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Original poster

Thoughts on multi agent selling?

22 replies

ApplesTheHare · 07/09/2016 18:23

Hi Mnetters

Have any of you had success/failure selling your house via multiple agents? We're in a hurry to sell but viewings are slow despite it being a v. desirable area.

We've done everything possible to increase kerb appeal but would struggle to drop our price as it would price us out of the offer we've had accepted on a house we really love, so I'm wondering about taking on another agent. I'm assuming the main benefit is that you reach a wider audience via direct marketing, as opposed to the fact a property is listed twice online.

Any stories?

OP posts:

wowfudge · 07/09/2016 19:24

If you have more than one agent, you look desperate and are quite likely to get lower offers than you want.

Most people look online at Rightmove, etc so it's unlikely that another EA has someone registered with them who hasn't seen your house if it is being actively marketed.

You could try to negotiate a deal where you pay the agent a bonus on top of their commission for getting you an offer over a certain amount within x amount of time.

How long has the house been on the market? Is there anything about the listing which could be improved? Is what you need to get a realistic figure?

RebeccaCloud9 · 07/09/2016 19:31

I don't have experience of selling with multi agents, but would second the point that it looks desperate - I would go in with a lower offer purely on that basis.

Sprig1 · 07/09/2016 19:38

I third the 'desperate looking' thing. Sorry.
Would you like to post a bit more about your house (or even link to the listing) to see if anyone has any improvement pointers for you?

rallytog1 · 07/09/2016 21:07

As a current buyer, I too am wary of houses listed with more than one agent. It always makes me wonder what's wrong with them. The other downside of going with multiple agents is that you're more likely to be pressured to accept any lower offers simply because one agent will want to beat the other one to the commission.

I am well aware of what's on the market in my area. I get alerts when new properties come online and I'm registered with all the local agents, so I get calls and emails about new properties. I think most buyers are the same - so it's highly unlikely that going with an extra agent is likely to get you any more attention.

I don't want to sound harsh, but if you can't get an offer at the price you want, you're probably setting your sights too high.

ManagersDilemma · 07/09/2016 22:24

Don't. The house we bought was on the market with two agents, one of whom went rogue and continued to show it after our offer had been accepted. We very nearly pulled out because of it! As others have said, one agent is enough to put your house online, which is what really matters these days.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 07/09/2016 22:25

I don't think the agents try as hard when they know you've got it listed with others.

If a property isn't selling, then unless there's some basic problem with it, then it's nearly always because it's overpriced. Nearly everybody checks Rightmove and Zoopla, so I don't see any advantage in listing it with more than one agent. Rather the reverse. People will wonder why the same house is multi listed, will assume it's 'sticking', and may well think there must be something wrong with it.

Notyetthere · 08/09/2016 10:51

Don't do it. It will stink of desperation. Multiple agents is not the solution. Normally if a property is not selling in a desirable area then it always is the price. You need to carefully look at the price you have put it on and carefully consider it independent of how much you need to be able to pay for your onward purchase. What have similar ones sold for recently? Post a link and people might be able to give you some feedback.

Oh and if you want a quick sale, something has to give; you lower the price to make it more saleable.

eurochick · 08/09/2016 11:04

I agree - it looks desperate. The market is just quiet at the moment. Blame Brexit uncertainty.

TurquoiseDress · 08/09/2016 11:33

OP- I would say that multiple agents is not a good move.

It makes me notice properties on Rightmove when they are listed with multiple agents- but its not necessarily for the right reasons.

On those kinds of properties, I would be more inclined to go in with a low offer, especially if it has been on the market for a while and listed with multiple agents.

It would make me think that something was wrong with the property or, more likely, it is simply overpriced.

Original poster

ApplesTheHare · 08/09/2016 18:28

Thanks all, you've confirmed my multi agent suspicions!

House has been on the market 2 weeks and we've had 3 viewings, but I'm not sure how good/bad this is. The agent says end of August is traditionally very slow? We've done all the kerb appeal we can by redoing front door and making sure front garden and planters are full of flowers. To be fair it's a fairly ugly little house outside, but inside is gorgeous and feedback from viewings so far has been along the lines of 'perfectly presented, just too small for us'.

The agent popped round today because they'd forgotten something and it was a different guy to last time and he's suggested it's overpriced so no idea why they advised us to put it up as is in the first place but looks like dropping the price is the next thing to look into!

OP posts:

wowfudge · 08/09/2016 19:21

After just two weeks? Where are you? We got an average of two viewings a week, nearly always at weekends, when ours was on the market. As long as you are getting viewings I wouldn't be unduly worried.

PurpleDaisies · 08/09/2016 19:26

I think our estate agent said if it's correctly priced you should have about 6-8 viewings in the first three weeks. I have no idea whether that's true or not!

Definitely don't do the multi agent thing. It would be better to wait a little bit and then drop the price of you're still not getting much interest.

We had a lot of the same thing-people saying they loved it but needed three bedrooms and a downstairs bathroom which ours was never going to have. So frustrating. We're completing on Friday though-it just takes the right person to come and see it.

Original poster

ApplesTheHare · 08/09/2016 21:07

Purple wow good luck for Friday. When did yours go up?

wowfudge we're in Yorkshire. I've just been looking at what's sold in the last month and only one has (on average our village seems to have 100 up at any one time and yes, we've been looking for a while!) so perhaps I'm jumping the gun, it's just that we had all our viewings within the first 3 days then nothing since.

OP posts:

rallytog1 · 08/09/2016 21:11

August is always quiet, so I'd imagine 3 viewings is ok given the time of year. Have you had any feedback from those viewings? Are you happy that the EA has used photos that show the property at its best? A few years ago we did our own photos because the ones the agent did were so useless.

Hopefully it'll pick up over the next couple of weeks anyway and that should at least give you some decent feedback.

PurpleDaisies · 08/09/2016 21:12

We sold very very quickly before brexit but the buyer's mortgage fell through and we had to relist it just as we left the EU!

There was no interest at all for the first couple of weeks but then it picked up again. It was probably on for about 6-8 weeks the second time. We were starting to panic (we have to move for work) and were worried about losing our purchase, but then a lovely couple saw it and offered the full asking price the next day. Things can change very quickly.

DiegeticMuch · 08/09/2016 22:00

Why are viewers bothering to come if it's too small? Surely the dimensions/floor plans are on the listing?

PurpleDaisies · 08/09/2016 22:28

Who knows diegetic.

I suspect estate agents might be pushing how nice the property is, or how it could be modified/extended to make it bigger. We viewed a few that looked bigger in the photos and we were surprised how small they really were.

It could also be code for "it was nice but not really our thing, and it's easier to say it's too small than admit it just didn't have the x factor for us".

RTKangaMummy · 08/09/2016 22:37

You could ask a friend to pose as a buyer to check what is being said on the phone and during viewing to see what they are telling people and also how they treat them iyswim

wowfudge · 09/09/2016 07:07

You do get people saying strange things rather than just, 'it wasn't for us'.

A village location is probably going to be different than a suburb in terms of how many viewings you get. You can always revisit the marketing, improve the photos and rewrite the description and re-launch.

PurpleDaisies · 09/09/2016 08:53

You do get people saying strange things rather than just, 'it wasn't for us'.

We had someone say we were too close to a junction. We really aren't-we're about five house away from it and it's a cul de sac where the only traffic is learner drivers.

Someone wanted to play their clarinet to see if it could be heard upstairs in a friend's house. That was a bit strange.

DiegeticMuch · 09/09/2016 12:02

The clarinet anecdote has reminded me of the time my friend showed a couple of houses to a Welsh opera singer who sang in each room. She said it was strange but wonderful.

Original poster

ApplesTheHare · 09/09/2016 15:17

Thanks rally, we're hoping some new and improved pics help.

Purple it's good to know the situation can change that fast. Atm it feels like we'll be stuck here for the rest of our natural lives.

Diegetic The people who've viewed our house have all been older people who've been looking at properties for 18 months - 2 years but have yet to actually view any before ours. I got the impression they'd all seen dimensions on the plan but had no idea what it would be like to go into a different house with a view to buying having been where they are for decades. In theory it's big enough - 3x double bedrooms - but they all seem to be downsizing from 6-bed mansions so I'm sure ours seems tiny in comparison. Mostly they've been lovely but one literally went round running her hand over surfaces testing for dust

Purple's point about people giving arbitrary feedback because they feel like they have to say something more specific than 'It's just not for us' is spot on too. I've done it myself, picked something like 'Windows need replacing', whereas if that was the case in a house I really loved I wouldn't be bothered about a couple of windows at all.

OP posts:

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