To change estate agent? House isn't selling

[unsellable]

My property has been on the market for 5 months. Had a total of 25 viewings. No offers just one person who was seriously interested but ended up never getting back in touch after second viewing even though they left that viewing saying they’d offer when they sold. They sold. Never offered.

I am in the midlands. I am not comfortable to say where. Or link my property. But property was initially on at price multiple agents suggested. Although viewings were coming in weekly I assumed no offers were due to price so reduced 2% by advice of agent to get back to top of rightmove.

Viewings still kept coming in at new price but still no offers. Agent then advised me to guide price so I dropped the price low to fit in to another price bracket for searches on Rightmove, stating that offers would be accepted anywhere between X (low price in new bracket) and X (which was my original asking price). At this point I'd accept the lower end of the guide price as I am getting desperate.

Same situation, viewings kept on happening at new listed guide price. No offers. Estate agent decided to do the showings for me to get feedback on the spot as a lot of people coming for a viewing don't respond to estate agent for feedback when they ring after the weekend. Estate agent said this is normal. Most don’t return their calls after viewings.

Had a viewing this weekend from a couple who called their parents to come join them and spent 45 mins viewing with the agent and they haven't responded to agent and apparently agent has called everyday since. Apparently couple loved it on weekend. So I can't understand why they're not returning the agents calls.

When I purchased the house it sold in a week after viewings and there was myself and somebody else both placing offers until one of us were accepted - which was me.

I am feeling so low about it. I got another estate agent in who keep trying to poach me. They told me that the reduction was not the right advice as it’s now listed a lot below what it is worth and suggested they would have listed at original asking price too. New estate agent said I could now go with them but can’t re list at my original asking price or anything higher than the lower end of the guide price it’s currently on at, so if I go with them I have to stick to the guide price the other agent advised me to do.

I’m getting frustrated that my agent is only getting feedback from roughly just over half of the viewings. They say they try every day following the viewings for 3 days.

All viewings that are coming in are enquiries from rightmove/zoopla. Potential new estate agent said that they would be proactive in contacting potential buyers and telling them about my property and don’t rely on zoopla and rightmove alone.

Is this an estate agent issue or do I just have a unsellable property. What can I do? What could be the problem with my house and why it is not selling? I’ve been advised by my current agent houses are not struggling to sell in our area and people have been rushing to buy before stamp duty increase. They constantly reassure me the house is lovely and sellable and they will sell it it’s just a case of right buyer, right time.

It could be just that! Who knows when buyers don’t respond. There must have been some responses in that time though - can you press the agent by telling them you’re disappointed and think you might give up?

Could you take it off for a month till the garden starts perking up, then relist at the higher price with a new agent (one you have seen plenty of boards go up and then get the SOLD notice on? Use the month to check every area is tidy and “curated “ within an inch of its life and any knick-knacks/personal items removed. Get the outside weeded/jet washed etc. Then get new photos done.

Apart from anything else, it would give you a break. It’s so stressful, isn’t it? But one day …..

Without a link it's hard to give an informed reply or opinion. What is the feedback saying that you have had?

You haven't had an issue getting viewings but there's obviously something that is putting people off

It could be one of a thousand things

Hey OP, I did that with my old house, was with my old agent Oct 22-Oct 23, 50+ viewings (although had 2 offers we accepted that fell through)

Took it off the market and then went back on in spring 24 with a different agent. Followed the photographer round the house making sure the pics were perfect and staged the house a bit better (moving clutter out of way and checking pics) made sure the listing details were perfect before letting the new agent launch.

Sold within 2 weeks. So worked for me to go with another agent. Xx

It's odd that people are acting so keen and then just disappearing. Have you tried googling your address? Could there be a planning application for something undesirable? It's not a murder house is it?

We're also in the midlands. Have noticed the expensive houses in our village and surroundings are taking a looooong time to sell. One has recently got a sold board after at least a year. The sub 500k houses seem to be selling as quickly as ever though. It might just be the climate atm and you need to be patient?

With that many viewings it must be something they’re seeing in person that isn’t stacking up with the listing.
Its bizarre you’ve not had feedback.

Omg what on earth is a murder house? And how would I even find that out? I am pretty sure if someone was murdered here the previous owners would have had to declared that! Haha. And nothing undesirable in area being built or planned.

The only consistent feedback from those who do respond is the garden isn't big enough. The garden is just ample. It's smaller for the size of the house but still it's not a courtyard or anything. Hence why I wasn't too bothered to reduce by the 2% initially to be competitively priced to likewise houses in the area. I got that people might want a slightly bigger garden to match the size of the house. But to reduce significantly over that one thing or for that to be the only factor putting people off doesn't seem right. The house is lovely and easy to move straight in to - it might sound biased to say. It has a second reception room and utility room which most other houses in this price category don't have in the area. It's always presented well on viewings too. Heating on, lights on for people walking in to the rooms to make it already bright, clean etc.

I’ve had two offers in 6 months. I’m now changing agents. It needs a refresh with new photos etc. spring is nearly here. Supposedly best time to sell.

I am glad it worked out for you in the end. Do you think the change of agent really made the difference?

I've checked the listing over and over and it's impossible to not already tell the gardens size or anything that I would suggest is a 'flaw' myself. There is a walkthrough tour, floorplan, and lots of pictures. The listing actually shows everything so it beats me why anyone would view it if those things were a non negotiable for their move in the first place.

Some feedback I have had is 'it's a lovely house but we fell in love with something else' which is fair enough.

Could the wide range of guide price be an issue? Am I best off going with a new agent and just listing it the conventional way at the lowest end of the guide price? At the end of the day I'd be happy with that price at this point anyway.

I think the first agent made a few mistakes in the launch and so did we. Pics weren't great, a bit too fish bowl lens, no measurements on the floorplan pic (only in the description) priced too high initially, we did 2 reductions over the year to get it back to the top of rightmove.

When I went with the new agent, I got lots of extra plants, new white sheets on the beds and some nice cushions and throws, decluttered, even took my toaster and microwave off the counter in the kitchen to make it look bigger, got the bins out of the photos and took away all shampoo bottles from the bathroom and re siliconed round the bath. Rearranged some furniture (initially had my dining table in the conservatory so put it in my living room/diner) and decluttered quite considerably. (Still got stuff in my mum's loft 😬) Cleaned within an inch of my life for every viewing and freshly pressed sheets, which was very difficult with a preschooler. Also said no viewing unless proceedable or viewing directly after someone who was proceedable to save my sanity. Old agent let any tire kicker round. Hope that helps.

I'm also in the Midlands and live on one of the most sought after roads in town. Houses on sale range from 325k to 900k and none are selling. I think the market is very sluggish at the moment.

I don’t think you should change your EA because as far as I can tell they have only done one thing wrong. Which was suggest you drop by 2% in the first place because if the house wasn’t selling, they should have advised a 5% drop.

Once a house has been on the market a long time that in itself becomes off putting to buyers. Which is why it’s not a good idea to drop the asking price by small increments. And lots of people don’t like “guide prices” so I would change that to the price at the bottom of the guide.

The market is pretty stagnant in many areas at the moment and you probably bought in a stronger market, hence you are struggling to sell it. But if the photos are good & it has a good floor plan, I can’t see the benefit to changing agents. It is true what they told you that lots of people who view properties won’t give feedback. It’s frustrating but if the price is right you will sell eventually.

People are changing agents round here, when what they really need to do is drop the price…a lot more than 2%.

I'm sure it's a lovely house op. How does it compare to what else is for sale in your local market? We've just sold really quickly because ours is in the same price bracket as the many pokey new builds but is a 1908's semi which has a lot more space than the new builds. What we are buying is right at the top end of the market and nothing is moving there so it's been on the market since August.

as you are getting viewings:

• there is something wrong with the surrounding (hoarder neighbour, gang street, next to a noisy or smelly business)

or

• there is something going on with your property that results in no offers that's not obvious from listing or floorplan. (smelly house, bad diy, bad layout, badly presented)

What are your neighbours like @unsellable? We fell in love with a house on viewing a couple of years ago but ultimately decided not to offer on it in the end because we had noticed one of the neighbours looked like they did very little maintenance to their property. There were old bits of wood etc piled in the garden & broken kids toys etc.

I think it’s just area dependent. In my area in north west houses are selling within a week but they aren’t selling a couple of miles away

A 2% reduction wouldn't indicate a serious motivation to sell.

All these are potential reasons. But only you would know.

• the property is much darker than it appears in the listing
• the property feels much smaller than it shows in the listing
• the property needs more work than it appears in the listing
• the property is badly over-looked - not private
• the property looks to be due some expensive maintenance - like new roof or windows.
• the property is subject to an estate charge
• the property maintenance charge (if any) doesn't appear to be adequate to cover future costs
• the environment is too noisy - roads, trains, factories, etc
• the environment is too smelly - farms, waste incinerators, etc
• the property is in a flood zone
• the property in is a high crime zone
• there is inadequate parking

Check your price on houseprices.io and see what other properties sold for in tour postcode and how they compared.

It's probably price, but good luck selling.

You mentioned feedback that the garden is too small. I went to a viewing once where it was half the size I expected because they stretched the photo. You don’t seem to think it matters because the house has other rooms that others do not. It does matter. I had cats that love the outdoors and a good size garden was crucial. Back in the day they used to put garden lengths on printed particulars. Idk why that key bit of information is now absent.

Add the garden length somewhere near the top of the advert so you waste less time.

It is important to animal owners.

New agent is just trying to poach the business so they get the commission, the existing agent hasn’t done anything wrong, and not getting feedback from half the viewers is actually excellent, most don’t like to do it, so they are working hard for you. The new agent is talking shite on pricing, utter shite, if they’d had it on at the start it still wouldn’t have sold. No one didn’t buy due to the agent. No one.

Make sure your pics aren’t stretched to make it look bigger, and that it is in the condition it appears in the images, I found when viewing a lot of pictures were misleading, rooms looked bigger than they were, and often in poorer condition. Then look at what else is selling on the market, what’s your competition.

in reality feedback is actually fairly irrelevant. Most people don’t tell the truth or wish to give feedback. And chasing people is not good, if they want to make an offer they will do, when they’ve viewed other properties and made a decision. I’m not sure why you’re so hung up on getting feedback or chasing this last couple.

your agent is working hard for you, these guys are on commission, remember that when talking to the new agent. And when a house doesn’t sell it is always price. Always, everything sells for the right price.

a guide price is never a good idea, no one is going to offer the higher end, they’d only do that in a bidding war. However I’d also leave it now. The market is picking up again.

the question you need to ask yourself is why is your property attracting people to view, but when they’ve viewed, they don’t want to buy. What else is out there that’s preferable. These people are active buyers. They want to find a property. Your issue isn’t the agent, honestly.

The listing doesn't mislead anyone to think the garden is any bigger than it is. I have a spaniel and two children, I wouldn't have bought the house myself if it wasn't ample for that set up. Appreciate some will want bigger for the size of the house however I just don't believe the listing misleads anybody to think it's something it is not.

I agree sizing should be added to floor plans the same way room sizes are. It's still important to people. Might raise this with the agent and see if they can add the size of garden too.

You say you have a dog - is that obvious from the photos? Dog bowls etc? That would stop me, but then again I wouldn’t view it in the first place.

Or did you move the dog bowls for the photos but they’re out when people visit?

I have a close relative who is having to get floorboards replaced due to vendor’s elderly dog - very unpleasant situation that wasn’t apparent when they viewed but has become very obvious since they moved in. DH and I have agreed that we won’t offer on a house where there’s a dog.

The guide price means it's now reduced to the same price as the pokey new builds in the area. But I do wonder if the guide price is confusing because the top end and the bottom end has such a huge leap.

I wonder whether I should just take the guide price off? The difference in the guide price is 25k. So basically my house will have been reduced 25k.