Explain selling to me

[kirinm]

We are a paint job and garden tidy away from putting our flat on the market. Of the few estate agents I've spoken to, I've trusted precisely none of them.

But we are going to have to deal with some as I've not got the time or inclination to purple bricks our place. I have a few questions.

Do you get to approve the photos and can you add ones you've taken yourself? Our garden has lots of lights which is only ever going to be seen if a picture is taken at night. Having electricity running from the top to the bottom of the garden is useful so we'd want to highlight it.

We have nearly brand new double glazed sash windows. These are expensive and as we are in a conservation area, is a plus because we've already done the fighting with planning permission.

We know the area and some of the descriptions given about it are just so bland. One has, for example, has described the two separate London Overground (which link to the tube two stops up) as London Transport which didn't make any sense.

Basically, can we override any estate agents if what they're saying is rubbish?

Sorry for the typos. Missing a 'the' and too many 'has'

Yes you do get to approve the photos, well we did any way.

Perhaps it’s worth looking on rightmove and looking at local listings and see if any agents jump out as having great photos/blurb. I know one of our local EA doesn’t put the room dimensions on the floor plan, drives me mad and I wouldn’t use them for that reason.

Also, I would ask the agent to detail as much info regarding any lease terms, ground rent and service charges on the listing.

You're paying them for a service so point out the positives of your place and tell them you want these included in the marketing. Look at who locally is actually selling similar properties. I'd get at least 3 agents round and think who you think is more likely to secure a sale.

Things to think about: is sales progression dealt by the office marketing your flat or some call centre where the staff have never seen it?

What's the target market and do you think the agent will connect with your likely target market?

How do they add value or do they just put an advert on Rightmove?

What do they realistically think the flat will sell for, not just how much do they think you should market it at?

How do they qualify potential buyers and do they force people to get a mortgage appraisal with them before they'll let them view?

Do they use a professional photographer?

If you think of something one EA you have round mentions that you haven't discussed with another then contact them and ask them so you properly compare the different agents.

Tell them you want to approve the marketing before it goes live. Even then, keep an eye out. We had exactly that discussion with the EA we used to market our last house. Despite that the branch manager listed the house with a completely irrelevant blurb (we were in a different area from their office and the area description was plain wrong), the very first photo was terrible and showed the car on the drive rather than the house properly and the description was not well written so I amended it. This was not the person who came to the house btw!

The listing should have an accurate floorplan with room dimensions on it. Make sure the Streetview image and map reference are of the correct place, not 200m away.

Even good estate agents make crappy mistakes. They don't have to be qualified and Rightmove does most of the work for them imo.

Yes, you can approve (or otherwise) the photos and ask for ones you've taken yourself to be added (but do be sure it's actually a really good photo that adds something). Personally, looking for an agent that takes quality photos would be on my shopping list anyway when selling - near me there are some that do great photos and some that are terrible.

Gently, the windows may not be quite as much of a selling point as you are envisaging (and I say that as a lover of old houses who takes traditional and heritage building materials and features seriously). For many (if not most) people, windows fall into that category where if it's old and knackered you'll mentally knock money off, but if it's present and in good order that's sort of neutral and something you'd expect anyway, so not really worth more to you. And even window nerds' enthusiasm for your specific windows will rather depend on what they replaced. So by all means ask that they be briefly mentioned in the description, but I would resist the temptation to go on about them at length, and they may not make much difference to the overall price your property can command.

Both times I have re-written our description, so I would say that you can as long as it is factual and true.

Not sure about adding your own photos- we agreed with our agents on which were best, and the order.

On agents: my gut has always been to go with the one that felt nicest. With our first property, we sold through the agent we bought it through and they were amazing- knew the area very well (so could really sell it), knew the kind of people.it would work for (it was a 1.5 bed flat- another agent suggested it was perfect for a family of 4(!)), knew when to out pressure on with the chain, collaborated on details etc to get the bestn

However, after a bad experience with a similar company (different area) last year, am coming round to the idea that I just want the one to get the job done (like the agents who sold our current house to us) : what will they do to sell my property for the best price and the least fuss? How will they follow things up and keep chains together? How will they ensure they have my best interests at heart?

Haha your comments on the windows made me laugh. I know, having paid for very good expensive windows, that having new ones in whatever we buy next would be a massive plus! But yeah point taken (I do actually love my windows because they're beautiful but also keep the cold and noise out).

Does the same go for a new boiler 👀

This is really helpful thank you!

I rewrote the text for the estate agent last time, removing the appalling estate agent speak, using clear, accurate language and highlighting good points about the locality that didn’t seem to have occurred to the estate agent. I had a good sense of the type of person who was likely to buy it (and for exactly the reasons we were moving away). We also did nothing at all to the house (which was empty, as we’d already left) other than a good clean and a paint touch-up in a couple of places.

We sold quickly for £30k above asking price.

I've only spoken to a couple but since that conversation a massive chain seems to have taken over all the estate agents and now there are only one or two non (Dexters) agent. But, one of the ones I spoke to valued the flat at a level I knew wasn't right - it was far too high.

I would say that the agent we bought through was good when everything was on the cusp of collapsing so arguably was worth his commission.

Agree that the windows may well not be that much of a selling point. I'm currently wading through the selling process and having to force myself to detach from some of the beautiful quality bits in my house (bespoke triple glazed hardwood front door for example) that I have to accept I enjoyed while I had them, but haven't added more value to the house than an off-the-peg composite at half the price would have done. 1 year old £1k shed in the garden? Might have given buyers an impression the place is well-maintained but added zero value. It's painful but true.

Also, I wouldn't get too hung up about the description. Most people barely read the full description. I look at the pictures, the floorplan, dimensions from listing if they aren't on the floorplan, map, and only really look at the write up if I want to clarify something like "is there parking?". If stations matter to me, I'd just be looking on the map as to what's where.

I'd recommending looking for an estate agent with genuine local knowledge - and use Rightmove to look at which agents are actually SELLING properties in your street/local area - not just listing them, but who has got recent SSTCs on Rightmove.

Does the same go for a new boiler 👀

I think similarly that boilers are something people are most bothered about if they're ancient and knackered. If it's new, lovely! One less thing to worry about. Might sway me if I were considering two otherwise identical homes - but I'm not rushing to add the price of that new boiler to what I'm willing to pay for the house. If I'm going to need to replace it the minute I walk through the door, though, then I would want to make sure the price I paid reflected that (and, indeed, when I sold my old flat that absolutely needed a new boiler I made sure the price was realistic considering that).

I have rewritten the description as the one the EA wrote was too flowery and I took a new photo of the front of the house on a sunnier day. I also asked for the photos to be put in a certain order as they seemed to be random and for some to be removed as there were too many.

I'd just take a picture of the back garden with the best quality phone or camera you own and ask for it to be included if that's something you think is a positive selling point.

Okay. Another question. Garden. We have one half whilst the downstairs flat pan the other half. It's a straight line down the garden which you can access straight from our balcony.

Some EA say leave as is others say fence. I think fence it - I hate the fact we have zero privacy anyway. But I don't want to spend money if it's making no difference to value. But it's all very well the deeds showing who owns what but surely being able to physically see it makes a difference?

It is about 40m long and 10m wide so would still be sizeable.

The neighbour doesn't maintain their side and we've stopped doing it so it's always massively overgrown.

Can you draw on the photo where the fence would be?

It's quite hard to see because you can't see half of the garden and I can't make a thin enough line. The photo also looks a bit diagonal.

On the plan, ours it the part NOT in red.

Having dealt with various agents I’d definitely ask for recommendations from people who’ve recently sold houses if you possibly can. We resented having to pay our last selling agent- after the sale was agreed they were absolutely useless. I ended uk dealing with the buyer directly- it was fine as we got on but I shouldn’t have had to

fine to ask them to tweak wording etc. also to at least ask them to consider certain photos you’ve taken yourself.

I'd measure the length and I'd get a quote for a low fence. I don't t think I'd get a six foot fence because it will feel like a path. But because you have, according to the land registry, over 50% of the width and because the other half of the garden is so overgrown it makes your part look smaller.

@QuillBill it's 40m long and probably about 5m wide (if we followed the plans). My partner will put a fence in if we do. We were thinking of getting one more akin to a trellis so plants could grow up/ around it. I just can't picture it and really want to before committing!

Yes you’re in control as it should be. I recently sold my house. Make each room clutter free, toilet seat down, 😅, each room having a specific purpose. Don’t say too much, most people are just trying to visualise themselves in the place. I bought a table for 20 quid and borrowed chairs from a friend in the kitchen, I also bought cheap cheery canvas pictures from charity shops, to lift the eyes up, away from worn Lino or scuffed skirtings. I just acted nonchalant with awkward questions and muttered something like “ it’s been fine for me”….the whole while thinking ( like it or lump it)…
Whatever you do don’t act desperate….when asked if I had somewhere to go I just said “I’m very flexible” 😂….

To be honest you pay professionals because frankly they know more about what actually sells houses than you. Thats why its their job.

Descriptions written by the owner are usually bloody awful, full of random crap, typos, missed info and put people off.

Photos taken by owners are usually terrible too and highlight all the wrong things. Its like how we become nose blind to our house smells we also become blind to clutter spots and issues that make sense in our daily lifestyle but don't reflect well in staging.

The London transport vs London overground means nothing, its the same thing and splitting hairs.

Lights in the garden is not a selling point really.

Double glazing might add to salability but some big push on how you fought for permission doesn't matter at all, it just needs to say double glazed and the EPC would back that up.

You are putting far to much 'personal feeling' into it and your intense personal feelings don't really matter to the buyer at all, they just want the quick simple facts.

Thanks but this is an old post and we've sold now.

I took my own photos - it was much easier to move 'clutter' from one room to another so the photos looked much better plus I knew exactly how I wanted them to look. I find some photos on Rightmove just awful - dark and weirdly distorted by the zoom. The agent wrote the advert and I altered parts of it.