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Original poster

To sell house with Foxtons (which I would normally avoid like the plague)?

65 replies

Inneedoftea · 08/10/2013 14:24

Ok, so DH and I have been thinking about selling house for a year or so, but have had other issues going on that have prevented this so far.

Since having our house valued last autumn, prices where we live have increased considerably. So I had another valuation two months back and one today with Foxtons, who are opening a new branch near us. The Foxtons agent did a typical estate agent speech etc and then valued us at £150 000 MORE than the other agents. No house has sold on the street for anywhere near that price at all. Our house is nice, we have worked on it since being here 5 or so years. New kitchen/bathroom - everything fresh. Lovely garden, Victorian charm, original features, lovely street. Buyers can really move right in. But it is such a huge difference.

So basically I'm asking what other people have experienced with Foxtons. Do they really overprice? Will they 'suggest' we reduce later. Obviously if we get a higher price our purchasing limit will increase too but although I don't want to be greedy, we are only human and want to get the best price we can.

OP posts:
Pachacuti · 08/10/2013 17:18

We did manage to sell with Foxton's when other estate agents had failed miserably, but (a) that was over ten years ago so completely different market, and (b) they didn't come in with a really stupidly high valuation.

What does Zoopla reckon your house is worth?

bec0901 · 08/10/2013 17:31

We also sold through Foxtons on a 0% commission deal. They valued the house at £100k above others, got lots of viewings and achieved a sale price only £20k below asking, which smashed the ceiling price on the road.

They did it by bringing people in who couldn't quite afford other local areas, e.g. Camden, Highgate, and they saw our little area as amazing value for money. And because the buyers didn't understand local prices so well they paid above the norm!

Best decision we ever made. They say "always sell, never buy, through Foxtons" for a reason.

Original poster
Inneedoftea · 08/10/2013 17:34

Zoopla reckons around the same as other agents. I think their ploy is to sell to people moving out of other very expensive areas in London to here, which is 'up and coming' blah blah blah. Hmm Think I will get another one around and see what they say!

OP posts:
MissGarth · 08/10/2013 17:36

Do you really want to work with people with such principles?

They opened their office near us a couple of years ago.

I happen to live the most desirable road in the area (although our house, which is split into flats, definitely brings down the tone compared to everyone else's masterpieces Grin, so I'm not boasting)...

We knew Foxtons would need to have a house for sale on our road to be taken seriously in the area, so we all took bets on how long it would take them to put up a false sign on our road...i.e. put up a random sign when they have no house for sale at all...I bet two weeks after the office opened....

We all lost the bet, they put the sign up two days before the office opened, which hadn't occurred to any of us..so we decided to put the cash in the Sainsbury's charity of the year collection box by the tills.

You can see from this their deservedly terribly reputation in South London.

Original poster
Inneedoftea · 08/10/2013 17:37

Bec0901 that is very interesting! The are saying the same, people moving out of Shoreditch, Hoxton or not being able to afford Balham, Clapham etc. People from around here wouldn't pay as much!

OP posts:
Original poster
Inneedoftea · 08/10/2013 17:38

Perhaps we should run a similar sweepstakes here?! Smile

OP posts:
JamieandtheMagicTorch · 08/10/2013 18:08

Ineed

yes. our area's like that

Mandy2003 · 08/10/2013 18:12

On the edge of stockbroker belt Surrey, Foxton's valued my Dad's house at £425,000, it eventually sold (with another agent after 10 months), for £305,000. Need I say more?

I never advertised with them when I sold but somehow they got my details and kept badgering me, even after I'd sold.

dafyddk · 19/12/2013 16:47

We sold our first 2-bed flat with Foxtons for an 'aspirational' price. We then bought a whole house and garden 1 road away for only 35% more from a much more 'respectable' agent with a better reputation.- But the other agent sold the house to us for too little. I still know the man that bought our flat through Foxtons and he's been very happy. Recently Foxtons have opened up an office on Brixton High St. They's had a lot of flack but you have to admire them for trying their hardest.

frenchfancy · 19/12/2013 16:56

If you are not in a hurry to sell what have you got to lose? At 0% it is worth your while iven if you have to take an offer.

Last time we sold we used another agent for about 8 weeks, didn't sell so we put it on with Foxtons even though the comission was £££. It sold within 2 weeks for far more than anything on our road had ever sold.

cathers · 19/12/2013 17:11

We bought with foxtons. They were from a paperwork point of view but waaay overpriced. They were asking for £360k - we bought for £300 k.

GoldenHares · 19/12/2013 17:15

I'm in North London and if a property is listed with Foxtons I and others I know tend to think a)it's going to overpriced and b) there won't be much wriggle room/ negotiation for offers.
4 sets of friends of mine have moved recently. Foxtons has valued each of their properties between £80k-£150k higher than others.

CallMeNancy · 19/12/2013 17:19

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

CallMeNancy · 19/12/2013 17:21

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

gordyslovesheep · 19/12/2013 17:23

ZOMBIES

CallMeNancy · 19/12/2013 17:25

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotJustACigar · 19/12/2013 17:37

Zombie thread - but a very interesting one. Note to self - don't buy through Foxtons.

CallMeNancy · 19/12/2013 18:00

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MichaelFinnigan · 19/12/2013 18:07

So did they sell it?

FlatFacedArmy · 19/12/2013 18:28

That's interesting. I live in an area which has recently shot up in value and I got a Foxtons valuation (new office!) last summer; I was trying to get a better LTV rate on my remortgage and I could guesstimate a more realistic value from that.

I wish now I'd had a second valuation done with other agents, as the Foxtons one was ridiculously high: 50% more than what I paid for this flat.

I've never bought from them but I have done a lot of viewings with them for a rental and before we bought this flat, and they really drive you through the door of as many properties as they possibly can in your budget and a bit higher. We sold our first 2-bed flat with them in 2007, it got a stupid profit and until a couple of months ago was still the highest sale price in that block - and it wasn't the biggest or the nicest either.

I'd sell with them again, but you do have to be on top of them as they have a tendency to tell buyers what they want to hear, including making it up on the spot if necessary. I heard them tell one potential buyer at our old flat that you could apply for street parking, and Tower Hamlets actually has restrictions on new blocks that prevent you from doing that. I'd have lost that sale anyway but I'd hate to lose it at a more expensive stage!

GoshAnneGorilla · 19/12/2013 18:41

I have a relative who's a very experienced Estate Agent and absolutely detested working for Foxtons, apparently they were truly horrendous to work for. So for that reason alone, I'd avoid them.

lessonsintightropes · 19/12/2013 19:01

Just a long shot but do you live in SE19 OP? We had the same situation with the new branch opening in Crystal Palace but were so put off by the attitude of the staff we went with KFH, who have been great.

MissBetseyTrotwood · 19/12/2013 19:03

Our house went under offer with another agent; a week or two later we got a letter from Foxton's saying they could sell it for way more money.

We didn't touch it with a bargepole.

dafyddk · 19/12/2013 19:05

If they give a ridiculously high valuation they are more likely to have properties so if you are looking in their area you can't ignore them. As a buyer you have to be careful. The agent is meant to represent the seller.- Something that some agents forget in order to make a quick sale. Buyers love the agent that sells cheap. Areas of London are changing rapidly. Sometimes there's a mismatch between houses and flats for instance. In my area flats seem to be priced low per sq ft. compared to single family houses which have doubled since 2006. In an area like Vauxhall/Nine Elms where 2 million pound flats are being built within a mile of much more modest properties at some point those modest places are probably going to rocket. I'm sure Foxtons get it wrong but so do all the other agents.

superzero · 19/12/2013 19:16

I've bought and sold with Foxtons.
Bought from them because they had the one I wanted,at the time I didn't pay over the odds,good market price.
Sold through them because at the time they had very good internet marketing,were prepared to do late viewings and weekends and were quite proactive.
Downside was really poor communication.When the sales negotiator left,I was not told,first I knew about it was a returned,undeliverable email.This happened a couple of times.I felt like they just backed off once their commission was in the bag and didn't really care.
Now so many other agents have very good internet marketing I don't think that they offer much over anyone else.
At the end of the day,their valuation is just a guide.You could always persuade a different agent to put it on at the Foxtons valuation and reduce if you don't get enough interest.You never know,it might sell for their asking price..