Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Flexible and made to last.

Meet the Other Phone.
Flexible and made to last.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Property/DIY

Join our Property forum for renovation, DIY, and house selling advice.

Original poster

How to attract viewers

95 replies

Minime38 · 12/04/2018 21:13

So we are trying to sell our house. In 30 days we've had 3 viewers.

Out of those of say only 2 were genuinely interested in buying a house.

We are doing the viewings ourselves and have redecorated almost every room in the house before it went on the market.

We initially had a fixed price but changed this on the advice of our agent which is fine but it's done nothing to attract viewers in.

We have a Gardner coming next week to cut the grass and trim some plants but the garden doesn't look too awful as it is.

I'm not great when I can't control a situation so this is sending my anxiety through the roof and to make it worse just as we put ours on the market we've found our dream home but they are unwilling to accept an offer from us until we have a buyer so it's compounding the situation.im on tender hooks every time the phone goes that it might be the owner telling us that they have accepted an offer from elsewhere.

I gather that the market in my area has been a little bit stagnant since we put it on the market prior to that there had been a real boom.

I just don't know what we can do to actually attract people to come view the house and to be honest our estate agent hasn't been the most communicative and I think perhaps we made the wrong choice in agent.

Please tell me I'm not alone in finding this process so flipping stressful and feeling utterly helpless.

Any advice on attracting people in or keeping myself from melting down

OP posts:
Original poster
Minime38 · 13/04/2018 13:51

Peanut I am anxious about the whole process but I've got a very good game face so manage to portray myself differently during viewings but I do think I could take a step back during viewings.

I'm not overly happy with our agent. He was the best of a bad bunch that came to give a valuation. The other 3 one was utterly disinterested, one didn't bother to make further contact and the 3rd was nice but just didn't sell himself or his branch well.

With the benefit of hindsight I've made the wrong choice going with Purple bricks and I've had the discussion about just writing off the fixed fee we have paid and going elsewhere. I need to check out the contract to see how long we are tied in for. It took them the best part of 3 weeks to even get a for sale sign outside with us continually chasing them up.

OP posts:
BakedBeeeen · 13/04/2018 14:06

Hi OP, sounds like you are right in that you have a terrible agent. We changed our agent as soon as we could terminate the original contract. The difference it makes having an experienced photographer take the pics was amazing. They need to know how to show off a room to its full potential. Good luck!

Peanutbuttercups21 · 13/04/2018 14:09

Get a good local agent

MultiGrey · 13/04/2018 14:15

Want me to have a look OP? I’m PA to director of an EA so often go out with him to style a house to photograph.

We always do viewings rather than the vendor doing them as IOE buyers feel awkward with the vendor there.

Also it’s Easter hols here so we have noticed it has quietened down a lot as people are away / kids off school etc so not many viewings been booked.

Original poster
Minime38 · 13/04/2018 15:04

Thanks all for the suggestions, I've just ordered a wide angle lense attachment for my phone in the event I can't borrow a camera, hopefully I won't have to use it but I suspect if I do the photos would be better than what we have now

OP posts:
Animalsoffarthingwood · 13/04/2018 15:39

Yes agree with a pp about getting some outside shots in the sunshine if you can.

When we first started viewing properties it really put me off having the vendor show me round because I didn't feel I could talk about what I'd want to do, a few people inadvertently put us off, but by the time we'd seen so many I didn't really care who showed me round anymore and was actually glad off the chance to ask questions that the EA might not know.

Not very helpful sorry but just trying to think from a buyers point of view.

Best of luck op, I know how stressful the whole process is Thanks

FluffyWuffy100 · 13/04/2018 15:55

Just to say that I was shown around some places by owners, and they were all really good at it! So don't assume that is putting people off.

Friendly, did the 'official tour' and then said "we'll just be in sitting room/kitchen so please go ahead and have a real good look around" so I could nosy without them breathing down my neck. They were really knowledgeable (obvs) about the houses, much better than EAs.

Two guys especially were sales pros... they had on perfect ambiance music, the flat smelt great, styled really well - lots of subtle "buy me" indications.

FluffyWuffy100 · 13/04/2018 15:57

@DragonsAndCakes the virtual walk through on that add you linked to is super cool! I would have loved to have had that before choosing to view houses.

Astrabees · 13/04/2018 16:27

As someone looking for a 3 bed house to downsize to I don't think that tiny things like where the television is or the exact nature of the décor bother potential purchasers too much.

The main thing for me is the floor plan - is this a house with the right size rooms and lay out for me to want to live in? I'm then looking at whether it is perfect to move into for me or whether work needs doing. I'd rather have an 80's kitchen and chipped floor tiles that I would certainly replace rather than a shiny new kitchen in a style that isn't one I like. Remember the purchaser will probably have got their own house exactly how they like it and won't want to live with someone else's taste.

I also look at whether there is something really awful (for me) that would be too disruptive and expensive to change, such as UPVC windows of a cheap design or with lead light effect.

After all that we assess the price on the basis of what we, as individuals would need to do to make it our home. I need a large kitchen so a small one with no obvious and affordable scope to change this would be a no no for us.

Things that really don't bother me are the state of the garden or the décor of the bedrooms. I don't like to see houses that are "dressed" for the photographs, a few new cushions and a throw aren't going to do anything but annoy me.

In short OP I'm sure our house is fine, if it doesn't sell then you will need to look at the price, but it won't be because the photos are not quite right or our furniture the wrong colour.

Original poster
Minime38 · 13/04/2018 17:07

Fluffy that's the approach I've been taking a quick show around by me then saying I'll be downstairs or in the garden if they need me and feel free to open cupboards and wardrobes etc

Astra your point of view is also interesting, we aren't looking for a house that we have to do alot of work to or have to decorate right awwy so houses with say a bright pink bedroom put me off and I'm attracted to properties that are neutral coloured but I guess it's different strokes for different folks.

OP posts:
NotMeNoNo · 13/04/2018 17:33

There is a great website called Home Truths with tips for showing off your house. They have some great before and after shots of bad photo angles, etc. If your photos and description are poor then hassle the agent or send your own photos /words and insist they are sorted. Our agent was good but still failed to get a picture of the house that showed the front door, I had to take my own.

NotMeNoNo · 13/04/2018 17:53

the link www.home-truths.co.uk/

Bouledeneige · 13/04/2018 18:32

Do you have to pay to read anything on the site? I'd be interested in tips.

Aliasgrace1 · 13/04/2018 18:43

Some of the houses round here have a video tour of the house, maybe you could try that too.

Good luck Cake

Original poster
Minime38 · 16/04/2018 18:59

Thank you all for your feedback and suggestions, I had a friend come round who took some more photos of the upstairs this weekend. Unfortunately the heavens opened up before we could do downstairs and the light was so poor we decided to wait and do downstairs another day.

The photos upstairs however are such a massive difference from what we had done by the agent.

I wasn't happy with the estate agent however I've been mulling it over and I think we are going to change.

I think the service that was sold to me by purple bricks isn't what we are getting. They aren't proactive at all and it basically seems like we've paid nearly 1k for them to list our house on rightmove and we are having to do all the selling. I was led to believe they were more proactive than this however I can't prove what was said in the face to face meeting.

So I'm off to read over the terms and conditions to make sure I can terminate my contract with them and go to another estate agent without there being a gap and to see if there may be any small chance I can recoup any of my fees that I stupidly paid upfront thinking fixed fee was better(I doubt it) now I realise how foolish paying upfront was as there is now no incentive to push selling our property

OP posts:
Katurah · 16/04/2018 20:10

We've had a similar issue recently. Our lovely 3 bed house was on the market for 6 weeks, 22 viewings and no offers. Agents were a bit lacklustre, feedback was all good just no offers so we took it off the market

We went back on with better photos, a much better agent and a freshly painted front door last week. 7 viewings on Saturday, 4 offers today. I can't believe the difference!

Ohyesiam · 16/04/2018 20:20

I don’t have any housing advice, but when I was in a situation that was solitarily stressful and out of my control, someone said to me” can’t you try and trust that it will all come out for the best”.
It was a real revelation to me, the idea of trusting that I didn’t have to control it all to get a good outcome. Something on me relaxed and made the whole situation so much more bearable.
And just for the record it didn’t happen as I would have liked, and 5 years later I definitely know what happened was the best outcome of all.
Sorry if this sounds patronising, but it was so helpful when someone said it to me, that I wanted to say it to you.

BerylStreep · 16/04/2018 20:21

Mineme38 I'm intensely nosy when it comes to houses. Any chance of a pm?

Mosaic123 · 16/04/2018 21:18

From the other side, we are currently looking to buy and it's particularly off putting having the owners around during viewing.

We end up being polite and not looking at the house properly.

I also can't point out any nasties to DH.

Floorplan measurements are absolutely crucial too. Sometimes I've ended up counting the kitchen units in a photograph in order to estimate the size of the room.

It shouldn't have to be that hard!

FrancisCrawford · 16/04/2018 21:57

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Bettiedraper · 17/04/2018 00:04

There is a great website called Home Truths with tips for showing off your house. They have some great before and after shots of bad photo angles, etc
I wish I could have found these photos as I was very interested, but all I found on that Home Truths site was advice such as "put croissants and champagne on display in your kitchen", and "only have one type of fruit in your fruit bowl" (preferably strawberries, limes or green apples)!

Good grief!

NotMeNoNo · 17/04/2018 13:13

I think I may have the wrong website and have to go back in my search history to find it when I can get on my other computer. I did think they made some good points (if maybe obvious to some of us). I'll post the link if I can find it!

Bettiedraper · 17/04/2018 15:58

NotMeNoNo If you find it I would love to see it. Thanks!

Bettiedraper · 17/04/2018 15:59

Who the hell puts strawberries in their fruit bowl anyway! Grin

NotMeNoNo · 18/04/2018 08:45

@Bettie here you go, it was a completely different person!

annahartconsultancy.co.uk/win-using-online-agent-photography/

I'm not selling but my DSis is selling an empty house and it's just so badly photographed and presented, even though it's a lovely nearly new house it looks awful, they have had hardly any viewings. But you know, sisters...