Does an estate agent make a difference?

[helloyouminx]

Hi there
This isn't a thread to bash estate agents I promise  but a genuine question.

We have had our house up for sale for a month now. We have had around 12 viewings and feedback has always been positive but no offers although apparently two have been close.

Estate agent is really positive about the house and we recognised that as lockdown started to ease it would take a while before things really got going. I noticed however in a 5 mile radius yesterday no less than 25 homes were listed so things are seemingly picking up.

Anyway, estate agent has suggested we lower our price by £5k so that we appear in the next search bracket on Rightmove...

Our house is up for 375k and he's suggesting putting it down to 370 as only people who are looking upto 380 will see our house. Well, when I look on Rightmove the parameters are 350 then 375, so it would make no difference.

So I now have doubts about this estate agent and how good he is. I'm not sure I like him but I assumed that as long as he sold the house I didn't care! I am considering switching agents but I am also wondering if whether in the world of Rightmove etc that everybody uses to search, if an Estate Agent makes any difference?

The market is difficult at the moment but I would have thought you would have at least 1 offer from 12 viewings - in normal times anyway - unless it is overpriced.

Did you get valuations from different agents before you selected this one? How did they compare?

How does your house compare to the rest of the local market?

The agent is getting people through your door - what else can he do/ What else would a different agent do?

Hi
We did get other valuations and they were the same. We went with this agent in particular as we were interested in a house he was selling at the time.

To be honest it's cheaper than other houses nearby of a similar size (we are on a new build
estate) ours has been extended and very well maintained.

I guess that's what I'm asking is whether another EA would do anything differently? I'm conscious that he doesn't seem to know the local area that well but again I'd expect most buyers who are looking at this area would....

Well we 'interviewed' two estate agents when we sold our house a couple of years ago when the market was stalling because of Brexit.

First was 1%+VAT, valued our house at 315k to get 310k.

Second agent was 1.5%+VAT, valued our house at 325k to get that.

We went with the second agent and they sold our house in four days, full asking price, to someone on their books who they knew would like the house and needed to move quickly.

So in our case they definitely did, as they had buyers on the books ready to view if we were to go in market.

That's really interesting, so the higher fee was worth it really for you.

I am starting to think we should have gone with an agent who knows our area a little better.

Our agent was fantastic. Smallish, independent, local. Really know the area and their clients. Sold us our current house, found our buyer in days, held the entire chain together when our buyer started stalling.

On the other hand if you’re using one of big national known names in my experience you may as well not bother paying the money and just handle it yourself.

I've never sold a house, but from a buyer's perspective, I would say the estate agent can make a difference. We had one agent cancel a viewing as they 'couldn't find the keys' and didn't have the courtesy to call and let us know.

We almost walked away from the house we did end up buying as the agent seemed to only want us to spend five minutes looking around and made us feel like a huge inconvenience. It was a 3 bed house, so barely enough time to see all the rooms, let alone assess the condition and decide what a fair offer would be. I've been keeping a close eye on the local housing market for a while as we're thinking of seeling soon. I've noticed houses with this particular agent do tend to be priced a bit higher than comparable ones and end up sitting on the market for longer.

I noticed however in a 5 mile radius yesterday no less than 25 homes were listed so things are seemingly picking up.

That could actually be bad news. It means you have more competition from other sellers. Were the 25 homes all comparable to yours? Or is that all homes? If it’s 25 homes comparable to yours, the price reduction may be needed to do two things a) refresh your posted date on Rightmove so people don’t instantly know its sat on the market for over a month and wonder “what is wrong with this house!” And b) make you stand out from other homes as a good deal.

Look up how many houses comparable to yours have actually sold in your area over past month. Look at what price they have sold at.

Things picking up is really based on houses actually selling. It’s projected that Covid will cause a huge over supply of houses for sale due to job loss/ mortgage defaults especially as the 3 mo mortgage holiday is coming to an end..,, a fair number of people will be selling because they have no choice. And the job losses will also mean fewer people in a position to buy.

I think an estate agent can make a massive difference. I have just sold my flat six years after buying it and, whilst I didn't do much to it in the time I owned it, the marketing materials were completely different. It looked amazing at the point of sale. They were also really responsive, great at filtering out time wasters and getting people through the door. When it came to accepting offers, they gave great advice in terms of whether I could do better and it all worked out (sold for 15% over home report value within three days). On the other hand, we've been looking for our forever home. There are three houses within the same area we love the style of and all marketed by the same agent. It's been three weeks and still can't get viewings. They don't send us info of properties coming to market despite being on their books, are rude when we phone and, as I say, three weeks on and no viewings for any of the three houses. Needless to say, in that time, we've put an offer on another house because we just couldn't be bothered waiting for them any more and the thought of needing to make offers through them filled me with dread.

Agent definitely makes a difference, we interviewed several and arranged a sliding scale fee where selling over a ceiling price would have an inducement, they arranged an open house and we were sold in under a week.

Our purchase house, seller was getting desperate as we were the third viewer in as many months, agent was so difficult to get hold of we arranged viewings direct, and purchased under the value.

This has been really helpful everybody. I am going to contact another local agent. The agent we are with is a local one but based in town, whereas we are in a village on the outskirts.

To be honest we would be happy to entertain an offer but we aren't even getting that far at the moment!

Sorry I should have said the other houses in a 5 mile radius are not all similar types.

I think you need to look at from the perspective of how valuable to them. If you are buying through them or if your property is likely to appeal to BTL and they also do lettings you will be worth far more to them.

If you are moving away or not buying through them you are not going to be a priority for them. If you are on the fringes of their catchment area you won't be priority unless they are trying to build business there.

"How valuable you are to them" is what it should say

Hi there

Just to keep the thread going rather than start a new one. A couple of weeks on and still no sale. We have had 20+ viewings, feedback has been very positive. The house is immaculate with no work needed at all (not a brag, but it's only two adults living here so it is easier to maintain!)

we gave notice to the EA a fortnight ago (as per contract) they assured us they would put every effort into selling it and approx 7 viewings later and still nothing. The same issue which comes up time and time again regarding our garage leasehold situation is being used as a reason despite me politely asking the EA to make people aware of this before viewing.

Anyway, we will be up with a new EA as of next week and called the current one to confirm. He said to my husband he would give my husband a list of names of all the people who had viewed and to pass this on to the new agent so that if they return and offer through the new EA that he still gets his commission! Is he having a laugh? That's not for us to sort out and surely a GDPR breach of anybody who has viewed????

Unfortunately, even if your house is priced decently for the area and its condition etc, if it has a downside such as a leasehold garage (what exactly is the issue there) then this will mean that with that downside which puts people off, it is over-priced. You might think it is in great condition etc etc, but one negative aspect often means thatbtheborice has to be lowered by a decent margin to persuade people to choose your house with its problem, rather than the alternatives.

Are you going on with the new agent at the same price? If so, you may well find the same issue. An agent can make a big difference to getting people through the door, creating smooth price negotiations etc, but if there is a feature of the house that is unpopular, really the only way to overcome it is through price.

It is hard when your house has a particular defect issue which puts lots of people off. Telling people in advance can prevent viewings happening, when can mean those who would then fall in love with it and see past the defect, never see it. Not mentioning it in advance can mean people very quickly fall at the wayside when they hear. Personally, I might ask to have the issue mentioned on the particulars and state that the house is priced to reflect this....ensuring it is very competitively priced given the defect.

If you do this, people who might not be able to afford your house at standard orice without the defect might be priced into the market. They will click on it online, as it's a good price, then see the reason why and decide if to look in full knowledge. People don't mind a defect if they know the price reflects it.....what they don't like is a defect and a price which doesn't reflect it. Just ideas.

If you've had that many positive viewings and still no on bites then it's the price.

The same issue which comes up time and time again regarding our garage leasehold situation is being used as a reason despite me politely asking the EA to make people aware of this before viewing.

What is the issue then? Is it actively preventing people from offering on your property?

Hi @sunshinesupermum
The issue is that the garage is technically leasehold (although 999 years or something like that) so the people who live in the coach house above it could levy a charge in the future (upto a maximum of £12 per year I believe) but they never have. Otherwise the garage is ours to use freely along with a driveway for 4 cars.

So the house is freehold and the garage is leasehold. However it took a number of conversations with the current (soon to be former) EA before he really understood the situation and I think he was just telling people it was leasehold and not fully explaining what that meant.

New agent seems to have a much better understanding of selling houses with things like this, and we will be listing at a lower price.

helloyouminx Your previous estate agent didn't help at all apart from getting people through the door!

Good luck with the new one.

You have people living above your garage? That could be what is putting people off rather than the potential £12 per year.

I wouldn't reduce by 5k. If you're going to reduce, you'll need to go to 350k to make any difference.

@nomdeguerrrr sorry I haven't explained it very well have i!

So we are in a detached house.

Next to our house (not attached) is a coach house (like a flat) and underneath is three garages. One is hours, one is the occupants' from the coach house and the other is the other detached house on the other side.

I've included a pic (not ours) just to demonstrate what it looks like... just imagine there's two detached houses either side x

We will be dropping it, not sure if we will go as low as 350 but we will take a chunk off.

What a strange set-up!
Is the garage actually an asset, do you use it much? Would you be better off selling it to the coach house and listing your place as freehold with large driveway?

It is a bit unusual. Although I can't say I would find it particularly off putting.

My point about the reduction was just that small reduction, like 5k or 10k, wouldn't encourage me to go see a house on at 375k, and it wouldn't get you into a different bracket of Rightmove searches.

New build resales are a bit difficult to gauge in some places. Are they still building in the same development? If yes, is yours cheaper? Have similar properties resold on the same development? Is yours priced in line with those sales?

It is strange but seems quite common at least where we are... quite possibly a way for developers to get more sales (as they can sell a coach house which is a bonus as opposed to just garages that come with a property) and also I guess means that those who don't have the budget or need for a house can have a flat of sorts but with a garden and without the issues that may come with living in a block.

Yes I get that what you mean about the Rightmove parameters, I'll talk to the new EA about the approach.

There are some new builds still in progress nearby but for a house like ours you wouldn't get it for much less than 430 at the moment. Other similar houses on our estate but with a (non leasehold) garage sell for around 410, so we priced it under knowing our situation may be a sticking point.

Could you get it made Freehold via your solicitor somehow? Such complications can be scary for those not used to dealing with legal matters.

That pricing sounds fairly reasonable to me in that context. It might just be a question of waiting for the right buyer