Changing estate agents or engaging a second estate agent

[Spirael]

Does anyone have any experience of this?

Basically, our situation is that we've been on the market for 9 months now with a small, local EA. In that time, we've only had two viewings, neither of which have gone anywhere. (The first made another appointment then vanished, the second hadn't sold their property and decided our lounge was too small.)

Far as we know, we're not overpriced. We're on the lower end of the valuations and a comparable house a few doors up sold at the end of last year for £10k more than what we're asking.

So, we're wondering now whether or not our EA might be part of the problem. They didn't do a floor plan and they haven't listed us anywhere online aside from Rightmove and their own site. The EA is also in a neighbouring suburb, rather than our one.

We're well outside the stipulated exclusivity period now, so we're trying to figure out whether we finish with the local EA and move to a national one, or whether we take on a national one alongside our current EA. Anyone got any advise for either of those?

Anyone feeling nosy can see our property here Advise there is welcome too, but disregard the nursery as that room has been redone, the huge desk removed and new photos are pending.

Getting a floorplan is worthwhile. One benefit of two agents rather than one is two listings on Rightmove - given they'll have different front photos there's a greater chance that one of them will catch someone's eye.

I've sold with a National (web-only so you need to do your own viewings) one called Hatched and used a local one. Not much between them bar the fact I had to do my own viewings for the online EA (lower fees of course).

If you're priced competitively is it possible that there's virtually no-one looking in your area? I think that's a bigger problem for many sellers - in an era of high house prices and economic uncertainly, buying a house is a big commitment and people are waiting to see what the future brings.

Hi - have a look at thread ' what else can we do' - we are in a similar position, and after 7 months with a local not very proactive agent, decided to talk to a national agent, who bowled us over with their proactive marketing/sales etc etc - they then produced some terrible photos which went straight on the net - we complained and got them to do some professional ones - this whole process has taken over 6 weeks and the details are still inaccurate - in all this time they have produced one totally disinterested viewer. TBH we think it was counterproductive going with another agent. We hoped it would give the original EA a kick up the butt, but that hasn't worked either - we get little or no feedback, and they only get involved if I phone them - it really is money for old rope, I feel I could write my own' how to be an estate agent' manual! Most people look on the national websites anyway, I really had thought we would get better service and that they would actually be interested in working for the commission ie by coming up with ideas/communicating regularly etc.

Might have to contact Phil Spencer and get him on the case. Good luck!

How well have you researched your agents?

Have you looked into who is selling the most, and have you approached them as a buyer? (not mentioning your house is up for sale) you can find out a lot this way. When I bought this house there were 3 in a row up for sale, I viewed this house and the one 2 doors down. All with the same agent and they didn't ask me if I was interesed in the one in the middle or even send me the details! Not a good agent!

Can you ask a friend to go into your current agents looking for a house that meets your spec and see what they are saying/doing to promote your house?

Then you will be able to say if they are doing a good job and the market is just crap, or if they are not!

With any agent I think you have to put the pressure on, give them a deadline to work to. e.g the photos are not good enough I want them retaken by friday and to be online by monday lunchtime.

Also chase them and ask them what they have done this week. How many details have been sent out, how many buyers have thery contacted to offer the house and ask them to increase the adverts in the newspaper (at their cost).

WRT to your house it is very nice so I don't think that is the problem. The only thing I would suggest is that because of the huge wardrobes in the master that room looks cramped. Is there anyway they could be taken down and a small wardrobe put in untill you sell? Ikea do a plain white wardrobe for £35. At first glance I looked at that and thought the house is too small to fit enough furniture. The same with the nursery but that has already been changed.

Hi Spiral,
I have nothing to offer re estate agents.
the photo of the lounge is the least attractive of the photographs. I wonder if painting the ceiling a much lighter colour would be better and make the room look larger.
The light fitting in the first picture of the kitchen is not very attractive.
remove the blue blind in the bathroom (if that is what it is)
a floor plan is needed
you will probably need at least a nominal price reduction to stimulate interest, although you are fighting a terrible market in the North.

Get a floor plan done. You have to look through your details quite closely to find out the room sizes because of all the blurb. You wouldn't need all that if you had a floor plan and its easier to imagine with one.

Garden looks lovely, rest of the house looks neat and clean but dated decor - bathroom with all those tiles might be putting people off. I would want to replace that and it would be a big job. We are looking to buy a 3 bed now although not in your area - wish we were looking at those kinds of house prices though!

I would paint the top of the lounge in cream like someone else said and try out some other camera angles to see if you can get some better pics, including retaking the front one from head on. Also it seems odd to have a really nice dining table in the kitchen and then a not so nice looking one in the conservatory. I would dress the room as a family room if you expect your target market to be young families.

As a random thing - why has the estate agent specified the garage is for 'storage purposes only'?

Has anyone on your street extended> Maybe you could have some ideas ready of how people could extend. (We are buying a particular design of house because you can do a sideways extension and have looked into likelihood of planning permission etc)

Are you getting the Rightmove stats from your agent to say how many people are clicking through to your ad?

Not sure if any of my ramblings are helpful. If you don't sell soon, maybe paint out the big black eyebrows and make them white. They are a little intimidating.

Can you get the agents to clarify the parking situation too. "Ample off street parking" is mentioned several times, but from the photo the drive doesn't look wide enough for a car - which is why I presume the garage is for storage only. Is there parking infront of the house?

Ooooh, lots of comments! Thank you everyone for taking the time to reply. :) Ok, working through...

Part of the problem we have with our current EA is that we're being represented by a (not close) friend. We have a reduced rate because of that, but we're getting worried that because we're friendly and not being charged as much as others, we don't want to push and they aren't too worried about pushing for us.

We're also worried about offending them if we leave and go to another agents. Taking a second agent doesn't seem quite as offensive, IYKWIM?

We're doing more research for potential second agents... As in calling several and getting them to try and sell themselves to us (while researching too) instead of just calling our friend and asking him to get us on the market!

Floorplans definitely seem worthwhile. I'll mention it to the EA and see what they come up with. :) I guess they were thinking they're not necessary as we're a pretty standard layout for a 3-bed semi.

Regarding the house comments:

The wardrobes in the master bedroom are fitted, so it would be a PITA to remove them as we'd have to redecorate! They also work around the chimney breast, which takes up a chunk of the room. The photo is negatively deceptive though, the gap at the end of the bed is similar to that in the spare room, which also has fitted wardrobes.

We've lost the chest of drawers in front of the radiator too, the EA didn't seem to think retaking the photo was necessary. Do you think it would help? Personally, I think the net curtain is hideous and dated too... Anyone agree so I can persuade my husband (an accountant...) to let me spend money to replace it? ;)

The ceiling in the lounge is white, there is just a band of green above the picture rail to add a bit of contrast to the room. That one is relatively easy to repaint though, if people think going for a more neutral colour would be better?

We also have a problem in the lounge in that the TV is under the window and there is a computer desk there too, which limits the camera angles and, admittedly, does make the room seem cluttered.

Problem we have is that we're running out of room in the house in general! Our office became a nursery. :P We've decluttered as much as possible, but we need to keep the computer as both DH and I need it to work from home during evenings and weekends.

We can't use the back bedroom as an office, because we live far away from all family, but the GPs turn up regularly for weekends and need somewhere to sleep.

Bit sad about the kitchen light fitting not being attractive... I actually quite liked that fitting and thought it looked modern, as well as being practical as it gives out lots of light for working under. Oh well... I'll add it to the list!

Blue blind in the bathroom can come down, we never use it anyway. :) I'll do that tonight. We're also currently looking about trying to improve the bathroom as best we can, without the cost of gutting it. Replacing the taps, changing the 'flower shaped' mirror for a more modern cabinet, etc.

Funny the conservatory table should be mentioned... That table is actually in the garage at the moment the conservatory is used as a 'play room', so it's currently housing a toy chest, ride-on toys, a mini table and chair, a book shelf with kiddy books, the laundry racks, etc.

We didn't know whether that was better or worse than portraying it as a dining room? We can take the kiddy stuff out...but then the room would be empty. Might not be good either? We don't have any conservatory furniture, or anyone able to lend us any, and the house we're looking at has no conservatory so buying some would be a bit of a waste.

Problem with price dropping again is that we've already dropped it by £10k. We expect offers of 10% below asking price and are set to lose money, but if we go much further we won't be able to afford the deposit to upsize (negating the point of moving) since we're looking at new builds and the banks seem to require deposits of 20%+!

You coooould get a car down the side of the house and into the garage... If it was a Mini. You can use it for Motorbikes or Bicycles easily, though. I actually hated that "For Storage Only" comment too... Sounds awful, even if it's true and what 90% of people probably use their garages for...

It is theoretically possible to extend to the side, our attached neighbours have done it. We actually looked at doing it ourselves, rather than moving. But the cost, compared to the room generated, isn't particularly great and it wouldn't increase the house value by enough to make it worthwhile.

There is parking in front of the house on the driveway, my Dad can get his Freelander onto the drive and everyone can get in and out. :) We can fit our Fiesta sideways on the drive at the same time, but doing that you'd have to move the other car in order to get out. There is unrestricted pavement parking on the street too.

Do you think all that needs to be made clearer in the ad? I moved the car for the photo to make the drive look bigger... But has it lost sense of scale because of that?

Sorry for the long post... Was trying to answer everything. Thanks again for all the comments! Very useful. :) Some stuff we can change, and some stuff we can ask the EA's about!

Right, your EA friend needs to go I'm affraid. They are not doing anything to sell your house. The comission on your value house is not that much to an EA at the best of times and if they are giving you a discount theres nothing in it for them.

They will be selling houses on their books with more in it for them.

I actually think that keeping the details online that they have will be counter productive with a new agent, because with our help you are going to have a dazzling property description and the current one will contradict it.

You don't have to fall out with your friend, just ask them to take the property off the market. Say you want to give it a 'while' and then try again. Then go and take up a new agent the next day. I'm ruthless but I am right .

So, make the tweaks people here have suggested, I would change the blinds and taps in the bathroom, don't go too modern it will clash but just a bit more up to date.

Strip everything out of the house you can, put it on the street for pictures if you have to. You need better angled pictures. Get rid of the big furniture, by having it crammed in you are saying this house is too small for us and therefore you.

Stage the rooms, yes it is twee, but do it. In the bathroom pic, get rid of the electric tooth brush, the cleaning products under the sink etc. All you want to see is a big WHITE fluffy towel, and a couple of molton brown type products.

A floorplan is a must. And loose the reduced for a quick sale. Make it clear there is off street parking for at least 2 cars. Loose the storage garage comment.

To be honest the EA looks inept, the description is not good, it is filled with useless comments like the stairs rise to the second floor. Really? I would never have thought that!! It is just mindless bumf and doing nothing to sell your house. Yes we want to know the walk through layout - carpets/windows/radiators etc but use the rest should be setting a scene about the house area and neighbourhood.

Oh and the nets have to go!! Seriously they do date it. I have just put white venetian blinds in my rental house, they were argos value ones (cost £17 for 2) and actually they look really nice and were not too flimsy etc. I suggest those!

Lose not loose. Honestly some one kick me

Ok, we've bitten the bullet and the previous EA has been lost! We just told the truth. Seems to be ok though, our friend did nicely send us the energy performance graph to reuse with the next agent.

We've got one EA phoning tomorrow to talk through what they offer... But probably not going to go with them. Apparently they don't do valuation appointments after 4:30pm or at weekends and sucked their teeth when I asked! Got another two visiting over the weekend or in the evening next week.

Tooth sucking agent aside, what should I be looking for in the two other EAs that are going to try and woo me into going with them? :) Aside from insisting on floor plans.

Tap replacement in the bathroom will be happening at the weekend, along with blind down. I've also dug out a fluffy white towel... It's got ducks on one side, but I can hide them if I turn it inside out.

We're also finishing off the little room, there's an EU measurements toddler bed arriving which hopefully people will think is a UK junior bed and presume the room is larger than it is!

Well generally I go with the figures they give me, and a feeling about the person.

I don't like self promoting when they are just throwing data around. Its all subjective, I want to know what is relevant to my house, do they have suitable buyers on their books? What similar houses have they sold recently?

Will they do what you want - pre approved photos, and input into the description.

Teeth sucking shows they are not interested, and I wouldn't waste my time.

You want to be listed on right move and maybe zoopla. On the agents website and have a few entries in the local property paper.

You need good pics, stage the room and take everything out that you can etc (all that was said above).

You need a good description, it should contain a walkthrough and details like parking, scope for extension and local transport. Also any good schools in the area? Get them mentioned.

Don't let them pad it out with crap. Mention anything that has been recently done like the kitchen.

You then need to agree an update plan. That the agent will email/call you once a week/fortnight and tell you how many details have been sent out, how many rightmove views, enquiries etc and viewings.

I usually haggle on price in that I say I will pay their standard fee if they find a buyer within 1 month (although I havn't sold anything in this market so it might have to be longer) and after that 0.5 to 1 % less (depending on the fee).

Have you been in to any of these agents as a buyer? Or has any of their leaflets through the door?

One of our biggest local agents was quite rude when we went to see them - we were both looking scruffy, with small baby, and they were not very helpful. They also sent round an ad filled with grammatical errors. And they are a big regional chain.

Try ringing or emailing them to ask about a house as well, and see how good their response is. And do a viewing with them if you can. A friend had to deal with a agent who rushed people through viewings - they were the biggest local agent and only gave you about 15 mins to look round a property, even on a second viewing from a cash buyer! And you had to book Saturday appointment 2 weeks in advance.

My parents are considering buying a flat near us as an investment and I cannot for the life of me get the agent to call us back. I have no idea what's going on. I definitely second going to agents as a prospective buyer - if interested viewers can't get in touch with you directly because of course all they have is the agent, and the agent's unresponsive, they'll go somewhere else. And for what it's worth I agree with all the other advice you've had :)

Great advice, thanks all! Ok, well the agent due to call me back this morning hasn't so far, so they're definitely getting scratched from the list!

Of the other two, one of them actually has a house on their books I'm way too interested in, so I might give them a call later to try and arrange to view it, and see how that goes. --My next thread will be how to get them to sell a £295k house for

That is a good sign, thats the kind of thing that gives you a good feeling .

Oh and 270 is a perfectly decent offer on a 295 house so do consider it. I can't say that the vendor will take it as only the,y know that but I wouldn't be afraid to have a good punt on that house. And if you do your research on previous sold prices then you will be well placed. Or post a link and we will play house detective for you

Well, if you insist, it's this one. It was listed as £285k a month ago, then the price was jumped at the start of May for some reason. (Bwuh?) It seems to have been on the market since October.

Viewing it on Saturday, so hopefully I can find out more on the situation then. Apparently it currently has tenants in it. So not exactly 'new build', more 'nearly new build'.

Ooh 'tis very nice! Do you know the house number? Its a big road I need to narrow it down!

Odd to put the price up like that, I wonder if it sold and has been put back on the market by the new owners?

It's number 41. From looking at maps, I think they pulled down a row of three terraced houses and then built it on that plot of land.

Not sure whether it was a privately commissioned new build or the product of a smaller building company. There are lots of new houses being built in the area.

Hmmm you have me stumped! Apparently it doesn't exist. Most likely because the people who own it built it and it isn't registered with LR. So no info there then!!

Perhaps they are doing that thing asda do where they put the price up one week so they can reduce the item the next?

Well hopefully you will be able to find out more when you view, but I still maintain that 270 would be a fair price, and I would offer below that in the first instance.

Yeah, I think I'd go in cheekily at around £250k. Gives us wiggle room, as £270k would be the maximum we could afford!

We were looking at getting a slightly smaller house and then potentially moving again (or extending) in another 7 years or so, but if we can get this one then it will be our forever house and probably save us money in the long run.

Well its good to have options, that is a nice house and you can be flexible with the space to really make it your own.

I don't know your area but there were a few other large houses that flagged up near by that looked nice and were more 250/270 price range, so there are options out there for you!

Yeah, there have been a few that have come and go. A lot of the houses in that area are new family homes, which is pretty much what we're after. :) So it's not a one shot... If we miss it or they won't negotiate, we'll find something else! Probably the best position to be in.

But before we can do anything, we need to sell our current house... Grr! Getting a bit impatient now after 9 months of nothing. But hopefully the improvements and EA change will get us somewhere! :)

Right, the bathroom now sparkles! New taps, new toilet handle, blind removed, bath resealed with a finishing strip. The ceiling could probably do with a replaster and paint, and the light fitting changing, but those are bigger jobs that will require tradesmen, so will have to wait.

Had a look around that house over the weekend. Seems like it's been built by the people next door, who had a huge garden. Basically they used the garden to build the house and are now trying to sell it. Not that the agent could tell me any of this... Apparently she's a Saturday girl and doesn't know any of the details.

Currently the house has got renters in...and it shows. It needs a deep clean and cosmetically it'll need a fair bit of work. (So not exactly "New Build" as advertised!) I'm deeply disturbed by the state of the living room carpet and the number of rabbits in the garage... At the bare minimum the carpet would need cleaning. More likely replacing. [boak]

Might need to find an expert on boilers too, since the on-demand boiler seemed pretty small to be providing the heating and hot water for the size of house.

However it has potential, for the right price.

Excellent! Get it listed and get selling .

If you do want to offer on that house make sure that you insist on vacant posession (see the other thread on the go about offering on a house you have never seen).

New estate agent has been chosen and photos are being taken next Friday. So we have this weekend to declutter even more.

At this rate, we'll get a nice big house but have nothing to put in it - as we'll have gotten rid of all our possessions!

Anyway, once the new pictures and floorplan (yay!) are up, I'll post another link for people to assess!

For the house we're drooling over considering, vacant possession is essential...as otherwise we'll have no-where to live!! I also want confirmation that it's freehold, which no-one seems to be able to give me at present...

We can't do much right now though. If/when we start getting some interest/offers in our house, then I'll try and drag DH for a second viewing to see whether he thinks it could become our forever home. :)