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Original poster

Is it the house? or the agents?

20 replies

wannaBe1974 · 16/02/2006 15:48

my Pils are currently trying to sell their house. It has been on the market since the beginning of January and as yet, they have only had three viewings, and the agents have given them no feedback. so, mn jury, is it the house? or are the estate agents just useless as most estate agents are?

details of the house are

here

OP posts:

WigWamBam · 16/02/2006 16:02

I can't open the link so can't comment on the house, but I don't think that three viewings in six weeks is too bad actually, particularly as the winter is usually very slow for house buying. With regard to the feedback, they can only actually give feedback if the viewers have left feedback, and often they don't. Your parents can ask the estate agents to ring the viewers for feedback if they like, although that might look a bit pushy.

GDG · 16/02/2006 16:08

God, only since January!! Ours has been on 18 months!

I don't think I'd be panicking just yet - 3 viewers sounds OK to me!

With all agents we have had to chase for feedback, but often they can't even get hold of the viewer afterwards to find anything out. I guess if they aren't interested they just don't want to be hassled.

Hulababy · 16/02/2006 16:11

If your parents want feedback following viewings, as most people do, then tell them to phone and ask the agents. They shouldn't worry about seeming pushy. It is the agents job to do this, so not a problem. The agents should be asking viewers for feedback anyway when following up viewings. Obviously not all will give feedback and some feedback will be a simple not for us type thing only, but better than nothing. We asked for feedback following any viewings, and our agents were perfectly happy with that.

This is a slow time of year. It should pick up as spring arrives. People seem to prefer house hunting when it is warmer and drier.

House seems a good size. Not many pictures so no way of knowing what needs doing or not. Don't know area so again no idea on the price. only comment I can think of right now is about the gardenn. Many people looking for a family garden might be expecting a lawn, rather than flagging. Obviously not much they do about that, but could be something.

littlemissbossy · 16/02/2006 16:16

3 viewings since the beginning of Jan isn't bad IMO. The agent will only give them feedback if there is some to give - i.e. negative feedback. The house looks nice on the pictures, but it's clearly a family home and their garden may put some viewers off. I would compare their house to others in that price range/area and see what the competition is like.

goldstarlover · 16/02/2006 16:41

i know it says the agent is "roger platt" but the logo is the fox and sons logo... is it the same company?

I only ask because my experiences with them have been dire!
example:

i go in and ask about a property
am told they don't know where the details are.

i see said property then advertised with another agent and make a viewing.
when i get there the lady says that she hardly had any viewings with fox and sons.... well duh, that's because they didn't know where the details were!

our local office does seem a bit shite

goldstarlover · 16/02/2006 16:42

would agree with it needing more pictures though... i like lots of pictures.
I have viewed about 12 houses so far in my search and left no feedback! lol

Skribble · 16/02/2006 16:45

The presentation of the house is great, so unless it smells of kippers, really badly of dogs or FIL shows people round in his boxers then I would say no problem with the house.

Agents never seem to be as keen and dedicated as you would like, chase them for feed back even if the house was rubbish the agent should be able to tell you thats what people are saying.

It could be though that they aren't getting much feedback from the veiwers anyway, people often don't want to say to much and give away that they are interested. Is the agent doing the veiwings. If not they might not get any more feedback than your PIL when they do the veiwings.

NotActuallyAMum · 16/02/2006 16:46

Agree it could do with more pictures but also agree they're not doing bad for viewings

Jodee · 16/02/2006 16:52

Agree it's a slow time of year, f-i-l's place has been on the market for over a year, but now he is getting more viewings. Agree with Hula, your pil's should be much more pushy with the agents, they are getting paid a lot of money for not much work, even if you get neg feedback then that would give you some idea of how to improve bad selling points.

I've no time for agents, they are only interested when a buyer has been found, then they start hastling the solicitors for progress reports because they are chasing their commission

Mazzystar · 16/02/2006 16:58

my mental arithmetic ain't what it was, but £house price x 1.75% = lotsa money. i'd expect a lot of attention for that!

i think the photos are not great, it looks a bit stark and the garden a bit gloomy- maybe take some more now spring is in the air

Hazellnut · 16/02/2006 17:14

I would definitely expect more than 3 viewings in 6 weeks but that may be because I have only sold places in London in very busy markets.

House looks neutral decor so that's good - but as others have said could do with some more photos.

They should maybe start speaking to other agents and see what they say about how many viewings they would expect etc (although obviously the agents are going to tell them what they want to hear) - but armed with this they could go back and give the original agents a kick up the ar$e.

Original poster

wannaBe1974 · 16/02/2006 18:41

I think TBH that Mil has been put off them slightly because the other day they had viewers round and they were looking at the room that is being sold as a dining room, and she heard the agent say to the couple "well to be honest, most people prefer to eat in the lounge now these days, no not really much point in using that as a dining room". I think Mil feels that the house is being given negative publicity by that agent, maybe because they have other, more sellable properties on their books?

In my personal experience estate agents are slimy, and I detest having to deal with them, having said that, when we sold our last house, the agent we dealt with was brilliant, and I only had to ring up and say the agent's name and he knew who I was, not because I'd had to shout at him at any time but because we were in such frequent contact.

Just out of interest though

here

is another house for sale on the same street, 5 grand more though

OP posts:

Mirage · 16/02/2006 20:26

If I'm totally honest,the garden would put me off.It looks a bit gloomy & stark.Would your PIL consider relandscaping,or at least laying some turft inside the paving?

GDG · 16/02/2006 21:54

Hmm - whoever said it was a family sized house is right, adn they are right that the garden is not child friendly. I guess that could put people off.

Personally I wouldn't even consider it because it's modern, very square with little character, the bedrooms (apart from master) are not very big and are narrow (?) and the garden would be no good for the kids. Plus it's on a 'development' of modern houses - it just turns me off.

However, that's just my taste - I can't otherwise see anything wrong with it from the photos - Maidenhead is quite modern isn't it? 3 viewers is not bad going - were they families or older couples??

goldstarlover · 17/02/2006 10:43

i agree about "ngative" comments by the agents.
it's their job to sell the house, not tell you that rooms are useless! lol

unless.... the viewers had expressed a desire to turn it into a study or something and the agent was backing that up?

anyway, if they aren't happy with the agents then they should change!

sazzlealsop · 17/02/2006 11:28

GSL- roger platt and fox and sons have the same logo as they are all part of the sequence homes group which is nationwide. the branch in our area is called william h. brown and that's good so i suppose it depends on the house.

WB- When we bought our house (from W.H.B) however, it was not the agents that showed us round it was the owners of the house - could your PILs not request that they do it as the they would be able to say what they want about the house rather than the estate agents sayiing negative comments about the dining room?

LIZS · 17/02/2006 22:16

hmm interesting. It looks nice and well presented. Ours has also been on the market since January and we've had 7 viewings , but no follow ups as yet, so the market isn't that sluggish. tbh with your pils's what would make the difference between the two for me is the garden (it is a family sized house and the garden should reflect that in size and character) and the ensuite. Is the kitchen recent and is there space for a dishwasher and dryer anywhere since most families would expect that. Our garden also looks a bit bleak atm so all those around will probably be the same.

We have neighbours trying to sell for 5-10k less than ours but theirs has a through lounge/diner and is link detached , whereas ours is fully detached and has separate dining room. However that price difference is pretty subjective.

Our agent will give feedback each time but we've found much of it vague, kind of get-out type excuses - ie "needs too much work for the money", even though it would be mainly superficial and not expensive - so have asked for more specific info and as the agent has just done their first viewing in our absence we may get a better idea. Does mil want to have the agents do the viewings or would she be able to do it herself and therefore tell what she chooses. If not she'd be better going out while it took place. I think the viewers do get a different interpretation from one or the other. If the agent is not selling the extra reception room as a dining room then they should ask if it should be presented differently , as a study for example. Personally I'd have the imagination to realise it could be a dining, family room or study/office but not everyone would.

hth and good luck selling

Debbiethemum · 17/02/2006 22:32

What immediately struck me from the photos was how much more alive the 2nd house was. Looking closely, it was the number of plants & all the green that really brightened up the place without losing the neutral colour scheme.
This is just my opinion, what does everyone else think.

LIZS · 17/02/2006 22:40

maybe but think they have rather overdone it and their furniture also looks heavier in the photos. Have also started to buy flowers and plants to dot around and add a bit of life and colour. tbh I'd probably ask them to remove the photo of pil's garden from the website as it may put potential viewers off a house which might otherwise suit, at least until it has a bit more colour to it. Just noticed the main bathroom in house 2 only has a shower which seems odd.

goldstarlover · 17/02/2006 22:42

lizs i noted that from house 2 as well! kept re-reading thinking i had missed a bathroom.

they do have en-suite, but not sure that makes up for it! lol

do yuo know, i think a lot of buyers must be SO fussy! i've been pretty open-minded in my house viewing i think... the one we're buying is VERY boring to look at! lol

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