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Original poster

Has anyone changed estate agents and sold quickly

29 replies

Housenotselling · 03/12/2020 22:19

House has been on market for 9 weeks and I've only had 2 viewings, 3 other houses on my st have sold in this period and I know it's a decent house, good area and priced fairly.

I've been trying to contact my agents all week to discuss and have been struggling to get through on phone (goes to answer phone) and 2 emails havent been replied to.

I'm now thinking it might be a problem with the agents.

My question is has anyone else not sold with 1 agent and then changed agents and sold quickly, and if so do you know why it didnt sell with first agent?

My thinking was it cant be the agent as it goes on all the online portals and so what more can agents be doing to sell it but now I would be interested to know your thoughts please.

Thank you

OP posts:
Meredithgrey1 · 03/12/2020 22:24

We were on with one agent for 4 months and had no offers, switched agents and had two offers within about 10 days.
I don’t know for sure why, maybe the first agent wasn’t as responsive to queries and requests for viewings?

JanetPudding · 03/12/2020 22:25

I have relatives who were on for a year with one estate agency. No offers. Moved agents and sold within two weeks.

Puppylucky · 03/12/2020 22:29

Not quite the same thing, but after three collapsed sales we moved agents and sold first time. I now realise that what you pay an agent for is not just the initial sales effort, but the proactive nursing through of the sale - especially at the moment

UglyHoose · 03/12/2020 22:43

Well if you can't get hold of them then prospective buyers wanting to view can't get hold of them.

You need an agent that is hungry to sell your house and it doesn't sound like they are.

Smallblanket · 04/12/2020 09:04

We were on the market for 14 weeks - no offers despite several second viewings. Changed agent, had loads of viewings and have accepted a good offer after 10 days, one of 2 (so a back up if the first isn't as good as it appeared). New agent is more expensive, photos nicer, no video (so viewers had to come and see for themselves). And based in a slightly different geographical location. They also appear to have found potential buyers who hadn't seen the property for sale previously - so not sure Right Move algorithms were quite working for the first agent. Or it's just luck.

I'm so glad we changed. I'd say go for it - you have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

PresentingPercy · 04/12/2020 09:26

Look at your contract. Is it sole agent for x number of weeks? If the time is up or there’s no time constraint, move Agent to one that’s a bit more dynamic. People do start looking one day who haven’t looked the day before! That happens regardless of agent but be honest about your property and how it looks against others. Why would your viewings not lead to sales? Another agent might help you set it up better for a sale.

IHeartNiles · 04/12/2020 10:28

There is an agent in our area who is totally unresponsive. We’ve tried a few times to view a house that’s been on for months and they never some back to us. Might knock on the vendors door and tell them.

Mumbum2011 · 04/12/2020 11:08

Just wondering if they sell quickly with a new agent because they look like a new listing and go back to the top of Rightmove page? so potential buyers who weren't around 8 weeks ago are now seeing it?

ILoveYoga · 04/12/2020 11:49

What’s really odd is if your house was for sale and others for sake on your street, surely people coming to view would see your for sale board snd go look at your house too.

So that really leads to questions about how your house is priced, how it looks outside /inside compared to others on your street. If all that is fairly equal, then it’s the estate agent not being responsive to potential viewers or their marketing but certainly the other houses for sake in the street drew vendors dog would certainly have looked up your house on line

Look at these things. Do screen shots of your current listing. Call in some other estate agents (good choice would be those who sold houses in your street) and see what they have to say.

They can also advise you how to get out of your current contract/give notice etc

Remember, estate agent with highest valuation of your property does not necessarily mean best estate agent. Look for the one who sold the most and is responsive to your enquiries

Juststopit · 04/12/2020 11:56

Yes had our house ( village location) on with a local agent and nothing for 12 weeks. Put it on with a London based agent and sold for over asking price in 3 days!! It’s definitely worth changing.

user1471538283 · 04/12/2020 17:45

Yes. I've changed agents twice on two houses. One was useless just basically sat back and waited even when I dropped the price significantly. The other was aggressive and proactive so I got viewings. In the end my buyer contacted them. But it would have sold quickly because I dropped the price for a quick sale.

I would look at a combination of dropping the price and changing agents

Soulstirring · 04/12/2020 18:27

Our agent didn’t impress us at all in the negotiations and selling, not being keen enough on interest, not answering our calls etc. They got lucky and sold within the notice period we served on them (funnily enough the same happened with a friend). BUT I have to say their post sales and hand holding has been amazing. We moved last week after 13 long months of collapsing chains, COVID, crazy buyers etc. I would recommend them now simply for their after care.

Procrastatron · 04/12/2020 18:44

Estate agents make a huge difference. I’ve switched and gone from zero to sold with one flat and I’ve gone the dual agent route with another to only really have viewings from the one agent.
Things I’ve learnt:
How do they pay commission? If it’s shared across the office then individuals aren’t incentivised to sell a particular property
Agents get paid commission based on exchange not completion and financial quarters matter a lot.
Some agents are passive and some are active. I.e. some will wait for a call about your house, others will say “ I’ll show you X but I’ll also show you something special (@Housenotselling‘s house) that you may not have thought of.
EVERYTHING is negotiable. Notice periods, exclusive periods, fees etc. One of our agents wasn’t selling so we employed a second and told the first that they could stay on at the sole agent rate or accept notice.
Ultimately if you get enough people through the door someone will buy it.

jujuball · 04/12/2020 18:52

Me!

Sold less than a fortnight after going live with the new agent. Just exchanged on my purchase (I broke the chain) and ready to move in on the 14th Xmas Grin good luck!

DesperatelySeekingSunshine · 04/12/2020 18:58

There is an agent in our area, who is a franchise holder, he always over prices the houses, and then inevitably they have to drop the prices.
He gave us a price about 20k over what every other agent had been saying. I think he does it just to get the business.
I really feel for a few sellers I know who have gone with him, as the summer rush is over here, and there houses are just sat their with reduced prices on RightMove.
Call in a couple of other agents.

PointyMcguire · 06/12/2020 00:22

Yep, our house was on with the initial agent for 11 weeks, plenty of viewings but no real interest. We reduced the price twice in that time, but when they suggested dropping the price for a third time we walked. New agent had it listed at £50 less (not a typo) for 3 days before we had an asking price offer from FTBs. We think the main difference was the second EA had better local market knowledge and had recently sold two similar houses nearby so already had an interested database.

madcatladyforever · 06/12/2020 00:25

Yup. House was on for a year then I changed to a more proactive agent and it sold within a week. House before last.

Original poster
Housenotselling · 06/12/2020 08:49

I would definitely knock on their door, as a seller I would really appreciate it if someone knocked on and told me.

OP posts:
Bluntness100 · 06/12/2020 08:51

It depends, if it is the agent fhen of course it will make a difference. If it’s over priced, then changing agent won’t make any difference.

Original poster
Housenotselling · 06/12/2020 08:53

@pointymaguire when you put it up with the new agent did you put it up at the reduced price or the price it was valued at?

OP posts:
Rudolphian · 06/12/2020 09:00

I've made an offer on a house. The agents seem useless.
The photos they took were crap and didn't even show the houses best features. When we viewed we were surprised the house actually looked bigger.
Then we put an offer in they didnt even chase us or provide feedback.
We last rang to.see what was happening and they just say ' oh the vendor is still thinking about what to do.' They should be telling him if he doesnt make a decision he will lose a sale or hurrying him up or something.
That was an asking price offer.
We are now still looking for other houses and if anything else comes up the vendor has lost a buyer.

Original poster
Housenotselling · 06/12/2020 09:03

@Rudolphian that is really bad, maybe worth telling them especially if you like the house. I would be so upset to find this out about my agent and they might not have even told you the full story

OP posts:
Rudolphian · 06/12/2020 09:10

I don want to derail your thread. But truly I'm not sure if they are passing on messages to the seller or not.

Original poster
Housenotselling · 06/12/2020 09:27

@Rudolphian I would definitely just knock on today if you can, just say you were passing and concerned that you hadn't heard back, just tell a little white lie that you had been stung like this in the past and found out information had not been passed on so wanted to check. So bad, if you offered full or close to asking price why would It take so long to come back to you. I'd be wary!

OP posts:
MatildaonaWaltzer · 06/12/2020 09:30

We have moved agent twice, place still not sold :( have dropped price twice and still only one viewing in 4 weeks. It is a v unusual property which means I knew it would take time - there aren’t really any comparables and there’s a generous service charge but so far all three agents seem to see their role as throwing the place up in right move then sitting back

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