Any Estate Agents/Property Experts?

[MayorGoodwinn]

I could do with some unbiased but expert advice.

Our property went on the market in Oct - just before the last lockdown (I know). We knew it wasn't the greatest time but were assured things were still moving. Well the lockdown kiboshed that.

We didn't have any viewings until Dec. Bar one who we really thought were going to offer they've been none starters. They've just seemed to be people who were desperate to move for one reason or another and were looking at a load of houses over a given area in a price range. Not that they were specifically interested in our prop.

Our house is a restored period property with lots of original features so very marmite in some respects, but if you love that style of home and want to live in this suburb (which is seen as very desirable) it's one of very few, there's not many period homes for some reason so they're often seen as desirable and ours has been renoed. Only downside to ours is is that it is near (but not on) a main road - which much of them under the 600K mark are in this suburb.

Feedback has been viewers haven't been particularly bothered about a period prop or this location (bar one) so the road is too big a compromise.

I'm confident the right buyer will be out there but obviously thin on the ground due to the time of year and COVID.

Question is, do we leave it on and see what happens or if it doesn't sell are we risking going into a more buoyant period with a listing that is stale and where people can see it's been on for 6 months+?

Should we take it off and rest it and go back on in the spring with new exterior shots and potentially reduce the price a little (I do feel it is slightly overpriced)?

I know the agent will want to keep it on as from his point of view even if there's only a 20% chance of someone buying it for 40 mins out of his day it's worth it. However with two kids and both working full time it's a massive upheaval for us to get ready for a viewing that has little chance of converting to a sale.

Also and I've already posted about this - our direct neighbours in the semi are going on with the same agent, so even if we came off we could still potentially ask the EA to show buyers interested in theirs our - neighbour hasn't been remodelled and there's always the chance viewers might be happy with the location/style of house but not want to do the work.

Housing market is moving, and everything will sell. Only one thing stops a house selling and that is the price

@Whammyyammy no one has mentioned the price and we asked the agent if he wanted us to reduce ours and he said no - I'd be comfortable taking it down a notch.

Agent of 25years here.
Sounds like your agent isn't advising you correctly and has over inflated the price. Furthermore they are bringing unqualified applicants to your home when there is a global pandemic raging.
It is an upheaval to prepare for a viewing so all buyers should be in a position to proceed and know what they're coming to see, i.e. a refurbished period property.
Sack the agent - choose a new one who has your best interests at heart!

Yep, change the agent, get a few valuations to find out what's reasonable, make sure the details and photos are good. Some markets can be very price-sensitive. 👍

RICS residential surveyor here. It’s simple, your house is overpriced.
Estate agents essentially pluck a number out of thin air based on what they think it is worth, but actual value and what people are willing to pay for it are very different.
The way you’ve described your house implies it’s only attractive to a limited audience at the price you think it’s worth, so you have 2 choices.

1. Keep it on the market at the price it’s currently listed for a pray a willing buyer appears. However, the longer it is on the market for the more it’s value will decrease as buyers will be aware of this and haggle you down anyway.

1. Reduce the market price in line with less niche, non-period properties within the area to try and tempt a wider audience into at least viewing it.

Either way, it’s up for too much.

@wibblewombat photos are excellent so no worries there, almost too good, I spent ages cleaning all the stained glass before the first viewing as the pics made it look to good, lol!

I was selling a flat a couple of years. Ago & the pics were so good, I almost didn't recognise it. Cleaning windows actually helps lots, done lots of viewings and people only want to see grime if it's a development project & priced accordingly.

My in-laws put their lovely, expensively renovated house on with terrible pics, took ages to sell. Did they listen to me, nope...

@SpongebobNoPants that's what I was thinking re point 1, we may as well either take it off, or just reduce it now and get to the same point quicker.

I always thought agents were quite keen for you to reduce if something wasn't moving but ours doesn't seem to be.

@lanawinters yes I was really cross about this especially re the last two, before Xmas as I really didn't want anyone in then as we wanted to see my parents on Christmas day, then to learn they weren't that arsed prior to viewing was very frustrating. I did say this as we had a viewing request last week for this coming Friday specifically - again people relocating so coming to view a lot of props in one day. We both have a day full of zoom calls so would be really difficult to re-arrange. I asked the agent if they could just ascertain how serious they were, and make sure the road wouldn't be a none starter. But he wasn't resistant to this and didn't want to offend them - which I thought was an odd response.

Anyway we said no in the end but offered to do a zoom viewing at the weekend to which we've had no response to so they obviously weren't serious.

Not an agent, but a residential property researcher.

Depending on your location, I'd be wary of assuming that if you took the property off now and relisted later in the year that you'd find a more boyant market. The knock-on effect of Covid on the economy and therefore the housing market is going to continue, and we haven't seen what's going to happen with Brexit (I see two conflicting forces - more short term confidence as the risk of no-deal is gone, but medium term economic stagnation). Probably not going to get a crash as interest rates remain low & banks are less willing to repossess so fewer forced sales, but there is every possibility that the market will be more stagnant in 6 months time.

Other things to think about:

1. With lockdown & more time at home, buyers are prioritising space - what's your property like? Are you showing the space at it's full potential?
2. Was the popularity of the area based on commuting/proximity to business or city centre? If yes, you might find interest has dropped compared with pre-Covid levels as the location isn't so crucial
3. Are you in an area which has either lots of Airbnb or student lettings? We're seeing lots of people looking to exit those sectors while travel is restricted. If there are lots of HMOs that would be suitable as family homes coming to market, that's going to give you a lot of competition.

Good point in favour of just sticking it out @witheringrowan

Re other points what sort of things do you mean re point 1, it's definitely big (that's why it's taking me so bastard long to clean prior to viewings, I miss my cleaner!!). I think so, the 5th (3rd biggest room) is our office anyway as we both WFH lots prior to the Pandemic, we have a sofa and TV in there as well as the desks shows how big the space is. We have two reception rooms downstairs as well as an extended kitchen to create a kitchen dinner.

It is close to the town centre but only a small town not a city, but the popularity I think has more to do with it being an old village (but it's now more of a suburb) and it being seen as been quite posh (I'm sure we've brought the tone down, ha), it's also very leafy and surrounded by greenbelt and country parks whilst still been near the town/train station/motorway. It's also on a hill and many of the houses (inc ours) has amazing views of a famous serious of hills/mountains.

No it's small town, not a Uni town or tourist dest

I work for a mortgage adviser. Honestly at the moment it's taking so long to get mortgage offers that anyone now will miss the stamp duty holiday deadline (if they are going to extend it, I wish they would bloody announce already!). I'd relist in a couplw of months.

@hammeringinmyhead oh that’s interesting that was DH’s argument for keeping it on but I said I think that ship’s sailed.

Ha, I think Rishi’s probably keeping quiet about it so he doesn’t have to extend it 😂....I think they might do it again when things start opening up though.

Properties were selling fast op. If it’s not sold then it’s the price.

If you’re the lady whose neighbour is going on at about 80 k less. I’d take It off and rethink the price.

@MayorGoodwinn We always point out any potential 'compromises' with a property prior to viewings to sort the wheat from the chaff.
I simply cannot believe the attitude of your agent not wanting to 'offend' by properly qualifying the applicants... Bizarre.
The activity levels last year and into this year have been unbelievable and there are a lot of day trippers out there so you have to weed out the wasters - for want of a better phrase!
Good luck with it - if you want to PM me I'm more than happy to advise you impartially.