Parents country house - massive range in valuations

[Honesttodog]

The modern house says 525k, local says 600, other local says 650-700. They are in the middle of nowhere but it’s a stunning house. Anyone know anything about dealing with the modern house? Should they get an independent valuation? It’s been a struggle to mentally prepare to sell, I think they are quite frustrated and confused. Sounds like modern house will do a good job but lower sold price, local agents may not get the house out to the right people ....

Sorry, the modern house says 575k. Ultimately they’d like 6-700k but modern house won’t budge.

What is modern house? Estate agents work for you and should market the property at a figure you are happy with. Go with the other local..... fingers crossed it goes more smoothly than you think.

Is it so modernist that local audience won’t want? Is the location considered good locally? I would probably go local unless is so specialist in which case maybe privately list?

Not sure where you’re based but no idea why a local agent wouldn’t get the house to the right people. It depends entirely on the agent but a local agent may well know the area better and may better suited to sell? Why don’t you arrange a few estate agents to view and you can deal with them, ask them questions about how many houses listed vs sold, (Having said that, of listing for a low price it will sell quickly!) How long are you tied into a contract for? Some agents are doing 3-4 months which is a nightmare if their service is poor once you’ve signed the contract. Who is going to do the viewings and progress the sale? Is there much harm in putting it on at the price they want and then if no interest a quick reduction? I don’t know anything about modern house other than a quick google, so I can’t comment on them in particular, but the argument against local agents sounds odd...

Are there not agents like Fine and Country etc who cater for properties like this that would market outside as well as within the area?

I would look at a National ea

@Honesttodog we’ve just sold with The Modern House I was very pleased with them. I think it depends where the house is. We are within commuting distance of London, nearly all of the viewers were from London, looking to get a much bigger house for their money.
A few were a bit unrealistic, loved the house but didn’t really want to live in a village, one lot didn’t drive
We put the house on with them last November and had 2 very good offers within about a month. We had hoped to be moving after Easter but Covid struck.
We’ve now finally exchanged and move end of the month.
I think our local estate agents wouldn’t have got as many viewings for us as TMH, as our house was reasonably expensive for the area. I thought their valuation was good infact slightly higher than the best local agent.
Their fee is slightly higher but I feel they have worked hard for us and have been really supportive through the whole Covid nightmare.
We have lovely photographs and were featured in a bio on their website, it leaves me with lovely memories of this house.
However if you aren’t going to appeal to a London market it may be better to try with a local agent first, I’m surprised their valuation is lower than local agents.

do you want a quick sale or a high value sale? the market can be variable, especially for unusual properties.

some agents will give a high value because they think then you will go with them.

ask each agent what their marketing strategy is, how quickly it will sell etc.

it is also possible to have a steep commission escalator to make the agent work for a higher price. e.g agent gets 0.5% on sale price under 600K and 5% on any price over £600K.