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House on the market, how to encourage offers? Do we change EA?

10 replies

Wanttosellmyhouse · 27/07/2020 14:34

Firstly, I am somewhat impatient so need to caveat this post with that and also that this a bit of rant!

We’ve been on the market for just over a week with four viewings and no offers and no feedback. I’ve had to do the viewings as EA seemingly not available to do them which is a bit frustrating in and of itself (obviously do not project this to the viewers). We’ve also seen some places online and other EA have been a bit snotty about viewings as we don’t have a buyer. We are upsizing and those places seem to be shifting pretty quickly.

We are selling a 2 bed Victorian terraced house, in a commuter / market town. Walking distance to the shops and station (literally all in a 5 minute radius). All agents that came round to do viewings commented that it’s in really good condition and location. It has a new boiler, relatively new kitchen and bathroom, the latter of which is a good size with a separate shower cubicle and bath. With covid and wfh our spare room is DP office and dining room has been converted to my office / gym. Have a reasonable sized garden and it’s well maintained (flower beds, seating space etc). However we have no off street parking and there’s nothing we can do about this.

The house suited us as we commuted (but aren’t anymore due to covid) but we’ve been here a little while and are ready to move on. I’m also feeling a bit frustrated with our EA as communication is lacking. I feel like I’m having to chase them and if I say no to something feel like I’m being told off - for example we couldn’t do the timing of one of the viewings one day but could do an hour earlier and EA said we should have waited to list if that was the case. Another example is the fact that we have had to do all of our own viewings. On another occasion a viewer said that our rightmove post didn’t have the correct location on the map and when queried with the EA, EA told me the viewer should have read the email with the address instead of looking at the rightmove listing. While I see his point as a buyer I often look at maps and street view and find it annoying when the map doesn’t show the correct property. I also don’t think that comment was really necessary, I mean why not just say okay I will look into it and get it corrected? DP thinks so long as EA sells the house we don’t care about what he like, which I do agree with, but then at the same time I am worried that the way EA is is going to impact our ability to sell. EA also wants to charge us for a virtual viewing and when we said we weren’t happy about incurring a fixed cost for marketing told us that they didn’t want to be out of pocket and we had negotiated a lower fee than some of the newer clients. (For context we instructed and had photos done pre-covid but covid put everything on hold) Bearing all this in mind, how long would you give them to perform?

In terms of prepping the house for viewings, it is cleaned, tidied, de cluttered and we wipe down skirting boards, light switches, sockets, doors etc. Grateful for any other suggestions for what we should be doing.

Sorry for such a long post and if you made it to the end thanks for reading Smile

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LoisLittsLover · 27/07/2020 14:37

I think you're being a bit unrealistic after a week to be honest - how long is your contract with the EA? I'd give it at least 4 weeks minimum. If you are on rightmove and zoopla then u think agents are all very similar, gone are the days of actually looking in the EA window

optimisticpessimist01 · 27/07/2020 14:39

It's been a week. Give it time. I know how it feels to be impatient and to want everything to happen yesterday but this is out of your control. Wait another 3 weeks before judging the EA

Ring the EA and ask for the feedback, it is their jobs to ring the viewers and ask them what they thought so if they haven't done that yet hassle them to get it done.

Also bear in mind that the EA will be super busy at the min so feedback etc may be a bit slower than usual

AllTheCakes · 27/07/2020 14:41

The EA sounds terrible tbh. As a buyer, I really hate having viewings with the owner as I never feel comfortable looking around and I can’t comment on anything whilst viewing in case the owner takes it badly.

What does your contract say in terms of cancelling your contract with them? Unfortunately, some agents have clauses written into contracts that they still get commission if you move agents and then subsequently sell to someone who has viewed or enquired through them first.

Wanttosellmyhouse · 27/07/2020 14:46

I would say that realistically I know I’m being a bit impatient and it will take a bit of time. It just feels so frustrating when other places are shifting within days according to rightmove. I wasn’t very clear in my first post but we were listed for a couple of weeks pre-covid and the feedback from that was no parking / they wanted a bigger kitchen.

I suppose other than my rant I would be grateful for any staging tips. EA has now emailed to say that one of the viewers wants a second viewing but is a little bit concerned about road noise so that might be an obstacle.

Our contract doesn’t have a minimum period but we need to give two weeks notice. Tbh it’s more the communication / feeling like I am being told off that has put my nose out of joint. I do appreciate that they are busy though.

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LoisLittsLover · 27/07/2020 14:51

Staging tips are hard because they're every dependent on your individual house. We have
fresh fruit and flowers in the kitchen diner Cleared the kitchen sides as much as possible
Stunt white towels in the bathrooms washed with loads of fabric conditioner so the bathrooms smell nice but not as in your face as a plug in freshner
Made all spaces useable so for instance we've put a nice hamper in dead space in the hallway
Mow the grass and have windows cleaned before viewing where possible
We have dedicated viewing bedcovers that complement the wallpaper in each room and learnt how to make the bed like they do.in hotels

Wanttosellmyhouse · 27/07/2020 14:58

@LoisLittsLover the bedcovers tip is a good one - thank you. I hadn’t thought of that.

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Pepperwand · 27/07/2020 17:00

Personally the staging isn't what is going to make me offer or not on a house. I couldn't care less about towels or flowers or anything of that nature. What would be a bit off-putting for me is being shown round by the vendor. I've only had it once and it's awkward, I'd much prefer to have an EA there. To be honest I'd prefer whoever it is to go and stand in the garden while I had a proper look without being followed round.
I think your agent sounds a bit rubbish to be honest, if they're not doing viewings themselves then you could just get one of those cheap online agents and save yourself some money.

AmandaHugenkiss · 27/07/2020 17:08

Would echo the comment about being shown round by the owner. We have had to show people round our own place due to EA being unavailable due to Covid. We let them in, gave them a quick overview with the important highlights and then sat in the garden while they showed themselves round. They then came out with any questions after having a good look at their own pace. It seemed to go ok with that approach as we were lucky enough to get 3 offers.

Wanttosellmyhouse · 27/07/2020 17:41

Thanks - this is really helpful. As a buyer I don’t really like being shown around by the seller. I will take the comments on board for the second viewing because the EA is shut when the buyer wants to view. Will sit out in the garden and let them walk around.

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Wanttosellmyhouse · 03/08/2020 20:52

Hi folks. OP here for a whinge!

DP told me not to get my hopes up on the viewings this weekend (had two, one FTB and another was a second viewing from the week before). Heard nothing today. Spoke to EA this morning to give my feedback on the viewings but he hadn’t heard anything. Being an impatient person, I find this so frustrating!

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