For Sale sign - yes or no?

[SchoolOfKnocks]

Quite keen not to have a For Sale board up. Obviously the agent is recommending that we do, and of course it is an extra piece of free marketing, but we are in a no through road and I can't see many chance drive bys occurring which would result in an inquiry. Anyone interested in moving to the area would surely check Rightmove and see the house there first?

Agent says, "If you're concerned about the neighbours finding out, they will see it on Rightmove anyway." Well in that case, any future buyers will also see it on Rightmove!
Our neighbours aren't really the problem - it's more visiting family.

Is it a big mistake to not have a sign? DH is adamant that we shouldn't have one. Everything else about the house has been decided by me so I feel I should let him have his way on this one!

I thought it was part and parcel...this just makes me wonder how many houses I've walked past that are for sale that I have no idea about 🤔

No need to. You're right if there's not much chance of a drive through

My mum didn't have a sign. House was on right move. Sold within a couple of months.

We have just sold with no sign.

I don’t think it’s totally necessary now with Rightmove.

If you are on a no through road I really don’t see the point.

I'm wondering whether with Covid etc there is even less chance of people going out for a drive round an area just for the fun of it? Ok so you're in your car and safe from the virus, but isn't there a general tendency to do lots more stuff online?

We sold without a sign, and sold to the person who viewed it first. Not much foot fall where we lived and it would just be advertising to neighbors. Was on Rightmove though

They probably do more to market the estate agents business than your specific house - which like you say people will see on right move.

The agent does very good video tours and we are shelling out for that. Also as it's Covid times only people who are in a position to proceed will be booked in to view - plus no children allowed. I like all these things about the agent, but not the pressure for a sign. It's mainly free advertising for them I think.

When we sold both our houses to buy our current house, neither house had a board. One sold within a week, the other within two.

The problem with estate agents is they think they're god almighty....! Keep saying no.

I know someone who refused a sign. Sold the house within a week/fortnight. You only need one viewer to love it.

If someone is serious about buying, they will be trawling the online sites and visiting estate agents, not driving about in the hope of spotting a 'for sale' board. We've sold 4 times in the past 24 years and never had a board.

Totally agree with the comments above ^^. Don't forget you will be paying for the sign, not the agent.

I don't hire an agent to sell my house either and haven't done so for 40 yrs so they don't like me at all!! LOL Years ago I had my own sign made but that house was on a busy street and it was in the very early internet days....now I don't bother with a sign because as has been said, people search the net.

Too easy to hire a solicitor to draw up a contract so it's all done legally and much cheaper than some incompetent agents.....suppose there might be a few competent ones but last time I used an agent he lost a sale because he pushed prospective buyers to a higher-price house which resulted in him receiving a higher commission.

I also don't like nosey neighbours 'needing' to know where I'm moving, although that doesn't stop them from asking, but they don't receive a correct answer and it's usually in the opposite direction to where I'm actually moving.

Good luck with your sale.

I just sold too without one. Had viewings booked within an hour of it hitting rightmove, a sign made zero difference. Don't like my neighbours so didn't want them to know I was up for sale.

The board is mainly advertising for the agent. The one we bought through left the Sold sign up for a month after we moved in, until I rang up and said they had had enough free advertising from us. It disappeared the next day. As we live in a cul de sac it wasn't even on our house, but on a grass verge with an arrow pointing the way.

I'd have a board, my house wasn't online or in the window as it was off the market but I saw the sign on a drive round, it was also on a cut de sac. It'd been taken offline as they had had an offer six months earlier but the buyer couldn't proceed, I phoned and asked to view and the vendor decided they had waited long enough as I was a FTB who could proceed.

We don't have a sign, the thinking behind it was that we don't want randoms who have no interest/time wasters coming knocking the door trying to get an unarranged viewing

Read about it happening on here and 90% comes through RM now EA said

The thought of a random knocking on the door for a viewing

Surely that would never happen these days with Covid etc.

Last sold 10 years ago - it was awful! Constantly on red alert with mad tidying just for time wasters coming round for a snoop, children in tow who would grab all my kids' toys and generally be a nuisance. Looking forward to that NOT happening this time!

Also if you have a local facebook page promote your house on there. Our estate has certain houses that people want but rarely come up so the second they go up for sale either the owner or a user will pop it onto there so that people can see it too.

Most people use Rightmove so as long as it is on there for visibility and people should have set alerts.

We didn't put one up because I like my privacy.

House sold before it went on RM but this was 2 years ago and things were selling easy enough.

If it's a tight market I'd put a sign up.

Lots of the houses we visited didn't have a sign. I think if you're in a no through road there's no need to have one, the only use really is so viewers can easily identify the property - and those doing a 'drive by'. We had one as we have a lot of passing traffic, but if we had been down a side road I don't think I'd necessarily have bothered.

We sold last week after 5 days/7 viewings. No sign needed (we would have had to pay extra for it). As someone else said, if a buyer is interested in your area they'll be checking Rightmove.

If it's just to stop family from knowing, then surely they're going to find out you're selling at some point?

Might not make a lot of difference to you selling, but when I was looking to buy, I didn't know the area overly well and drove around to get a feel for it. I came across a house with a board up on a no-through road and really liked the feel of the street. Hadn't really noticed it before online. Anyway, I ended up buying it. I would say that people looking to buy might be driving around a lot more looking to see what's out there, as it's going to be pretty Covid safe to be in your car.

I don't think you really need one these days. I doubt there are people randomly driving/walking past a house who see a sign and on a whim think 'ooh I must buy that house'. If people are looking to buy in an area they will be checking Rightmove/Zoolpla everyday. We just sold my late parents house without a sign and it sold within 2 days of being listed online. I think the reasons you give for not wanting one are perfectly valid. Good luck with the sale!

If the agents do a good job and you're happy why not let them have the advertising?
What's wrong with a sign ?

Our house is on the market and we don't have a sign. It brings out the "curious neighbour's cousin" too much if you ask me. Not serious at all.
It's as bad as the neighbour who every time we had work done asked the builder for s chat so she could see his work. Just wanted a nosey at what we were doing!