Should we change Estate Agents?

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Hi guys, our 2 bed apartment is currently on the market and has been for nearly 2 months now with an independent Estate agent. It’s a lovely property (our 1st home) in Surrey very close to shops, Surgery, chemist etc, but also has beautiful views of the common so the summer is lovely sitting out on the balcony. It’s still in excellent condition as was a new build when we bought it 7 years ago. Rooms are both double bedrooms and has lots of space. It’s certainly priced appropriately for the market and type of property it is.

The issue is our estate agents has only managed to get us 2 viewers in nearly 2 months. 2 viewers pulled out which isn’t their fault, but am i being unreasonable into thinking we should have a bit more interest?

I spoke to a larger firm today Cubit and West about potentially taking them on when our contract with our current estate agents is up which is next month and they believe we should be getting more interest for our property. Obviously they are going to big our place up because they want commission, but they have sold similar properties like ours recently.

We are looking at upgrading to a 3 bedroom house, as we have a 3 year old and 8 month old now and need the room and garden etc.

would you expect your estate agents to get you more viewings than just 2 people in 2 months? I just think a bigger firm might have a bit more clout, contacts and more input at selling it rather than relying completely on right move

Ironically, they may try harder than ever to try and find a buyer now they're in the 2-week notice period.

The way estate agent fees work they've invested money in photos, floor plan, marketing etc, which they soon won't have any opportunity to recoup.

True. Really shouldn’t take a notice being put in for them to get their ass in gear should it? But, i certainly won’t complain if we get an offer 😅

That scenario did happen to us once and to make it complicated, the viewing did result in an offer. What happened was the sale proceeded through the original EA and they got the commission not the new EA.

so in the end, you didn’t put the advertisement for your property with new agent? Just wondering how that works if you’re now in a contract with the new EA? Or is it the case of getting a offer before you start officially with the new EA and there’s nothing they can do about it?

We had signed a contract with the new EA and they had even got a photographer round to take photos when the original EA phoned to say they had someone who wanted to view.

It was an awkward phone call when I had to phone the new EA to say the viewers had made an offer we wanted to accept. They didn’t argue with the fact the original EAs deserved the commission. But what they did ask was for us to pay their photographers fee which I believe was a couple of hundred pounds.

We agreed to that as felt it was the least we could do tbh. Don’t know if we legally had to but we just said Yes straight away as felt bad for them.

Yes contracts signed with new EA and we have photographers coming over monday to get the advert ready for when our contract ends with current EA, so we can go live straight away. The new estate agent branch manager did explain to me if we sold our property with our current EA before we go live with them, then it;s just bad luck for them and is willing to accept it. So, shouldn't be too awkward.

That’s good. I suppose whatever happens the EAs have come across the situation before.

We were ftbs recently, no estate agent had anything more to offer than what it is in rightmove already. Also we refused to see properties without full set of details, even if they had our contact. Never stepped a foot in local estate agents office during search, no point nowadays. So if your target buyers are ftbs you're probably not offering a good enough deal for them. Majority of leasehold flats sum up to almost double the cost if purchased with 90%LTV mortgage (mortgage + service charge + ground rent) in comparison to renting same one. And therefore majority just put that surplus into savings and buying freehold small houses or conversions without hefty extra costs.

True, but that’s you though isn’t it. Not everyone thinks the same. The new EA rings up people on their books who they know are looking for properties like ours, who’s to say they won’t show an interest? I just personally think switching to a bigger more proactive EA will make a difference. I guess you will find out soon if i was correct to switch EA’s :)

They definitely can, but majority of people who register with EAs already seen the market on Rightmove. However, the only thing I did come across that some agents aren't very accommodating to view on weekends, so unless we 100% know we like the property, we didn't bother chasing the ones that are being difficult for properties we are 50/50. Maybe that could be their fault? High street, ringing and chasing is just not working nowadays. Only for exclusive properties that never hit the market. As for new built flats, market is flooded with them. And developers just keep building, so new buyers just buy fresh one with discount, sometimes even stamp duty incentives.

It is nearly always down to price if a property isn't selling. It may well be that an identical flat sold for x amount 6 months ago, but that doesn't mean it's worth that now.

It's also down to supply and demand. There may be more flats similar to yours on the market now but fewer buyers around.

A property will always sell if set at the right price, no matter who is marketing it. A good agent can help stop a chain collapsing but will make no difference to the value of the property.

I don’t think prices change that much in a week. Like i said, Cubit and West sold a property very similar to ours only last week for exactly the same price. Supply and demand i totally agree, as maybe there isn’t a tonne of people out there looking to buy flats for argument’s sake, but i’m going to respectfully disagree and say a proactive agent can build more traction and interest to your property. Will update to let you all know what happens

Wait it out until Feb / March! That's when things move

True that. We will see :)

Going with the new EA on the 27th and have an Open house set up for the 7th December. Not expecting much in terms of an offer during the Xmas month which is cool, but the main thing is it will be a fresh new advert on right move with a new EA who are already working in background getting people on their books ready to view when it goes live. I guess we will find out wether changing EA or not was the right choice. Will keep everyone updated in December

It is ALWAYS down to price. This is coming from someone that changed estate agents (from a large well known company in the area to a relatively new independent one)
We reduced twice before we sold.

In our experience, the smaller agency gave way better service, the large one was great at first but soon lost interest and had so many other properties on the books they became so difficult to get hold of. We even had people knock on our door to ask if we were still for sale.

Just because they're a big well known company, doesn't make them good at what they do, make sure you keep on at them!

Of course i will, but we went down the independent EA route thinking exactly that and they were crap. So, will go with the gut and try one of the big boys. If we’re still having issues we will have to evaluate , but i personally think a more proactive EA is worth its weight in gold. They are already setting up an open house bringing in viewers from
their books. We never got this from the small independent EA, so we have no choice but to give one of the big boys a chance.

I do hope you get a decent number of these come to your open day and they are true to their word

Thank you. So do i. Let’s see what they are made of.

It’s either poor marketing or price. It may alter your budget for what you can buy, but it may be either that or no sale.

I see you’ve decided to go with the larger company and I’d be willing to bet that they’ve told you that they have access to potential buyers from a wide area. I bet they’ve heavily suggested using their online conveyancer too, who will be on the end of the phone to them, should the need arise. I expect that they have agreed to market the property at the higher price.

My experience, several times, has been that a smaller local company is preferable. They have local knowledge and access to local services.

We were persuaded in May of this year, to use that company. It was the most unpleasant experience I’m afraid and didn’t result in a sale. After three months, we went with a local agent, sold after two days and moved last week.

I hope you have a better experience.

As long as they bring genuine buyers to your open day you should get either an offer or some useful feedback. Good luck OP.

99.9 % of buyers use Rightmove to search for Properties. If it’s on Rightmove then changing agents will have no impact whatsoever. It will still get seen by exactly the same potential buyers.

If you are struggling to sell then price is almost certainly the issue.

Did you ask the estate agent why the other similar flat was sold rather than yours?

What you’re saying is exactly what we had from them. That agent told us that they had people on their books too. They actually provided a potential purchaser after a couple of months and urged us to accept a lower offer than we wanted, because they were due to exchange and complete imminently. Twelve weeks later, there was no progress and we discovered that they hadn’t even got a buyer for their property. Still not sure who lied.

They were very unpleasant about us leaving them, despite the fact that we were well out of contract and they made life difficult regarding a different agent. The new agent sold our property within two days of it being on their books and at a higher price.

Thanks for feedback guys but once again, I’m going to respectfully disagree. A good proactive agent is worth its weight in Gold and we tried the small independent route and they were crap. We also reduced the price as well and nothing. Hopefully the open house the bigger EA will be offering us makes a difference because i originally wanted an open house with the smaller agent and never got that. They are already working behind scenes getting people to our open house in a few weeks, so I’m going to give them a chance.