Attracting the wrong viewers?

[Yippeeforme]

We're trying to sell a 3 bed corner plot with a smallish back garden. We keep getting viewers who want 4 or more bedrooms and a traditional long rectangular garden. They of course reject the house as soon as they've seen it.

Why, when the listing clearly states "3 bed" and "corner plot", do these people keep coming, knowing it's not what they're looking for? Are they hoping it'll be possible to split the rooms? Why do they expect the garden to be any different from the photos?
Or are they possibly not using the internet at all and just phoning up agents in the area and viewing any detached house that becomes available?

Today I had a couple who rejected it saying "It looks so much bigger on the outside!" 🤦‍♀️ Is this kind of thinking the source of the problem?

Is there some way we can better target the right buyers, perhaps getting the agents to drop the suggestion of "young family" from the description? (Even though it's a great spot for a small family given schools and parks are a stone's throw away?)

So confused!

Right, I've emailed the agents with a couple of alterations to make and details to add, hopefully taking the emphasis off of families because while it is a family area, the house is only going to suit small families of max 2 kids. I've asked them to add info about non-child-centric things that make the area attractive. Also considering lowering the price after a while to see if that helps us reach people on lower budgets.

Responded to say the changes should be up later today 🙂

Here's hoping we reach the right audience going forward!

@SouthWestLolly

EA's don't help the cause using wide angle lenses. We viewed a property recently, the conservatory and garden looked huge, got there and I was shocked how small both were

This times about a million.

I agree. It’s ridiculous that they do this.

EAs push you to view properties that aren't suitable.

I had few must haves but a garden was one. They pushed me to see a house with a garden just about big enough to fit a deckchair in.

@NewHouseNewMe

I actually get this.

We are looking at perfect houses in the "wrong" area (for us) and also looking at imperfect houses in the "right" area. There are very few perfect houses in the right area that we've seen.
In each case, we look to see it the property is enough to overcome the other challenges.

So much of house buying is gut feeling, so I think this is entirely normal OP.

Exactly this for us too! We want a 4 bedroom house but would consider a 3 bed in the right area if enough else was right about it for us.

I just discovered this website that does valuations for you! I put in our house and it's estimating £7,000 less than the price is is currently listed at:

www.swirb.com/

We have enough wiggle room to drop the price so I think we'll try that. Agent only suggested going down £5,000 but I think it would look like a lot more enticing going that extra couple thousand lower. Motivate the fence-sitters?

I wouldn’t put too much faith in that website you linked to OP. I just entered my details & it gave me a valuation £50k higher than reality!

My parent’s house was also a corner plot, which made their garden much larger than standard for the street. Theirs was also a 3 bed detached originally which they added a 4th bedroom to. I totally agree that your viewers are looking for houses with the potential to do the same.

I think that valuation site is bollox too.

It is worth what someone is prepared to pay for it and the bank is prepared to lend.

Just a heads up, but that website estimated our property at £200,000 more than I think it's actually worth!

Lol ok I won't put too much thought into that website after all! It just coincidentally landed on the same price we had in mind to reduce to.

We've just lowered it anyway, we've got zero viewings arranged for the coming week and it was quiet last week too so why not see if this works.

I get nervous that I'm stepping on toes by asking the estate agents to change details for us, but then they're going to get a bunch of money from us in the end so I suppose I shouldn't worry about it??

It's important to have dialogue with the estate agents and there's a fine line between suggestions and standing on toes. You do have to be able to trust your agents so if you think they're doing a bad job, is it worth putting it on with someone else?

Things that have put me off houses that you couldn't get from the listing include:

• whether there was scope to make renovations to turn an 80% house into a house that ticks the boxes
• any rooms that were tiny or oddly proportioned that had been misleadingly presented by clever photography
• getting to a property and realising it was very overlooked in the garden
• the house feeling dark or damp
• not being able to see how my stuff could fit in the house (eg one room was apparently a double bedroom, but on viewing the double bed took up most of the room with no room for anything else, really it was a generous single).

I suppose I didn't dictate to them, I did state what we'd like to lower the price to, but then I explained what our thinking was behind it, and asked them to advise if they thought it was a bad idea for any reason. They seemed to just agree and made the change instantly 🤷‍♀️

The price was changed an hour before their office shut for the day and in that hour we got 2 viewing requests for tomorrow, so it seems to be working already!

I think that sometimes,people read what they want to believe.
When we sold our last house,a chap came out with the entire family. I showed them around then said I'd leave them to look around for themselves.
Dad: You've not shown us the loft conversion.
Me: We don't have a loft conversion ( confused)
Dad: I saw a window in the roof from outside,there must be a loft conversion.
Me: Thinking,don't you think that if I had one,it would appear on the plans,the details and the photos? And the house would be more expensive?
Me: There is no window or loft conversion,would you like to go up into the loft and see for yourself?
He did indeed,not believe me and insisted on going up into my unconverted loft to look at my non existent window and conversion. I stood on the landing like a lemon,trying to make small talk with his mortified family,whist he checked that I wasn't lying and trying to hide something that would actually add value to my house.
He did not buy it. I still to this day,don't know why he was so convinced,and wouldn't have it that he was wrong.

I remember the first flat I sold, an upstairs, one bed Victoria conversion. A prospective buyer stood in the living room and said in a very haughty tone 'but where do you have your dinner parties and entertain?'

Er the tiny kitchen table is where we eat if that's what you mean you complete lemon.

There are a few houses close to where I live which are advertised as detached three beds with garden. It is not obvious in the description that they were built on the corner plot of another house. The gardens are sections of the original house’s garden and are very small compared to the other gardens on the road. Yet the asking prices are not much less.

I would add a satellite view of the plot to show the garden size vs. house. Not everyone is savy enough to find it on google maps and check that out first. I agree it's likely people are expecting the possibility of extending and not getting an idea of the garden.

I ideally would like a long flat garden, but I've looked at a couple of corner plots that still provided the room to run the dogs.

I feel your pain - our house is a mid- terrace - only feedback we have had is we love it but we want a semi- detached 🤷‍♀️

As a potential buyer, we are really struggling with estate agents at the moment. A number of properties are listed with very basic information and photos with a line saying particulars to be updated soon or request a virtual viewing. Great, I am more than happy to do a virtual viewing in the current climate so we can physically view the ones we really like. Contact agents and it's a 'I need to book you in for a viewing now.... had so much interest it will be sold by end of day... no point sending you the virtual viewing as it wont be ready until tomorrow and it's going to sell quick so come view...' I appreciate that they need people through the door but really not enjoying this approach, and why are sellers being charged for the virtual viewing and printing of particulars if the house is going to be sold prior to them being ready?! I rang one agent and they asked for our requirements and said they will forward any relevant information. The next day I had 5 emails from them about viewings that had been arranged, rang them up as I thought it was a mistake and no they had booked viewings for us in the evenings to all of the properties that slightly met our criteria! We did go to view one and spoke to the vendor, she stated she had had 6 families not turn up for viewings and thought it was due to COVID. We explained the situation with the agents mass bookings and wondered whether they had happened. Sorry I'm ranting! Just to say that sometimes it's not always the buyers, but maybe the agents? Good luck with your sale and house move :)

@theemmadilemma At least you're open to the possibility of a corner garden and are looking at it in terms of actual space, not just shape!

@Halfpastafreckle How absolutely annoying, why are these viewers wasting everyone's time?

@Teasplease I'm most annoyed by the fact that the presence of a pandemic isn't deterring agents from sending lots of unsuitable buyers to houses they're not likely to buy just to make themselves look good. I'm tired of hearing about how "encouraging" it is to have had so much interest when it's been misguided interest, and the fact that it's risky to be popping round to progress houses these days should be taken much more seriously by these agencies.

I've just noticed that Facebook marketplace gets listings from Onthemarket.co.uk, but our house isn't on that website. Why do some agents list there and others not? Before I go asking them to put it there?