Estate Agents

From listening to my son and dil recently I can understand your frustration,in the road they bought in they viewed 4 properties with a price difference of between £15/18k,they bought at the lower price because it had a newish kitchen/smart bathroom/up to date heating system/good parking facilities.
The two that where at the top of the price list both needed to be refurbished and I understand why they decided on it as they could move in straight away,they had a lower offer accepted and where told by their Agent not all houses sell for the asking price and that Agents value up to allow for offers being placed.
Can you not have a second Agent acting for you and insist that when you have viewing the Agent reports back to you with either positive or negative feedback.Good luck with your sale

Sack the agent! Ours was only on an 8 week contract so it would have been easy. When they came to quote I made it quite clear that I wanted control over the advertising, I even wrote the top bit of the blurb for them. When they produced the details I made amendments, some factual, some spelling and some grammar. It is a competitive market so they should do what you want. Unless you are in an area where prices are going down stick to your guns about the price, the Land Registry figures are easy to obtain and your agent is being very, very lazy.

When buying shared ownership be very careful about what you are getting. In the one case I know of it didn't matter what improvements you made, the housing association were entitled to their proportion of it so if you bought 50%, spent £5000 on it, they would profit by £2500. They also charged a lot more than normal estate agents to sell it and extra for doing the viewings! In Northern Ireland the system is completely different, if you improve the property you keep the value.

glam not sure a second agent is a good idea these days. Firstly they usually charge more if it is not a sole agency and secondly it looks desperate on Rightmove so people will think there is something wrong or that you will accept a very low offer.

nonnie I never thought of that thanks for pointing it out to me,it has been years since we have bought a house,things have changed so much.

What houses have sold for, even months ago, is no guide to the current market which is currently low and falling. How do you know for sure what they sold for, as distinct to the asking price, when you say that the Land Registry has not yet released prices for recent sales.

You may have back access and a garage, when others do not, but how does the interior of your property compare with those that have sold. It may be well decorated and clean, but is the design and even furnishing as up to date and modern as people are looking for. When were your bathroom and kitchen last refitted?

The range of factors going into pricing a house are myriad.

At the end of the day a house is worth what someone will pay for it. If no one wants to look at it or buy it, that suggests that it is overpriced in the current market.

Personally we have always chosen to sell cheaper and sell quickly, which means that we can move quickly as well and grab anything we fancy.

We had a poor estate agent for a house we were selling, they overpriced it, so that it didn't sell in brief up turnin what was generally a down market.

We took the house away from them and placed it with another agent, who we told our story to, complete with the agents's name. This put them on their metal. They suggested one or two minor changes in presentation and sold the house within a month.

I would go back to the contract you have with current agent and check the small print. Make sure they are doing what they are contracted to do. If they are not doing everything you could be able to withdraw from their services & engage another agent. If they are doing what they said they would do then maybe the market is just very slow at the moment. The Brexit situation is causing a lot of uncertainty in the financial markets which will impact on property sales. I hope things get moving soon. It is a frustrating process.

I hate to say this but your property has only been on the market 2 1/2 months this is a very short time running up to Christmas. Prices are very up and down at present, I do realise how frustrating it is for you as I have a close relation in a similar situation and even when somebody has shown interest they then want a huge discount. Fingers crossed for you. Do check what you agreed to with the Agent, you could change probably but you will be starting all over again.

Agree its only been on for a short while. You need to ring daily for an update. Ask them if your asking price is realistic as people often ask more than people are willing to pay.

All the best for a quick sale though. I wholeheartedly agree it is extremely stressful.

Thanks everyone, my property has a new kitchen and bathroom plus extensions and a garden room. The other properties did not. It is very neutral. Although, of course anyone new will want to change to their own taste.

I knew the person who sold hers quickly very well and she got her asking price. Although they chased me saying they had Clients waiting.

Shared ownership is fine for me, I have no close family, so do not care what happens after I am gone. The sale goes through Estate Agents and they price the property. The present owner's daughter is selling because her Mum has gone into a care home. Everything is done I would only have to redecorate.

I have two Agents one has done nothing and the other sent 3 viewers. The one who hasn't sent anybody has not even replied to my e mails. So I think I will be dropping them.

A few ideas for you -
Check all the photos on Rightmove. Do they show the best aspects of your property? If not, get the agent to re-take them. Even photos taken on a sunny day sell a property better than dull ones. Check that the best features of the property are described well. Check 'streetview' on Rightmove. A relative had a property listed recently and was amazed when I pointed out that streetview was showing a much less desirable road a block away.
Who is doing the viewings? You or the agent? I always do my own viewings as, having lived in the property, I feel I am in a much better position to draw attention to the good points. Many times when I have been shown a property by an agent they have just let me in and waited in the kitchen while I looked round on my own!
Is the property prominently featured in the estate agency? If not, get it moved into the window.
If your agent isn't being helpful, move to a new one.
Remember the squeaky wheel gets the oil, so as Izabella says, ring for frequent updates.
Good Luck!

We posted a property in late October and it only sold in the following February - November, December and January is known in the EA world as "the graveyard months". 2.5 months is nothing. If you haven't sold by March, then I would definitely look at which estate agents are moving houses faster (keep an eye on Rightmove for your area) and maybe look for an agent who has sold a house quickly? (Of course, this may just be because they persuaded the owners to reduce the price?) Basically, in the run up to Christmas, it's very difficult to sell a house. Sorry.

Our last estate agent was too polite to us as vendors. After complaining we got a few brutal truths.

We staged our home by removing all personal items and all ornaments less than 8in tall. We also ground and stained our lovely pink oak floor.

A week later our house was sold to an eager, well-qualified buyer.

In seeking our feedback our estate agent said ours was the only house he personally had sold in 2006. We said that we could've done with his brutal truths a few months earlier.

The answer is not a lot other than post haste to collect their commission

I despair at agents these days.
I was an agent & we worked really hard for our clients. We even used to pop in to feed cats or rabbits etc if they were away for weekend. I even watered gardens at times.
I never worked for a big multiple agent only small independant ones.
Fantastic job & we used to get bottles of wine,flowers etc so often from clients - some are still friends.
All local solicitors knew us & knew we would chase them like mad if they took too long. It was such a happy job.
Look for a local independant one-they are still out there.

We used to buy properties to renovate and then sell on, if the agent didn't appear to be doing much I would give them an ultimatum - find a buyer within 4 weeks or I would take the property from them. Always worked for us, although of course that was some time ago.

Here in France we have free on-line websites where we can upload photographs and advertise for free. Do you have these in your neighbourhood. Also, we have noticeboards outside our large supermarkets where you could perhaps place a picture of your house and a brief description. Hope something like this works for you

I often wondered that myself - when I put my house up for sale in Dover the Estate Agent that came out knew the street and houses well, and was well aware that there was only on street parking. In the first week we had lots of viewings but the feed back was always the same - lovely house but no parking! Why book viewings for people who want a dedicated parking space when none of the houses in my street had this. It was so frustrating. Then there were the couple of viewers who said the lack of a front garden put them off - again it was painfully obvious from the photo of the house that there was no front area. In hindsight I think we would have been better doing the sale ourselves - I certainly would have made very sure that potential viewers understood about the frontage and parking issues!

You do really need to change agents. They can vary so much, from very good and professional, to frankly useless.

If you're locked into an agreement for the moment, insist that they amend the blurb to include crucial information like your garage and access.

I don't want to be alarmist, but I have known of agents who are both deliberately inactive over selling, and urge a price reduction, because they have a mate or colleague who wants to get it cheaply. I used to know of someone who acquired all his investment properties like this - he had 'an agreement' (consisting of brown envelopes) with more than one EA.

Please get some new agents - try three, and pick the one who seems best for you. They always try to get you to drop the price - a drop of thousands is a lot for you, but doesn't make that much difference to their fee, which is why they want you to sell fast. I can understand that they are running a business and need a turnover, but you need the best deal you can get,. We have moved five times, and always had this 'Let's try dropping the price' trick every time. One agent was so unpleasant when we refused to drop that we sacked him, and I told him that we were fully aware that if we reduced the price of our house to £500 we would sell it instantly, We did sell for very close to the original asking price. They are not working hard for you and are clearly not up to speed with their business. I really would try elsewhere - quickly!

Estate agents rip you off,i have relatives who work in them they either undervalue to get a quick sale, or over value to get you to go with them.I have sold two houses without an agent,you just need a decent solicitor who does nothing other than house sales.

Monica captures it so succinctly. A house is worth what someone is willing to pay for it. My OH is a retires surveyor who worked for several estate agents over the years. The good ones give careful consideration to the value and will advise the client what its worth....not the other way round. That valuation is so important I've heard of people judging an Estate Agent on simply how high the value is...equating a higher value with a better quality Estate Agent!!!.
Nowadays all property goes on the net so its not the exposure that you are paying for. Its the valuation, the presentation and then the follow-ups and eventually nursing the sale along. I'm sorry to say that if a property is stuck on the market for too long (and there is nothing dramatically wrong with it) there is only one fault, and that's its price.

Change agents! Get several quotes, and ask each one if there's anything you can do to make your house more attractive to buyers, declutter and de-personalise. No reason why you can't pack things already to make your house more streamlined and store them in the loft or garage etc. I have moved house 4 or 5 times in the last 15 years and have done the above each time.

lulu in this area any house which has been on the market for that long would be considered stale or overpriced.

I think that those living in London think that their market is the same as the rest of us but most outside London have not seen a fall and many are still seeing increases.

GrandmaKT totally agree about doing your own viewings, people trust individuals far more than they trust agents. We did all our own too.

One of the benefits of changing agents is that it will go to the top of Rightmove when the new agent markets it. At the moment anyone looking will see you have been on the market for a while and suspect an issue.

Agents really don't do much for their money before an offer is accepted and then you see which are good and which are rubbish. It is when a chain gets stuck that a good agent will get to work and sort it out. Solicitors are bound by rules which don't allow them to get involved outside the property they are doing the conveyancing on. If your property is at the lower end of the market you might just as well use one of the online agents as there is not much likelihood of a chain. All agents advertise on Rightmove and serious buyers don't look in the EA's windows, they set up alerts on Rightmove and search that way.

waffle and hold keys all will done online the sooner the better