Anyone sold after changing agents?

[Mumstar14]

Our house has been on the market for over 6 months now. No offers. (price isnt the issue as we are currently at the lowest valuation after reducing) I'm with an incompetent agent who seems to have NO interest whatsoever in selling my property. They don't even return my calls and I speak to a million different people each time.

Has anyone had luck selling after changing the agent? How long do you think I should keep it off the market before listing again with a new agent?

Are there bigger issues than the agent?
I'm not sure how much work agents do to drum up viewings now everyone looks on rightmove.
Are your photos good, well lit, not too much clutter, in a sensible order which guides you through the house?
Do you have a floor plan with dimensions?
Where is your price in comparison to any other local houses?

Twice we’ve bought a house because very good estate agents persuaded us to see something we wouldn’t have given a second thought to on right move because they got to know us as clients and persuaded us to go and look. So yes, I do think a good estate agent can make a difference. Price matters hugely though and I think many estate agents have not a clue how to value at the moment

Generally people use right move and Zoopla, so I'm also unsure realistically how much difference an agent makes in reality. Mine came into their own in managing when an offer had been accepted and acted as go between between me and the client, also handled all viewings etc.

Properties priced around 20-25k under ours are selling (ours is at 620k). But they all need complete refurbishment. Our house is high spec and is in mint condition.

Pictures are bright, its a lovely house with nice spacious rooms. I feel people are not seeing it as its been on the market for so long. We went on the market at a very uncertain and quiet time last year. We didnt have many viewings. There are properties on my road that were listed within a month of ours that are still on the market.

That's odd. Can you post a link?

Listing history is visible to anyone so taking it off or changing agents etc doesn't really make any difference.

Just because you are trying to sell at the lowest valuation doesnt mean its not a price issue. Have you done your own homework and looked on line to see how your house compares with others around - including those that have sold during the last 6 months? Did you get any feedback from viewings and has the agent suggested lowering the price? We have a house in our area which is over priced by £200k but the owners wont hear of reducing the price - they think it is a wonderful house but it is a shit hole inside - they just cannot see it. Not suggesting your house is a shit hole but sellers dont always see their propertynin its true light.

Sorry op i cross posted with you.

Yes, my parents did successfully last May. They changed agent after 6 months, after popping into the agency to enquire about the property as 'potential purchasers' and the agents told them they didn't want to live there as it was too far from city centre and train station (10/15 minute walk depending on pace) they found another agent and sold within 2 months for above asking price (buyers wanted the freestanding kitchen too)

We did. Our estate agent was awful, we had a sale (after 8 months) and it fell through so we used that as motivation to change agents and sold in 6 weeks

@Aimily 😮 unbelievable why take it on if they were not going to bother trying to sell it?!

@Aimily OMG! Thats unbelievable! What did your parents do? I'd report them to (whoever cares to listen).

@stanski and @mumstar, was pretty bad, considering the area is pretty desirable (with schools, proximity to city centre and travel links) and the house is a huge 4 bed semi (is on a main road though) basically they broke contact and the estates went after them for money as they'd signed a contact for x amount of time. But because they posed as buyers and asked about the house in particular (they had only had 4 viewings in the 6 months which prompted this) the estates backed right down and allowed it.
Funny thing is I'd recommended the estates as I'd used them to buy my house and had a brilliant experience.

My friend changed agent.

Been in for 3months. Only one viewing.

New agent - sold in 2 weeks for more than it had previously been listed at.

Another friend phoned first agent to try to arrange a viewing and got terrible service. Which heavily influenced the decision to change agents.

Yes.

Went on with one agent and had no viewings in first 2 weeks and cancelled in the cooling off period.

Went on with new agent right away with professional photos and sold in 24 hours

Yep. I changed agent and sold really quickly. The second one just sort of 'got' my flat, and probably knew the area better, in a way the first one didn't.

My parents were on for a year with the biggest EA on their town. Lots of viewings and no offers. Went over to number two EA with much eye rolling from me - after all what difference would it make? - and it sold within a couple of weeks. I’ve no idea what the difference was but it worked for them.

We changed agents from the bull in a china shop one with many branches who we thought we needed in the slow market, but turned out to be incompetent, to Purplebricks, who were equally shit. Ended up selling with our third agent (small, local, knowledgable & proactive) after 2 months & finally completed on a beautiful new build property almost 2 years after starting the process! Don't be afraid to consider a lower offer & negotiate hard on an ongoing purchase.

We changed. The first agents lied to viewers and after each viewing we were told "they are going to offer but need to speak to their broker first". We had a short contract with them so after 2 months went with another agent and we accepted an offer a week later (after a few days of negotiations). I didn't think it would make much difference as everything is on Rightmove but it did. Plus the second agents were so much more friendlier and professional. I almost missed talking to them once we completed.

Thanks all.

I think my property just needs a good refresh and a new listing. I'm tempted to go with another online agent. I just cant understand what else can a traditional high street agent do that a good online agent cant.
I had valuation sessions with a a couple of local high street agents, but they lied so much in those 30 mins!! I just didn't get a good feel about them.

Some agents are better than others that is a given. I went into an agents in Norfolk dressed in scruffs to give them an instruction on a property and they were so offhand with me - no, "Hello, be with you in a mo" etc. When they did deign to speak to me, I told them what I was there for but had changed my mind about using them. My reasoning was that 99% of UFLs wore jeans at the weekend and if they were dismissive of me, potential purchasers would get the same treatment and leave.
Put your old clothes on and do the walk-in test OP.

I agree with getting a friend to do a mystery shopping exercise with the estate agent.

We had such terrible experiences with an agent in our town when we tried to buy two properties through them (two separate occasions) that we avoid anything for sale with them now. They are a big agent in our town but no house is worth having them in our lives for a few months, our experiences were that bad. So yes I think agents can make a difference. Saying that when house hunting I do tend to just look at Rightmove.

another online agent

There must be a decent 'proper' estate agent in your area worth talking to?

Online only EAs may work well in fast moving buoyant markets, but for much of the country market conditions are a bit slower right now.

Try and go for a well established local independent firm.