Engaged an estate agent who doesn’t use Right Move

[Cheeseismymiddlename]

Selling a property in Cornwall. It seems to be priced about right for what it is, where it is . A little on the high side but so is everything around it iyswim.

Using a local estate agent who all seem lovely . Very personal service . However, they use On the Market / Zoopla and not Right Move .

Property has been on the market since June. Maybe 7 to 8 viewings. One lowish offer which we turned down as it was very early days.

I understand there reason for not using Right Move. They said they were having issues trawling through the number of enquiries that resulted in a dead end . On the Market / Zoopla leads , whist fewer were usually from more serious buyers.

Other issue, house was 3 bedroom. Now 2 . We were going to reinstate the third bedroom ( cost 3500 pounds so not an issue). Estate agent said leave as is as the open plan floor space it’s left behind is on trend at the moment.

I’ve no experience of selling in the last 20 years. In this current market , would you have expected an offer by now or is this an expected pace despite all the hype regarding an over heated market?

Their reason . I’m sure spell check did that.

Change agent. Not being on Rightmove is a serious disadvantage. I’ve never used Zoopla or On The Market to search for properties, and they have a tiny share of the market in comparison to Rightmove. People just aren’t going to see your property.

I’m not sure what the agent means by having to trawl through enquiries. Yes, there’s a feature which allows prospective buyers to ask for more information, but most interested prospective buyers will also call the agent direct to arrange a viewing, and you’ll be missing all that potential.

And an agent literally telling you they can’t be bothered to follow up leads from the UK’s most popular property marketing website in order to get you the sale you’re paying them for is basically telling you they’re useless, aren’t they?

@ComtesseDeSpair

And an agent literally telling you they can’t be bothered to follow up leads from the UK’s most popular property marketing website in order to get you the sale you’re paying them for is basically telling you they’re useless, aren’t they?

This!!

I used Zoopla, onthematket and Rightmove when I was looking, infact I preferred the layout of Zoopla.
I checked all three every day, serious buyers will hopefully find you.
However I found when you sent an email enquiry directly from rightmove the estate agent often didn’t come back to me. If I wanted to view something I would phone the EA straight away.

I was a serious buyer but I only checked Rightmove about a dozen times a day. Zoopla's website is better but doesn't have a lot of the properties Rightmove does and I rarely saw anything there that wasn't on Rightmove so stopped bothering.

Rightmove is as close to a monopoly as it's possible to get.

They said they were having issues trawling through the number of enquiries that resulted in a dead end

That is an astonishing level of complete bollocks!

So if you use ‘On The Market’ you are only allowed to use one other property portal - either zoopla or rightmove. Rightmove is very expensive, zoopla is not.

I initially misread that as engaged 'to' an estate agent who doesn't use rightmove which would be a heinous crime for mn!

More seriously, agree with pp, even serious buyers only use rightmove and any agent worth their salt should be on them.

A house we bought was only on Zoopla and only came across it by chance (to our benefit, fewer leads, less interest hence lower sale price).

Talking with our vendors Agent, it was all to do with the high cost of RightMove v Zoopla.

I bought a house last year. I'd never heard of On The Market. Zoopla I only used to look at previous listings. I checked Rightmove at least once a day, if not more and eventually found my house on there.

@21Bee

So if you use ‘On The Market’ you are only allowed to use one other property portal - either zoopla or rightmove. Rightmove is very expensive, zoopla is not.

Not any more.

That used to be the case, but the 'one other portal' rule has been dropped.

@MaggieFS

I initially misread that as engaged 'to' an estate agent who doesn't use rightmove which would be a heinous crime for mn!

More seriously, agree with pp, even serious buyers only use rightmove and any agent worth their salt should be on them.

I read it as that too and thought it was an immediate LTB.

Everybody who is anybody uses Rightmove.

(And I live in Cornwall and properties are still selling in hours for over asking price here - not one of the property hotspots at all)

No mention of Prime Location so far - is that site no longer in consideration for buyers or sellers?

@WorriedWishingWell

No mention of Prime Location so far - is that site no longer in consideration for buyers or sellers?

Never heard of it

oh Yes I remember when Prime locations was the ‘go to one’
Is it still even out there?
Also Foxtons seemed to be everywhere, have all the good houses, not anymore.
Who’s the ‘go to’ now?

I only ever look on Rightmove. If your property isn’t on there most people won’t see it. Previous posters have already said they got a bargain on Zoopla because there was no competition for the property and they got it cheap.

I only ever look at RM.

When we bought, the house was on Rightmove. However a house nearby has recently sold and the obscure estate agent isn't on any of the big property websites, just on its own obscure one. I was very surprised that it sold as fast as it did.

I just did comparative searches on RM, Zoopla and Prime Location. The latter 2 brought up identical results, then when I scrolled down to the bottom I notice PL is now owned by Zoopla, but seems to market the PL brand as more upscale/aspirational judging from the first page.

Thanks for comments. I did get what the estate agent meant with regard to Rightmove. He said he would go to the office in the morning to literally hundreds of enquiries generated by right move, a lot of them sent in the late hours / early morning hours that often never amounted to more than wishful thinking . Im also looking to buy and I go on every available site every day , I just thought other serious buyers would be the same .

Now that I have your attention , what would you do regarding the 3rd bedroom . At the moment it’s marketed as a 2 bed .a lot of people do start their search with 3 beds as a minimum I think. However, without the 3rd bedroom the property feels really open and light . If we reinstate the 3 room I suspect we would get more viewings but the property would feel more cramped. Next door is identical but with the third bedroom. The hallway feels more like a tunnel / passageway . No room to stop and take off shoes and coats let alone put them anywhere.

Thanks for replies.

Rightmove is the most expensive. That's why they don't use it.

I also see what you mean about it looks like he can’t be bothered to find a buyer in all those enquiries. My DH said the same last night. It as though he’s just waiting for someone like me , really motivated enough to search out the place for themselves.

Rightmove being the most expensive could also be an issue . He’s on a fixed fee regardless of the asking price. Argh , it doesn’t feel right. And certainly not what I expected back in June when it went on the market . We started looking straight away believing it would be snapped up.

Can you post the current floorplan so we can see what you mean? Also, look at the difference in asking price between two and three bed houses - it's often around £10k or more so it could be worth reinstating the wall and door. What's your market? If it's families or couples where someone works from home then a third bedroom is definitely worth having. If I were looking for three bedrooms I would only look at two bedroom houses if there was very little for sale in my chosen location and I was considering buying somewhere smaller (and cheaper) with a view to extending to get what I wanted.