Anyone of experience selling from a distance? How often to contact agent? I just feel uneasy not knowing what's going on.

[DivineInspiration]

I'm currently trying to sell my old single-girl flat - DP and I have moved away from the area so it's unoccupied though DP still uses it a couple of days a fortnight when he travels to London for meetings.

Because I'm not living there, I have no idea when viewings are taking place or what's being said by viewers, and the agent is being spectacularly laconic about it all. It's been on the market just over a month now and I've called the agent three times to check up: sometimes they seem vague or I feel like my call is perceieved as hassling. Do I call once a month or something or should I be calling them more frequently? Asking them to call me after every viewing? Or what?

They've also fed back that a couple of viewers said it "wasn't what they were expecting" but haven't elaborated - which bemuses me as the photos on the listing make it utterly clear what the flat is like; they couldn't be more of the flat iykwim. The only thing I can think of is that the agent is somehow telling viewers beforehand that the flat is something it isn't - but why would they do that? Or there haven't been many/any viewings and they're just making feedback up to placate me?

They're a local agent with a good reputation and they tend to shift property relatively quickly, which makes me worry it's me (or my flat) rather than them!

They should be calling you with feedback after every viewing. That what the agents I've used have done, all in London. My guess is that they get far more hassle from people selling the homes they're currently in and are putting you at the bottom of the pile. You are paying these agents money and they should be providing a decent service. If I were you, I would call them, ask for more information about the feedback you've already had, and ask them explicitly to call you after every viewing. If they're not having to tell you about viewings because you're not there, maybe change that so they notify you about each viewing?

I live overseas currently for work purposes. I am currently selling my house in UK. My first agent were exactly like yours, so I gave them notice. I didn't bother telling them to buck up because I am not a very tolerant person and they were not a dominant agent in the sales market.

I then transferred the agency to a local agent with 35 years experience in the area. Within 3 weeks they had an offer and we are currently (slowly) proceeding through to completion (if it ever happens).

The second agent had my property on it's books 1 day before they had viewers in, and there were lots of viewings. They fed back at the end of every day that we had viewings unless the last one was very late (we are 2 hours ahead).

I'd have a frank talk with them and ask them if this is how they normally do business because you expected more information from them. If they're not responsive or don't up their game I'd switch agents.

We sold our London house whilst living in Switzerland and when it went on the market I was in near-daily contact with them regarding viewings, updates, discussions about whether we all thought it was fairly priced, etc. I was working to a tight deadline because the house I wanted had a deadline for offers and we couldn't proceed unless ours was under offer - I might have been a bit more laid back otherwise although I doubt it somehow.

Btw, we also had comments from potential buyers about things that would have been clear from the floor plan prior to viewing, but having been a buyer myself I know that often if something is lacking (eg. only one bathroom) that will often be cited as the reason for not being interested when actually if it had felt like the magical have-to-have property they might have overlooked that fact because they'd just fallen in love.

What's your instinct about your flat? Do you think it's very saleable or are there potential sticking points?

Just a thought - do you have a friend who could call up to ask about your flat? See what sort of things they're saying about it?

Like ladymuckbeth, our flat, while lovely, had an unusual layout, which the floor plan immediately showed up, but we had plenty of viewers who still fed back that they didn't like it. Its location is also a bit weird - despite being notionally in one bit of London, it's far closer to the station of another. We got frustrating feedback from people saying they weren't keen on the location, despite it being easy to see where it was on a map. So you never know how justified some of this feedback is. In the end, we sold to someone who loved the layout and the location.

That's a good idea about getting a friend to call and enquire - thanks. I could probably rope a couple of friends into actually making viewings at the weekend as well. And your replies have definitely reassured that it's the agent being lazy and that I wouldn't be being pushy or unusually demanding to make it clear I want to know when viewings are taking place and be contacted afterwards.

No, it's not massively saleable. It's ex-LA and in a block, which makes it more difficult (though by no means impossible) to mortgage. That said, I've priced it to sell and so in its price bracket it's by far the nicest available in the area - if a professional landlord bought it (common for flats like this) they could let it immediately as no work needed.

I guess that people do some with a pre-conceived idea of what they're hoping to see, but it's a pretty typical purpose-built one bedroom one bathroom one living room one kitchen and the listing doesn't try to pretend that it's anything other than ex-LA or in a block: www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-23434056.html
I'm not at all happy with the particulars they've got. They're very sparse and give virtually no information. This is partly my fault as DP and I have been so busy with moving and new jobs and the rest that I've not been chasing the agent up on it as much as I could be to get them to add the info I gave them about long lease, reasonable service charge and extended warranty on the central heating and boiler, all of which I imagine would add to saleability.

I hate feeling so out of the loop :(

Thanks for input :)

I agree with you on the write up. The first agent I had used a write up like that and then tried to hide behind the misdescriptions act. I asked them time and time again to change it but they were not having any of it.

Good luck getting it sorted OP