Should I change agents again? this is my second to date.

[Sooveritall]

We put our house on the market last year and it hasn't sold.
We've had two offers, one from a hmo landlord subject to planning and another person who disappeared after I said I couldn't move out in a month ( I had a scheduled operation). Major surgery.
Our current agent ( national chain) is as disappointed as us. No one has viewed in 11weeks. The agent says it will sell in the autumn. We're the most clicked but we've had three others sell on our development.
A rival agent has given some insight and said our photos are rubbish and the current agent doesn't sell in our location. It needs a local firm. They don't disagree the current price (it's been reduced three times).
Would you change agents? Are they all the same if you're on the portals?
Sorry but I'm not posting photos.

Look around your house really critically. Ask the agent to take new photos, does it have good kerb appeal with summer planting etc is the garden set up to look appealing with patio furniture.
Inside is your period furniture maybe quite dark or oversized for a modern property. Could you put some in storage? Or accessorise appropriately.
Ensure the details highlight the bits you’ve done so buyers realise you’ve invested. They may assume old fashioned furniture means house needs money spent on it as it hasn’t been maintained.
Sell a lifestyle appropriate for that type of property to make it more appealing. The estate agents are working for you. Ask them for feedback and to do more.

I think I would change unless it would cost a lot. And photos need to be redone if theyre poor. But its a bad market in a lot of places.

Have you thought about staging? It really can add to your price. Regardless think about improvements you can make. For example I see so many badly made beds, make your beds look like a shop would have their display beds set up.

If it's possible that the house looks a bit cluttered/smaller than it is, could you move some things into storage and have the photos retaken with the new agent?

I also agree with PP about making sure the listing is clear on any material work you've done.

I think if you take it off for 14 weeks (check with the new agent) it shows up as a new property on Rightmove (though people can probably figure out on e.g. Zoopla that it's been for sale before if they dig). That would put you well into the autumn though, so maybe you don't want to wait that long.

Maybe check with the new agent whether changing agents would also put you to the top of the "recently added" list, and if you are willing to put some things in storage whether they would help you decide what stays and what goes?

I think most people can see past clutter or decor that doesn't quite suit the house, but on the other hand if there is lots of similar stock (as there is at the moment) they don't have to do that - and it can seem safer to just choose somewhere that already looks roughly how they would decorate/use the space, even if it comes at a bit of a premium.

We are also trying to sell (hopefully in the final stretch now - touching wood madly - but it took a long time between budget confusion/Iran war/interest rates/chains falling through as folks further down the chain lost mortgages) so I feel your pain.

"Staging" will add nothing in this market, if done badly it will just annoy potential viewers, if this is a new-build we are talking about new-build sales were recently down 60%, the only hope at this stage is a serious price drop.

I staged it ( with help) and it sold today.

Bear in mind it isn't "sold" until contracts are exchanged. It is Sold Subject to Contract, or Under Offer in EA speak.

That’s absolute bullcrap. People see past this kind of stuff

@Bunbun22 I have never looked at anyone's furniture. It was a ridiculous thing the agent said.

I don’t disagree that you and I may find it ridiculous but some people are unable to see beyond it and envisage their own furniture in a space or how a house would look styled differently.

So you went from no viewings booked one day, to the next day it being sold after you “staged” it?

I actually don’t believe any of this. Even if I assume you don’t mean sold (because that would be impossible) and you mean have received an offer you’ve accepted.

Did you have the viewing already booked? In which case your staging probably meant very little (and would have been very little as you had less than 36 hours to do it in).

I hate to say it but I doubt this is true too. I think it would be impossible to buy/borrow staging furniture and re-decorate, re-do all the photos, upload them to Rightmove, arrange a viewing (at least one) and accept an offer within....1 day on a house that had apparently had not one viewing in 11 weeks. It doesn't ring true.

Some people have zero imagination.
My partner for one😀

@rainingsnoring @WheretheFishesareFrightening

The house is sold stc to a family member. The new images of two rooms were uploaded. It didn't sell through the images it sold through the price reduction. And yes my solicitor has checked their finances!

I don't know why you are accusing me of being a liar. There are some very odd people on Mumsnet these days.
I've been a member of mn for over twenty years. I change my user name frequently thank God.

Op you are under offer. You’ve not sold until exchange. They can still pull out. Glad you were able to get a result quickly from reducing the price.

Saying your house is sold is just shorthand for sold subject to contract. Most people say it. I'm sure the op is aware that it isn't actually sold until exchange!

In fairness, that is not at all what you said in the previous post. You said 'I staged it and it sold'. You are now saying that you have sold it to a relative and that you lowered the price, neither of which you mentioned in the other post!
You would not have received either comment if you had mentioned these two facts, rather than implying that the sale within a day happened because you staged it. Good luck with your sale/move regardless.

I asked for advice on changing agents.
That was my OP.

Some posters were kind and helpful. I've no idea why people have to put others down. Is it so they feel superior?
I added a quick note on a thread to update those kind people.
I fully understand what sstc means. The inference is I'm stupid.

Well done for selling. I was getting quite despondent with mine, swapped agent for better photos etc, then suddenly one person viewed and wanted it after 6 months of no one wanting it.

Some people can see past furniture/decor they don’t like and some people can’t so in this difficult market you are narrowing your market if you don’t declutter/put some stuff in storage/garage if you have one.

House near me was on a few wks ago for £200k more than they bought it for 2-3 years ago. It’s sold STC but don’t know what for, but interestingly all they seem to have done is paint kitchen cupboards white, paint brick fireplace and have more modern furniture.

if furniture didn’t matter why would developers bother to furnish show homes stylishly? Some people just go with the feeling they get and are not rational about square footage etc. But it doesn’t have to cost a lot to make it look better before you have new photos taken with a new agent.

1. declutter (take photos of your rooms yourself and flip them to mirror image to see with fresh eyes, add a plant or two, maybe limit colours) get an honest friend round to help, study photos of show homes and the homes that sold on your development to see what might have made them more appealing. Depersonalise but don’t need to completely dehumanise. Hide away any pet stuff if you have it. A few modern cushions and a throw might update it, it’s probably not the furniture but the way it’s styled (look at country living type websites to get a feel for it maybe)
2. buy/borrow bedspreads if you don’t have them as much easier to make and keep a bed looking neat. Look at Dunelm website eg for how to style a bed.

What is it exactly about the photos that is rubbish? Is there anything you can do to make the house look better in photos. Some people rely a lot on the photos even though it doesn’t really make sense to do so.

I have done all this myself and completed in a few months last year. Good luck!

Since selling my auntie's house I've seen heard that you should be changing agents every four months. Apparently they loose drive and motivation to other newly listed properties after four months. Thing is though I think agents usually hold rights to commission if the buyer previously viewed the property when listed under a previous agent though.

Can a portion of the furniture go to storage until you move? Dress the house more appropriately and modern

We've been declutering since April, @Diorama2 and irrespective of whether it will help us sell our property, it has felt a lot better letting go of things that gradually accumulated over the years, but we don't want to take with us. If we have to move into rental for a few months it will be less to store. No downside really!

I could start a thread about how difficult it is to persuade DH to let go of clutter, he's the world's worst for keeping things just in case.

sorry, cross posted , didn’t see you’d sold while I was writing my post above, that’s great maybe the staging helped!