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Original poster

How soon should we expect viewings?

50 replies

afishyweddingfairy · 30/11/2011 11:20

We instructed our agents last Wednesday and they finally sorted out the particulars and got us online last night. At what point should we expect to start getting people through the door/worry that we aren't getting a bite?

I am not good at delayed gratification and want it sold now so I can buy my dream house. That's not going to happen, is it.

OP posts:

londonlottie · 30/11/2011 12:45

Major selling point re. the car parking spaces! Insist on more pics - I'd want a closer shot of the kitchen, one of the bathroom, the other bedroom and the study, a better one of your outside space (at the moment the shot of the outside looks very perfunctory and not like a space that is good for entertaining... get them to take one including table and chairs looking back at your flat if that's a better perspective), shots to show the separation between the living and kitchen area, and probably some corridor shots which should make the flat look spacious.

montmartre · 30/11/2011 12:46

Similar here Duchess- properties either sell within 48 hours, or hang around for 18mo or so... and a real dearth of nice property coming onto the market, bah.

londonlottie · 30/11/2011 12:49

That sounds utter pants Duchess. Could you rent it out and move into rented yourself until the market picks up, or is that not a viable option? :(

ChristinedePizanne · 30/11/2011 12:49

I would get them to change the description to 2 bedroom. It irritates me when EAs consider cupboards bedrooms. My house has 5 rooms downstairs (in addition to kitchens and bathrooms), that doesn't make my house a 6 bedroom house!

NotJustClassic · 30/11/2011 12:52

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Original poster

afishyweddingfairy · 30/11/2011 14:48

Right. Have asked them to put the fact there are two parking spaces on the particulars, and also to change photo to a nicer one. I also think they need to highlight the lift entry more, but don't know how they'd do that. At the moment they are loath to take more pictures as 4 is their standard number - and looking on the website that is actually the case, and a lot of properties with just four pictures are under offer. I just hope their sales staff can do their job and get it sold.

As DH says - if they get people in with the particulars they'll have a nice surprise once they come in.

I've only been properly on the market for 24 hours and just want a sale already. I'm not going to be good at this, am I!

OP posts:

Primafacie · 30/11/2011 15:22

Looks stunning.

Very odd that they won't do more photos, my agent (Foxtons) would have at least 15 in that price range, including different angles in the living room and at least one of each of the bathrooms and bedrooms.

I agree you should market it as a two bed plus study, not a three bed, you will get more productive viewings this way, instead of attracting people who want 3 'real' beds and will then complain the third one is too small.

londonlottie · 30/11/2011 15:27

I am honestly stunned that they won't take more photos. I mean, where's the logic, where?! Why do they not do it if other KFH offices do? I don't know if they have to pay per photo on Rightmove/etc, but if they do and that's what's holding them back I'd be livid. You want as many people as possible through your door, and if even one viable buyer runs the risk of not viewing due to lack of pictures which sell the place, then it's a very, very costly sort of penny-pinching for them to practice.

greentown · 01/12/2011 08:27

4 is their standard number!!!!!!

How utterly bonkers and randomly bizarre - are you dealing with Vic and Bob's comedy estate agent.

They may as well say," I'm sorry madam, we only sell properties at 700k so we couldn't possibly sell yours"

Who's the customer here? Did they make 4 photos a term of the contract? You're in charge - you're paying them (between £6,500 - £13,000 I would guess) for four naff digital pics david Blunkett could have taken.

4 is their standard number!!!! They're mad or you're mad for putting up with it. Estate agents do bugger all at the best of times but 4 pics!!! What's the bloody rationale behind that? Tell them to do one - asap.

Next thing they'll be telling you they only consider offers from gentlemen callers on Friday afternoons and they like to wait a week before telling you about them - I'm sorry madam but that's our standard policy.

Ditch those jokers.

HugosGoatee · 01/12/2011 08:39

It is stunningly beautiful inside... but £650k for a 2-bed in a seventies style council-esque (from the pics) block?!

Good luck!

Original poster

afishyweddingfairy · 01/12/2011 10:06

I think I'm going to have to put my foot down re the pictures - they've made a lovely flat look somewhat average.

HugosGoatee - thank your for your input. It's not council-esque, it's not from the seventies, and properties in Central London are expensive. Did you mean to sound quite so rude?

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HugosGoatee · 01/12/2011 10:30

Sorry, but it's how it comes across - if I was looking in that area with that budget I'd be looking at this newly refurbished 4-bed Victorian house !

I think the main block doesn't look appealing so many potential buyers would be immediately put off by that. Sorry to be blunt. It is genuinely stunning inside, but as a 2-bed, I think you might have to wait a while for viewings. There are several similar quality 3-bed properties on there at a similar price which won't help, and they have better pics - def get on to your seller.

Original poster

afishyweddingfairy · 01/12/2011 10:35

You see I wouldn't live in that property you've linked even though it's just round the corner from here it's a grotty street. We've always been in line with the prices of the houses on the roads around here even though we're a flat, but it's all about what people want, isn't it - a flat in a gated development will appeal to some people whereas having more bedrooms will appeal to others.

It's just frustrating - this is DH's bachelor pad and I'd never have bought it myself. I just want to move on to the next step.

OP posts:

greentown · 01/12/2011 10:41

I think the flat is great but the agents and marketing are definitely lacklustre. We were looking in that area about a year or so ago and parking is a very real problem esp. if you've got cars to match a £650k flat.
And they say your flat has a 'covered parking area'.
That's a bit 'huh?' isn't it? Is that communal parking under a corrugated metal roof? What do they mean by that?
People often don't go past the Rightmove advert to click through to the agent's site if the first impression doesn't do it.
If you've got TWO parking spaces - TWO EXCLUSIVE parkings spaces in this part of London - SHOUT about it.
Agents don't pay Rightmove £s per pic - not at any cost that matters - I've had 30 pics off agents charging £500 - there's just no excuse for their laziness - not at the price you're paying.
Rightmove is the portal to the agent's site - at the moment, your Rightmove ad is poor and when you click through to the agent website, it's just as poor too.
Threaten to pull out of the contract before they get any viewers around. They aren't doing their job properly at all.
Unless they stipulated that you would only get 4 photos in the initial contract then they haven't got a leg to stand on.
They are not marketing your property to the standard appropriate to the fee being charged and their marketing does not compare to that offered by other agents for similar fees in the same area.

HugosGoatee · 01/12/2011 10:44

I understand. On the plus side, you'll get a lovely pad in Dulwich for the money

londonlottie · 01/12/2011 13:15

Have you had any interest yet for weekend viewings? Picking up on why you chose that particular agent, wanted to say that it's not necessarily the right decision to choose the agent who gives you the highest valuation. With the house we've just offered on, they actually went with the agent which gave the lowest valuation, but they wanted to move quickly and wanted it priced fairly to get maximum interest. Worked well for them because they ended up with an offer from us at just 1/2 percent under asking, and in the meantime they got lots of feet through the door. If you don't have any viewings in the next week or so, I'd seriously start to wonder whether the sale price (plus lack of pics!) might be putting people off.

Original poster

afishyweddingfairy · 01/12/2011 13:26

He was joint highest, hence I thought it was believable - and it was his enthusiasm that impressed me most, along with the fact that we will pay a reduced fee if he sells below £600k. I thought that showed he had some faith in his valuation.

Not yet had any contact, but the floorplan is now up on rightmove, so that's an improvement. If we don't have any viewings by next weekend I will start to question whether the price is right. It's quite difficult with an unusual property to get it right, which is why I think they need to be a bit more proactive on marketing. Though I should probably relax - it's only been 24 hours since we went on Rightmove etc.

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londonlottie · 01/12/2011 13:28

Yes, try to relax... great that the floor plan is now up. Fingers crossed for some good feedback and early viewings. What's the state of affairs with the place you like? Have you been to view it already?

Original poster

afishyweddingfairy · 01/12/2011 13:37

It's gone under offer today but I'm trying to be positive and a bit fatalistic about it all. If it's meant to be, it's meant to be, and obviously that house wasn't the right one for us. It did have the most amazing kitchen though!

There are plenty of other properties in the area in our price range, and seeing what one person has done with their kitchen has inspired me to consider buying something and doing it up to our specification. If we do our homework properly it should leave us with enough to get a BTL (or pension as it's called in this house) property too. We're even considering getting the BTL first and then buying the family house when we find the right one. It's decision central here!

OP posts:

Primafacie · 01/12/2011 13:38

OP, our flat was also unusual (school conversion, listed portered building) and yes it can take a bit longer to get interest, however there is a market for non standard properties. Do not panic if you haven't got viewings within a week, there are less buyers for properties like yours. In the end we only had six viewings before we got our offer. Are you on zoopla? If so you can monitor the number of people who click to see your details.

I was in exactly your shoes six weeks ago, found my dream home and got desperate to sell so we could offer on it, so I fully sympathise.

londonlottie · 01/12/2011 13:40

Gad, we've been having all these kinds of chats too. The mortgage on our current house is one of those too-good-to-be-true deals (0.49% above base tracker for life etc etc) but it's with Northern Rock and unless we port it at the same size to our new house, we have to lose it (NR as it was are no longer allowed to lend money). So we have the option of losing that deal entirely or using that mortgage to buy a BTL place, at the same time as we get our mortgage on the house we've found. Although that is no doubt good for our pension burgeoning property empire (ha) it's so complicated it makes my head want to explode. And I don't want to do anything to jeopardise the purchase of the house we found, I'm completely in love with it!

Primafacie · 01/12/2011 13:44

OP, plenty of property deals fall through! Don't despair - that is what gazumping is for :)

Original poster

afishyweddingfairy · 01/12/2011 13:48

Thanks for the kind words - it's just all so frustrating, isn't it! Or as Granny would have said "maddening"!

We also have an amazing mortgage - 0.49% above base for life with the Woolwich, so we're keeping that one going. Fortunately we can also increase our borrowing with them as it's fully flexible - so we can draw down without application at standard variable rate, or take a second mortgage with them on a different interest rate.

Technically I'm also a first time buyer as this flat, mortgage etc are all in DH's sole name, so if we go down the BTL route and go under £250K we could save on the stamp duty, particularly as we may live in it to start with. Any BTLs will go in my name as I earn significantly less than DH and therefore have the more favourable tax bands sitting unused.

OP posts:

londonlottie · 01/12/2011 13:51

You sound as scheming as we are

passionsrunhigh · 01/12/2011 19:31

Duchess you're right - selling in london is SIMPLE - but the funny thing is I'm really struggling to buy in a city near the West Country - not enough on market, too much competition argh! I'm talking about quality flats though - more houses around.

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