Should we change Estate Agents?

[Tblock1800]

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

Hopefully it works out for you with the new EA being more proactive and that they can book in some new potential buyers for your open day @Tblock1800

Being honest though, it is true that as long as your house has been on Rightmove, it will have been visible all along for buyers to notice.

It is more likely to be the price that was the issue than the EA, though a proactive EA is useful once you get an offer in helping it get to completion. I hope your new EA proves us all wrong though and brings you lots of genuine new viewings.

I get that, but unfortunately for us there’s a lot of similar new build looking apartments for sale in our area and the vicinity. It’s a congested market and lots of competition, so not everyone is going to see ours. You get a proactive agent reaching out to their list actually physically putting our property in limelight, i think that’ will make a difference

If buyers are that apathetic they can’t be bothered to scroll through Rightmove at properties in the area they want at a price they can afford, they are not serious buyers in my opinion.

I agree with this.

I do hope things work out for you, OP, but if it's a congested market with lots of similar properties then it's even more likely to be the price.

And if I were changing agent and having an open house then I'd be expecting that to happen in a matter of days, not a few weeks. I've just bought a flat in Glasgow and it had been on the market for 10 days when I viewed and offered. I saw it on RightMove and it was really only when I decided to request Home Report and viewing that I even noticed who the agent was - and even then, I didn't really care who they were - they are fairly new and I hadn't heard of them before, but they got the HR to me immediately and were able to let me view within an hour of my phone call. It was their fast response which mattered.

We don’t go live with them until 27th. We still contracted to old EA so there’s not much our new EA can do until then. We have an open house pencilled in though

I'm struggling to see the merit in attempting an 'open house' for a property that has been on the market since the beginning of August.

It's generally something you do when a property is fresh to the market, often with a low initial guide price and/or needing a lot of work.

But, I hope I'm wrong and it proves successful.

but it’s going live with a new Estate agent so it will be a fresh new advert going straight to the top of the right move listing. Any new potential buyers ain’t going to know this property was listed before are they? If they are only just starting searching and come across my new advertisement with new EA. Of course there’s merit to start fresh and go for an open day

The new estate agents doesn’t have some jewel and fur clad wealthy clients hidden away that never look at right move or the internet unfortunately, the same people will see the re-listed flat and think ‘oh it’s that one, and it’s still too expensive’. If your area is flooded with similar flats as you say then the price needs to be more competitive to shift it, doesn’t matter what similar ones have sold for, it’s still too expensive.

But I’ve moved a lot and hopefully I’m wrong as I know how stressful it is putting something on the market, I also see properties that sit on right move and get re-listed every so often that are still too expensive, but hopefully you will prove us wrong.

Like i said, new people come onto market buying every day. If you’re new to searching, you’re highly unlikely to be searching before that are you? So, whatever new potential buyer come on will see my advertisement as a new one. They won’t know nothing about the previous one. Some will i agree, but new ones won’t. I’m confident changing EA’s is the way to go in my situation as i already lowered the price as said a few comments up

That agent markets itself on saying that they will contact buyers from different parts of the country, that they already have on their books and I’m sure they do get in touch with people. Those same people will also be looking on Rightmove in the general area they’re considering, because they will have decided on a rough location even if they aren’t familiar with the area.

We found that, after the initial contacts, communication was poor and the staff unfamiliar with us and our property.

Please don’t use the online conveyancer the agent will recommend OP.

In the end, if the property sells, you’ll regard the agent as good. If not, you’ll think they’re poor.

FYI, i lowered the price to
see if we could attract a different range of viewers. Didn’t make a blind bit of difference. Now, the market is probably shite at the moment i agree but every EA i have spoken with are baffled as to why we ain’t getting much traction. Its in a good location, decent size and modern move straight in. Nothing needs doing to it. If my new EA can get a few potential buyers through the door with the open house, then I will remain positive. I guess we will wait and see. If in February i’m in the same situation then you can come at me and say “i told you so”, but I’m going to give this a chance and back my decision

Agreed

I think we all wish you well on this thread and genuinely hope you get a buyer with your new EA.

We're just being honest in saying we find the idea unlikely but several of us have said we hope to be proved wrong so definitely won't be saying "I told you so" if your new EA generates lots of new interest and a buyer.

I've changed EA in the past so I do understand the temptation. I just personally think it's mainly wishful thinking that this will make a big difference.

We sold our house last year. A house two doors up ended up selling for lots less and was on at exactly the same time. The house on the other side of the road sold at around the same time for about £40k more than ours.

The layouts were all the same and I'd argue our kitchen was nicer than the really expensive one. We had totally renovated our house and it was sparkling - every replastered etc... same as the expensive one. You could say they were the same.

But, they had designed it, painted it, staged it etc... in exactly the way people wanted. It was an instagram house.

When we came to sell our house, the EA said make it look like you haven't any children here - despite being a 3 bed house, apparently families were not the target market.

So, we packed everything away the best we could. Took down cutesy pictures, upgraded our toddlers bed to a small double floor bed (which he loved!) and generally made the house as attractive to professionals couples as possible.

But, we didn't go so far as to paint everything in farrow and ball navy and grey though.

Ultimately, we were very happy with the price though we have later on down the line talked about how a lick of different coloured paint could have got us a lot more.

The house two doors up looked like a family home - cot, toys etc... They were a family and it looked like it. It was packed away nicely and everything but they really struggled to sell and had to drop their price. We sold in 8 days - its a very popular road.

My point...absolutely no two properties are the same, even if they have the same layout and general condition, and they are never viewed as such unless they are brand new builds that haven't had their stamp put on them.

If another local flat sold easily and yours isn't selling it is because yours isn't as good as theirs. No one wants to hear that but Rightmove stats say that sales are up by a third in October and that includes flats. Good stuff is selling. Sales timelines are decreasing too; they are faster now than in the summer.

A new EA won't likely help with that - though a lick of paint might.

I do wish you good luck. Apparently flats sell easier in the spring - at least that is what google says. So, maybe its just the wrong time of year. I guess if you're thinking about being inside with lots of friends at Xmas, you aren't thinking about a flat.

I’m in a similar position to you at the moment and I’m curious to find out what happened with the apartment after you changed agents. Did you sell and how did it go?

Maybe change agents. People do say it's always price, and I think it's almost always price. I would price lower with a different agent and get more people through the door.

Myself and DP recently viewed many houses as we already have a buyer and need to find a place quickly to get the ball rolling. It was eye opening how efficient some agents were compared to others. Some very hard to get hold of on the phone. Lots of back and forth to arrange a viewing with others. one said couldn't do a second viewing as the office was so busy over the next few days. I said to ask the vendor would they consider doing it themselves and of course they were happy to. We offered same day.

Some agents are more difficult to deal with.

@Tblock1800 did your flat sell and did you change agent?

yes it sold and yes changed agent, but buyer fell through:( so back to square one

If you want to sell your flat then you need to reduce the price. Ex estate agent here. It’s ALWAYS the price.

@Tblock1800 sorry to hear its fallen through.

Do you think it was the price drop or agent change that got you that buyer?

bit of both maybe. For some reason we got slightly more viewers with new agent

Yes based on only 2 viewings in 2 months for a well-priced, attractive property, it’s reasonable to change to a larger, more active estate agent.