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!

Because they will be getting around £8,000k in commission if they sell our house for us.

I did a drive past one I'm interested in on Monday , it's also in a no through road , I had to spend a few mins working out which was the actual house as 3 were similar and no boards up but not really an issue
I also avoided a sign when selling a few houses ago, I lived in a village and lots of people knew me and I didn't want to tell anyone I was going to sell but when it goes on right move everyone knows anyway so since then I have always had a board , about to go on the market here and yes I will have a board as I intend to get it sold and absolutely anything that helps positively towards that goal will be utilised
I agree it's good not having children on viewings

If you don't have much footfall or traffic then it's probably best not to bother. We're selling v near a popular primary school so I wanted one just to make people aware it was on the market.

Looks like the consensus is sign not necessary, thank you for responses

Nope, never had a sign up. If people are wanting to move they look on the appropriate sites anyway, we will be moving in the next 18months approx and won’t have a sign up

I'm a widow living on my own, and didn't have a sign with my first agent.

I agreed to a sign when I changed agent and was upset to find people wandering around my grounds, on three separate occasions. They'd parked up the road rather than in my drive, so I only found out about them because my dog barked as they were walking off. I had the sign removed shortly afterwards.

We’ve got one & they’ve never changed it to a sold sign two months later .. we actually had someone knock on our door last week & ask why they couldn’t find us on Rightmove 🙈 I rang the estate agent & asked them to change the sign. Still not done it.

I don’t think you really need one but I have to say, I did keep an eye on boards going up in the area I wanted to move too, in the hope of jumping at a viewing ASAP if needed.. I’m also just nosy & curious about how much houses sell for!

As a buyer, I check a property on Rightmove and then do a drive by before booking a viewing. A sign is very helpful if you're house is on an estate full of identical houses! I have spent lots of town trying to match advert to house using garage door colours and window frames!

A couple I couldn't completely identify, but out of the three possibilities 2 were very overlooked so I didn't bother with a viewing

I used the SOLD sign to spot my new house when coming home from work

I had a for sale board. It made an annoying creek in the wind & I honestly found it a bit embarrassing, particularly with it standing there proudly saying SOLD for 6 months...
I'm not having one again.

The only thing I'd say about a sign is that I'd always go for a 'drive-by' before booking a viewing with an agent. It's just helpful for pointing out that yes, this is the one, you're in the right place!

We didn't have one, house sold in 2 weeks. I didn't think it would help at all and didn't like advertising the fact right outside my house. If neighbours want to know then they can look it up on there.

We only had a sign because our house was located off a little walkway, so not immediately obvious for any viewers. We didn't want to lose viewers who might have been driving round looking for the house or walking up and down looking for it. Our neighbours also have very reactive barky dogs to people walking around outside...wanted to minimise that as much as possible.

We wouldn't have had a sign otherwise, it can illicit randoms knocking on the door. Also heard that scammers can also target houses with signs. They turn up pretending they want to view on the off chance, but then conduct a distraction burglary type thing.

Just accepted an offer, it was only on Rightmove. No sign. Less than 2 weeks.

All these posters receiving offers after being on the market for a short time, can I ask roughly where you are located please?

I'm in Scotland. Not a city, just a town

@SchoolOfKnocks - we had an offer in 24 hours but not proceedable. Sold fully in 3 weeks after a bidding war. We are in West Yorkshire. Our estate is fairly popular. It’s in a desirable part of our town, walking distance to a high street filled with cafes, bars, library etc & outstanding school. 3 minutes to the motorway. There are newer builds around us that are smaller & go up for £30,000 more than our estate. So I think people either decide to go newer build & zero work. Or our estate where you’ll pay a lot less for much bigger

*posted before I finished!

.. a lot less for bigger rooms but probs need to redo the en-suite and maybe the carpets if you want more modern. It’s just a bit dated now.

The market round us has been bonkers. It’s quietened down an awful lot recently.

Interesting! I'm in the South East, 25 mins by train to London but also easy access to countryside. A nice mix - not that people really want to commute into London these days.

We took the sold sign down the day we moved in and told the estate agent it was behind the bins if they wanted it back.

If we move we don't plan to have a sign. Next door is for sale so they drilled a hole in their neighbour's garden wall and attached the sign to the wrong wall!

Definitely NOT going for a sign now, thanks for feedback and anecdotes!

We've just gone on the market and our agent said he would reduce the % fee as long as we had a board. Always done without in other house moves, but this agent wants to be seen in our village!

If houses have no sign I always worry that they aren't that serious about selling - possibly a forced sale through financial difficulties or relationship breakdown, and I sort of worry that they'll drag it out as reluctant sellers. It wouldn't stop me viewing/ offering if it was perfect, but if I had a choice between 2 houses it might be the deciding factor.

What’s the obsession with neighbours not knowing you’re looking to sell? I sold one house to my milkman and another to a relative of a near neighbour. Both houses sold within days.

We have just bought and sold without a for sale sign on either!