Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To not use an estate agent?

35 replies

AltasCloud · 02/07/2019 15:27

I'm looking to sell ASAP but can't decide whether to employ a traditional estate agent or just buy a really basic online 'package' to get advertised on Rightmove but manage the viewings myself.

I know what the house is worth, so don't need appraisals. I'm also a qualified photographer so I'd rather do the photos myself.

The question is, would you prefer viewing the house with an estate agent, or the owner?

The owner was present when I viewed this house and we swapped emails, which proved really helpful and we completed in 6 weeks thanks to our communication.

So I don't drip feed - I let out other property I have, I manage all the admin etc myself so I'm used to doing viewings. So to me it's not a big deal if the owner is there or whatever, and I'm not emotionally invested in the property at all.

But...for most people, is it a bit awkward to have the owner present?

OP posts:
PawsForPizza · 02/07/2019 15:28

I personally prefer estate agents showing us around but it wouldn’t put me off.

You’re not selling in Norfolk are you?

Original poster
AltasCloud · 02/07/2019 15:50

Not Norfolk, but about three hours' south-west!

That's good; I would intend to keep out the way and let viewers bimble around in their own time.

OP posts:
PhilipJennings · 02/07/2019 15:52

I owned a very quirky property. It sold much faster when I got good quality photos done and did the viewings myself after over a year on with three different agents - their photos just didn't do it justice. The only downside was the first offer came from a very pushy couple who were stressing out about one factor and kept calling me to get me to change it despite everything on the listing saying we were selling as seen (I had a baby and toddler and just wasn't in the space to be doing extra work). Was quite relieved when they pulled out. We got a bit less cash from the next offer but he was so relaxed about it that it all went through very smoothly.

I actually bought the house I'm living in now through purplebricks and did the viewing with the owner directly. So I have no problems with that on either side!

Aquamarine1029 · 02/07/2019 15:54

I have never used an estate agent to sell any of my homes. I hired a solicitor specialising in property law and did the showings myself.

Original poster
AltasCloud · 02/07/2019 15:59

That's really encouraging!

@Aquamarine1029 how did you advertise?

I've got a fantastic expensive and very much trusted solicitor.

OP posts:
AnnabelleBronstein · 02/07/2019 16:16

We bought through purple bricks last time and the experience was so awful that I have vowed to never even look at a house being advertised through them again. A lot of people think this was so I imagine you will be cutting your potential buying pool down substantially. It’s also really awkward being shown a house by the owner.

Aquamarine1029 · 02/07/2019 16:31

All I ever had to do was put a For Sale By Owner sign in the front. I put "showings by appointment only" and my phone number.

pancaketits · 02/07/2019 16:38

Use an estate agent. Tell them you want to use your own photos, tell them you want to be there for viewings.

I've recently moved house and whilst I'm confident I could have easily sold my own house and negotiated the price, what I couldn't have managed was all the bollocks that comes afterwards a sale has been agreed!!

Kolo · 02/07/2019 16:42

I prefer the owner to show me round. You can get a good idea of how well they’ve kept the house with the answers to your questions. An estate agent wouldn’t know the answers to the questions I might want to ask. Also, I’ve been to some shocking viewings where the estate agent has basically picked at their nails and seemed so disinterested. Really put me off, and made me want to get in touch with the vendors and tell them to sack their EA.

MonkeyGoneToHeaven · 02/07/2019 16:46

To be honest, getting people through the door is probably the easy bit. If your house is priced correctly, it will sell - although beware of cutting down your pool of buyers as a PP says due to some being put off by the lack of an agent.
A good agent will earn their money at the sales progression stage - i.e. keeping the chain moving and working with the other agents to dovetail the completions. I am in a chain at the moment with ten other properties and my agent is doing sterling work keeping it all on track. I wouldn't have the time or the skills to do that and my agent is also having to do other people's work for them as we have Purple Bricks involved somewhere in the chain and also Countrywide who are dreadful.
If you do not use an agent and you are in a chain then you are relying on other buyers and sellers paying for services to keep it all moving.
If however you are selling to a first-time buyer and have nothing to buy I don't see why you couldn't deal with it yourself.
If I were viewing houses I would not view one where no proper agent was involved due to the reasons above. I'm a solicitor but I don't deal with conveyancing, so I wouldn't dream of attempting to do that part myself - likewise with the selling side; I will pay for someone else to take on the stress.

Alsohuman · 02/07/2019 16:48

I’d never touch a property that was a DIY sale. Agents oil the wheels and keep chains together and moving.

Witchesandwizards · 02/07/2019 16:51

I'm all for a proper local EA, especially in a difficult market like the present one.

We have just accepted an offer on our house that would not have happened without good estate agents.

We live in SW London and the market is pretty dire with Brexit doldrums. We reduced the price after a few week and our EA immediately contacted another of their vendors who were under offer and had already found a house to buy but EA knew they would prefer ours. The wife came round at 4pm that day, the husband at 6pm, we had accepted an offer the following afternoon and the family disappeared two days later for a month in France.

There is just no way Purple Bricks et al would have been proactive and brokered that deal.

And now they are talking to the chain re dates and it's tricky because we are moving abroad and need longer than the others really want, but the EA can have those conversations.

As well as the 'damp' conversation that the surveyor apparently found. After 6 period property purchases I am experienced in the 'fake' damp industry and have pre-empted the inevitable by having our own survey done.

The EA manages all this conflict.

pilates · 02/07/2019 16:51

I would prefer to deal with the owner. Can’t stand all the bullshit from estate agents.

hennythe100footbird · 02/07/2019 16:59

Purple Bricks share prices have plummeted which indicates to me that the company are in trouble. Not only that, but unless you use their mortgage advisor and solicitor I think that the fee's are payable upfront. Once they have your money, there's no saying they will put any time in to trying to sell your property, only showing people around who actively contact them about your particular house.

I also wouldn't use a large chain estate agent, I find the service you get from a local independent estate agent is so much better.

Each to their own, of course, but having used a local independent, I would always recommend them.

billysboy · 02/07/2019 17:04

Estate agent all the way to deal with all the crap after accepting the offer

AllBirthdaysMatter · 02/07/2019 17:04

Estate agents are a waste of space in most cases. You need an excellent solicitor to deal with the sale, not en estate agent.

I have viewed so many properties shown by the owner even when they were using an EA, it really doesn't matter. Ideally, I prefer without the owner, but that makes no difference about buying.

Keep it professional, act like an EA, be firm in negotiations and once you have an offer get a very good solicitor. You need your property advertised on right move and zoopla, nothing else.

Copy the add you had when you bought the property, no need for 50 photos, it screams of diy seller!

At worst, you know you can always use an agent if you haven't got viewings at all, but in my (limited) experience they are pretty useless.

Mildura · 02/07/2019 17:18

You need an excellent solicitor to deal with the sale, not en estate agent

Ideally you want both. Different roles, different uses.

but in my (limited) experience they are pretty useless

Maybe you need to get better at picking an estate agent to use. ;)

There are plenty of useless ones, but a good one will likely be worth more than the cost of the fee to a seller.

AllBirthdaysMatter · 02/07/2019 17:22

Mildura, you don't get to pick the EA used by your vendor.

I do a better job than EA, I only use them if I am not able to organise the viewings myself. Their only benefit is access to the websites. They genuinely have no role in the sale process at all. I have recorded viewings of my properties to see what they were coming up with, it's hilarious, but honestly, not useful at all.

Mildura · 02/07/2019 17:35

They genuinely have no role in the sale process at all

That tells me that you have probably not dealt with many property sales.

Finding the buyer is often the easy bit!

AllBirthdaysMatter · 02/07/2019 17:40

I have dealt with a few Grin

It's the solicitor who deal with everything, EA just tell you they think you want to hear, but I am more than able to chase people and negotiate myself. EA don't deal with mortgages, with survey, with paperwork, with queries, with anything really.

I would advise my grand-mother to use an EA though, it would probably work a lot better in that case Grin

The only useful thing - but there are ways around that - is that you can give them the keys when you vacate the property and don't have to hang around for your buyer.

Limits33 · 02/07/2019 17:44

There was a thread in the last few days about purple bricks and that sort of thing.

Overwhelmingly shit and people said on there that they would not view a purple bricks house.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/3619059-AIBU-to-not-want-husband-to-use-Purple-Brick-to-sell-our-house

Here's another

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/3625503-what-can-i-do-to-make-my-house-sell

Redland12 · 02/07/2019 17:52

I myself and a close friend have used Purple Bricks and they were amazing! Helping every step of the way. Could not be more pleased with the person looking after our properties. Would definitely use the again.

Cloudyyy · 02/07/2019 17:57

I personally wouldn’t view a house with the owner present. I have turned up to meet an Estate Agent and been met by the owner on a coupl of occasions... it was awful.

Hecateh · 02/07/2019 17:59

My son sold through Doorsteps Estate Agency.

£99 one off fee if doing own pics and viewings. Website portal where people book viewings - they went for an open day and got 3 offers on the day but this was definitely a first time buyers house in a cheapish area. Gets it on RightMove etc, gets a professional portal for booking viewings but you can manage it yourself as much as you want.
doorsteps.co.uk/

FuckOffPeriod · 02/07/2019 18:16

all the bollocks that comes afterwards a sale has been agreed!!

All they do is chase solicitors, the ones who actually do the work. It's not a difficult job. Really it isn't. I've worked in an estate agents and in conveyancing and I can tell you which is more useful than the other.

Having worked in both sections myself I honestly feel like they are, for the large part, a huge waste of time and money.

They will charge astronomical fees for doing the least out of everyone involved. It makes me cringe every time I get an invoice through from them that clients don't question why they are paying thousands for someone to make some phone calls and tell them what they want to hear (which is very rarely the truth).