts to try to book a viewing we gave up - the agent just never got back to us - that seller will never know if we might have been interested!

My son used PB's to sell a few months ago and said they were very good but as the one they were buying was also with PB they did have some issues with solicitors trying to contact them. Good luck - someone out there wants your house.

Stand your ground and do not be bullied by this EA which is so often considered by many as such an "unprofessional profession"! Unless you have signed a contract with them why don't you say - thank you for your recommendations of a price reduction but I don't agree with the way you do business so I plan to change agents!"

Speaking from experience - having owned and sold 7 times - 95% of EA's are only interested in selling as many homes as they can and by doing so they make significantly more profit.

EAs have keyed into the fact that most sellers are emotionally attached to the home that they are hoping to sell, so they will say anything in the initial meeting to secure the listing. But once they have signed you up as a client they start their "smart talk" to convince you to reduce the price!

Thanks again everyone. We were advised at the "interview" that they "vet" prospective buyers. Whether this is true or not....... I do know that we have had phone calls from the EA saying someone is coming and then on the day calling again to say the prospective buyer can't make it only never to be heard of again; not sure whether this is another tactic?

Flexible Friend, I can't really say whether this is the norm but this is our experience.

Gabriella G - we did use someone to "set the house up for sale" so I am confident that it looks good enough.

I agree with PPs that it is not necessarily a good time for sale - school holidays/brexit negotiations etc so we will see how it pans out for the length of the contract. I will certainly look at joint agency to see if that helps.

Don’t reduce it anymore - they valued it in and around that price when they first did the valuation. I would wait until the end of your contact with them and go with another agents who again all valued it similar to each other.

The Mouseprice website gives actual prices paid for houses. It lags a little as Land Registry prices only come out after six months, I believe, but it is accurate.

Once you are armed with actual prices you can act in a more informed manner concerning your own property.

There are also many websites offereing house selling tips. Phil Spencer has a list of 'The Seven Do's'. Eradicating the presence of pets for viewing and pet smells seems to be the number one but sprucing up the front of the house to give it kerb appeal is also a recommendation.

Tidying, decluttering and removing personal items; making the hall welcoming and making rooms neutral are also advised.