Are people put off by on-line estate agents? Any success stories?

[BlardyBlaaaaa]

So, we've seen a house we like but buyers have accepted a higher offer even though potential buyers are un proceedable. The EA says they have 5 weeks to sell their house, but if they don't it will go back on the market and be open to other offers (from proceedable parties).

So, having had our house valued by 3 agents, who all said it would 'sell quickly' we decided to put our house on the market using an on-line agent, assuming the house would sell itself and that we would save money and thus be able to up our offer on the house we want to buy.

Still following?? Well, the house went live a week ago and so far only 3 viewings. We live in an area where things normally go after one open day, so I was hoping to have it done and dusted by now, and to be able to enjoy the rest of the school holidays without being in this horrible limbo (not to mentioning trying to keep the house tidy.).

Can those who have sold via an online EA let me know how long it took you and if they'd recommend it? Am beginning to wonder if we've cut off our noses to spite our faces, iykwim.

Many thanks.

I haven't sold through an online agent, but when we were looking to buy, we had bad experiences with them. Difficult to get hold of, no personal service (ie. no agent you could ask for by name), turning up for viewing with no vendor there to show us round etc.

I think that was My Online Estate Agent, from memory.

I don’t think online estate agents makes any difference these days. Most people look online first and then call up and make viewings, rather than walking around the high street looking in estate agent windows.
Friends recently sold their house with an online one and it went really quickly and saved them a fortune, i know other people who used one and they had plenty of interest and sold in a reasonable time frame.

Is your house on Rigtmove and Zoopla? Do the pictures look good? Is the price reasonable? If yes to these then i think you may just have had unrealistic expectations (its rare houses are off the market 1 week after going on unless you live in a very small number of areas where demand outstrips supply).

You say other houses usually go after 1 open day, why is that? Are they high value properties or have the agents suggested a new tactic to generate interest after a cool period of viewings. If this approach seems to work, why not ask yours to set one up?

We sold through HouseNetwork, we sold within 48 hours, but this was in London where it's quite common. We had no problems at all with them and used their conveyancing service as well.

It does sound odd if your in a quick selling area that your not having viewings, what are your photos/floor plan like? I know things are settling down a little in London, perhaps that's it?

A friend of mine tried (and failed) to sell using Hatched. Lots of cock ups on their part (double booking viewings, not informing her about viewings, overvalueing). After several months (and no offers) she had to take it off the market and rent it out so that she wouldn't lose a house she wanted to buy.

I haven't used one to sell but have seen plenty of houses online advertised with them - you can usually tell by the poor photos!

My limited experience is that I saw a house I wanted to view, emailed through Rightmove - so you have to fill in all the details of what position you are in, what day/time you want to view etc (I was also firing off emails to several other estate agents to arrange other viewings too).
The online one (eMoov) just sent me an email back saying, if you want to view, give us a call. Well no, I've already sent you all the details -you call me! Or email with arrangements!
There's a reason I do it by email (can't often get to the phone during the day with children badgering me). It pissed me off so I didn't bother going any further.

Thanks for all the replies.

Yes we are on Rightmove etc, and I think the photos look good (someone came to take them and we added some of our own). They also did the floor plan (some of which was incorrect) but we are arranging and doing the viewings ourself, so so far, despite the lack of them, that has been fine.

Part of me thinks I'm probably the best person to sell the house as I know it better than anyone, and ditto the area. It does have a small garden though, and I suspect this is putting some people off. All the people who've been to view have been really complimentary and told me how beautiful the house is. I wonder what they'd say to an Estate Agent...

I even staged the house with yellow flowers, having read on Mumsnet that this was a colour that encouraged people to buy houses .

I suspect part of the problem is that I really love this house and want someone to feel the same way about it as I do. I can't quite detach myself emotionally from the whole thing, so want it over and done with as soon as possible.......

I have sold through HouseNetwork and bought through HouseNetwork.

Have nothing but praise for them, had dedicated person to deal with my sale, direct dial telephone number to them and the same with the house I bought (and now live in)

Easy to get hold of, arranged viewings and kept us up to date, chased for feedback, good photos and floorplan of both my own house and the one I'm in.

As far as I'm concerned the first place most people look for houses is Rightmove. Doesn't everyone? When I was buying I never registered with an agent, yes in the past when the market was moving so fast that houses sold before the details even went public but not now. I never ventured into an estate agents or look in the window. I moved 4 years ago.

Unless you are selling a bungalow and therefore appeal to an older person (my Grandad's house went with a traditional high street agent as he had sadly died and we needed someone to do viewings) then I would use HouseNetwork again.

We decided not to go with an online EA as we thought that the bulk of the fees we were paying reflected the after care you need after you have accepted an offer. We figured moving was stressful enough as it was and that we would need all the help we could get....

However, whilst your EA sold our house very quickly for full asking price and also helped us to find a house quickly, their aftercare had been poor. Generally communication should be much better than it is!!

So if we were ever going to consider moving again (which we are not ) then I think I would save myself some money and opt for an online agent.

I failed to sell with Hatch because they missed the ball completely when it came to the buyer's surveyor who under valued our house by £150,000. Yes no joke. There are very few house sales in my area and my property is unique due to the investment potential. A good estate agent will be able to provide the right and correct information to all parties in the buying process and handhold from market to completion.

I think unless you are in a city or have the kind of house which is uncomplicated to sell, going with an online agent will have its limitations.

Went with a local estate agent who was far more experienced in babysitting the process.

Sold at just under 5% of market price with local estate agent second on second viewing. well pleased!!

Sold through House Network - bloody brilliant! Saved us a fortune, very quick, excellent service - would never us an on line agent again.

thanks everyone. Interesting how you've all had such different experiences. We're with Housesimple, by the way. No designated person to contact. Think it was one of the cheapest .

So, have one more viewing at the weekend. From the sound of it a youngish single chap (possibly doing postgrad stuff). How can I stage my very family-orientated house to appeal to him. Am desperate, can you tell?

I know two people that tried with online agents but went to a good local EA after having no luck. We also used a local over an online one. With them we had viewings before we were officially on the market due to their contact list- something online ones don't have. I have to say so our local one was exceptional- I would have chosen the online ones over some of the other rubbish local EAs!

Best of luck for your viewing this week. My other tip is try not to be too ott when showing people around the house- it can be off putting. Give viewers chance to wonder around on their own too.

Sold with housenetwork, nothing but praise for them. Fantatic and saved us about 7K.

Can I just point out that sometimes it is literally to do with timing rather than the supposed skill of any estate agents?

ie, my DH got offered a job, until that moment we hadn't even looked at buying and then we did. It wasn't that a house was on with a particular agent or bad photos just timing. Before that point, we hadn't needed to move.

We knew the value of our house because comparable properties had sold recently plus I had 3 agents round to value it. Then went with HouseNetwork who saved me thousands in fees.

Sold two using hatched. No problems. First one took 9 months to sell. After 3 months I started to question whether online had been the right route so I also engaged a local agent. Another 6 months later it sold through the online - pure chance in the end as it was dual listed on right move and the buyer came through the online agent

Weedonleg, can I ask you how long it took you to sell?

Contentedsidewinder, had hoped the same would happen to my house, but timing/size of my garden seem to be against me.

OliviaBenson thanks for the advice. I fear I get verbal diarrohea at viewings because I'm nervous, so will try really hard on Saturday to reign it in.

Any other tips anyone?? Could make or break my summer... No pressure then!

The house two doors down from us had a for sale board put up on Friday last week for an online estate agent. I've been looking on line to see how much it is on the market for and it still isn't listed. The old guy who lived there died a couple of months ago and it's his (adult) children selling the house and I haven't seen them to ask them why it isn't being advertised, but i am curious to know how the company are earning their money.

Took about two weeks for our buyer to make his offer, but his house wasn't yet on the market, so it took another four or five weeks from then for him to get his house sold and us to 'accept' his offer.

In that time we had about 8 viewings and three second viewings. After we were under offer, two of the (slow!) second viewers came in with offers (although lower than our buyer).

Viewing tips. Be friendly - open the door with a warm 'hi, I'm Blardy, please come in'. Then tell them what you plan to do 'Shall I briefly show you around the house and garden and then I'll leave you to it to have a wander in your own time?'.

Follow the usual stuff about allowing people to go into the rooms before you and deciding the order of the rooms - unless it would seem really contrived, the recommendation is to take them first into the 'wow' room. Know the answers to typical buyer questions - which way the rooms and garden faces in terms of light, catchment for local schools, shortcuts to the station etc. Expect to be asked what your neighbours are like.

If you can, try and find out more about them without being interrogative (e.g. whether they have kids, where they work, if they have hobbies, if they work from home) so you can tailor your 'sales patter' to them.

Rehearse a couple of key points to make about each room (so you don't end up saying 'err, and this is the sitting room'). So you might say - 'we had the kitchen put in two years ago, we also have a new boiler' 'we actually have underfloor heating in this room although we rarely need to use it' 'we decided to put our bed here so we can see the view when we wake up' 'the woodburner thows out lots of heat' etc etc - the type of personal things they wouldn't get from a estate agent. But don't go over the top, guage whether your viewer is the type who would take a cup of coffee to have a chat about local schools or whether they feel awkward with you being there and would just prefer to be left alone.

Good luck. I got better with every viewing I did!

We sold with housenetwork after our parents successfully sold with them. We held an open day and had over 20 viewings, we eventually accepted 17.5k over the asking price the next day. (Herts)
They were brilliant and we would definitely use them again. All very easy and you get to see all the info about the people viewing etc online.
We are also using their solicitor for the sale (so are the buyers) and we have ended up in contact with the buyer as they are nervous first time buyers with a million questions and it was taking taking too long going through the solicitors so they came directly to us. We don't really mind too much as we have obviously met them doing the viewings, but it is a bit of a pain.
I can't see how a normal estate agent will do much more tbh, if the house is on rightmove. You only need one person to like it and it's sold.

wow! 17.5k over asking price. Impressive! I was hoping to be deluged with people wanting to see, have 1 open day and then watch the offers roll in. Sadly hasn't worked out like that for me.

I spent another sleepless night thinking about the garden, as I'm convinced it's what is putting buyers off. Maybe I should bite the bullet and get someone in to professionally deck it or something, so people see it as a useable space.

Thanks for the viewing tips, Weedonaleg. I'll try my hardest not to go off on a tangent. If the garden is the weakest area, is it best to leave that to last?

Hmm, probably til last - (I think that is usual anyway) but then bring them back into one of the better rooms to conclude the viewing/ask them if they want to go around by themselves.

Definitely let him wander round on his own- we had some vendors show us round one of the houses we looked at and I found it much harder to be as nosy as I would normally be - looking in cupboards etc. it was good to be able to chat to them about the area though.
Can I be nosy and ask how much online estate agents generally charge? Is it percentage based or fixed fee?