What should I do next - lower price? change agents? Advice needed please.

ElleWoods

My house has been on the market since the end of July and in that time I’ve only had 2 viewings. One viewer avoided the estate agents calls and didn’t give any feedback, and the other said it was a lovely house but the 3rd bedroom was too small for their needs. It started off being marketed at £119,950 and I’ve recently dropped it to £114,950. I realise that prices are dropping and know that the longer it’s on the market, the less I’ll get for it, so I’m very conscious of selling it ASAP before prices drop so low I won’t be able financially to sell. The problem I have is I don’t have a huge amount of equity in the house – my mortgage is approx. £89k – and I don’t have savings so will need to pay for the EA’s fees, solicitor’s fees, removal costs etc. out of the equity. I don’t mind whether I rent or buy my next home , so as I may not have enough money from the remainder of the equity for a deposit on a purchase, I’ll take a call on what my next move will be (rent or buy) once I have an offer on mine and I can see where I am financially.

I’ve been wondering whether to drop the price some more and/or change agents. Price-wise I realise that any offer will be under the asking price, so I don't want to drop it too low otherwise I won't have enough equity to pay the fees I mentioned above. Agent-wise the agent I have is on Rightmove and their fees are low (1% of sale fee all inc; no sale no fee) but they are a one-branch local agent and as such aren’t very well known, plus I don’t feel they are particularly proactive in marketing my house. The most popular agent in my area claims to have the highest percentage of sold signs, are extremely well known, have lots of branches and I know people look at their website first when searching for properties (I know I do!) but they are more expensive (around 1.5% fee, £295 marketing fee, £85 for each ad in local property guide) and don’t have a very good reputation for good service – I’ve heard they can be a bit underhand (charging to check independently done HIPS when there’s no need etc.).

Anyway, in order to sell I’m not sure what to do next – bearing in mind the above, should I:

a/ Drop the price some more and stay with the same agent?
b/ Change agents and drop the price?
c/ Change agents and keep current price?
d/ Keep current price and agent and see what happens?

Before anyone suggests staying put, I have my reasons for moving and am definitely moving if it kills me (which at this rate, it just might!).

All suggestions very gratefully received. Link to my house here:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-22479005.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

CC x

poppysarah

Massive garden. Ask your EA whether they have any buyers at the moment - and what price bracket they are looking for.

What prices are other houses in the surrounding area selling for?

Cannon_Fodder

House prices - http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=lathkill+road+sheffield&n=10

Can you compare, honestly, your house with No11 and No12 that have sold "around the peak"...? Does it measure up, or have you got to factor in better/worse elements before doing the maths of taking 10% (ish) off for the market?

If 'similar', £120K less 10% is £108K...

On the property itself, my first thought was that some would be thinking they need to budget for a fresh kitchen to provide enough storage...presumably there is space for a fridge somewhere..!? (in the alcove? can't see it)

Otherwise nicely presented.

I'd go for c) I think. That agent should revisit the price/saleability, anyway.

PropertyPro

It's certainly time for a new agent who will have a fresh approach.

I would also advise dropping the price to £109,950 - I know it sounds daft, but there will be property hunters out there who have specified to their agent that there only willing to spend £110,000 and not to send them anything that is a penny more in price. People searching for property generally give a round figure as their top price.

Ask the new agent to take a photograph of the front when the sun is in the right position. The current one with a shadow makes it look darker than it really is.

Agent's are always negotiable on comission. You will have a chance of getting the 1.5% agent down to 1.25%. Tell them that if they quote that figure as an all-inclusive fee, then they are welcome to market the property. If they resist, mention that you are having another two agents out to value the property and you want to sign up with somebody today. My guess is they will pull a contract out of the briefcase and amend it accordingly.

Good luck.

ultramagnetic_commuter

And get the new agent to quote the length of your garden. It's clearly a great asset but the best your current agent could manage was to call it 'generous'. Too lazy to measure it because there weren't any fence panels to count?!

mummyfrugal

Hi, I do feel sorry for you Im in the same type of predicament. Mine went on for 137,000 in May (estate agent said no probs - will sell at that), it didnt cos they sent no one round (it was overpriced)! I changed estate agent (and strangely enough when I gave notice they 'found' 3 viewers).

I had to wait the 30 days to change estate agents which I did (so effectively my property was off the market), dropped the price to 129,950 (house prices were dropping fast round here), they got me 3 viewers too and one of them made an offer which I accepted (with condition i took off the market so was off during August) then the she dropped out - without giving a reason grrrrr. Since she dropped out the price has gone down to 126,950 and no viewers have come round at all. There are no viewers because no one can get a mortgage. Even in the estate agents two staff have left and its now being run by another two staff who are at another branch too. Only at the end of last year my neighbours sold for over 130,000 and it needed a complete refurbishment! My house is on websites, in the paper, the estate agents window..... it can't be advertised more widely. The house is immaculate and has had complete re-wire, new bathroom, new kitchen..... loads of other things I wished I'd never spent on (thought I'd be here forever).....in a strong market it would have been snapped up within days of going on. I've always asked for 'how it is' feedback but have never had anything negative.

I don't think in hindsight that changing the estate agent made any difference at that time it was the price it was at that mattered. The market is different now, I think now its just a case of no one is around to buy your property unless its an investor who can buy it outright (and they are hovering round the propery auctions like vultures moving in for the kill). I did consider the auction, but you have to pay a 'listing fee' and then basically use their solicitors unless you can afford to pay yours to be at the sale! And then if it makes the reserve you have their fees on top. If it doesnt sell you still have to pay the 'listing fee' and your solicitor for the legal pack they have to make.

If you decide to change estate agents please consider the following first ;

- the waiting time where it cannot be advertised so is basically off the market (mine was 30 days) which is on the contract you signed for sole agency (you can go for the duel agency but they charge more in % fees if you do that).
- If you do change other estate agents may charge more (the one I wanted in the villiage Im in charges an extra .5% + vat). But if you say another estate agent does it for 1% and you will go with them - they will match it.
- Also I have had to pay for the HIPPS survey as it was a condition (in small print you never read) that if you change estate agents the full amount is payable immediately - they told me over the phone that the full amount was coming out of my account 'next tuesday' when I did not have the money and had to cancel my debit card to stop it (its the only debit card I have so it was a right pain in the bum).

I know its all negative but I just wanted you to see what has happened to me and so you can avoid it!!! I think the only thing to do is to sit tight. There is a housing shortage and especially now they are not building many more! I am going to wait until Feb next year and if things have not improved Im going to rent mine out (even tho I don't want to be a landlady) and look at it again on a yearly basis until I can just get a reasonable amount/or money back for the house.

I've got so fed up of this since May trying to sell my house and in the past I have got a bit stressed out about it (especially the financial side) as I have found it hard to cope financially and have been low and catching every bug around and found it emotionally draining!!

Now it has taken quite a few months but I take a step back and don't let it stress me out anymore. When I find myself going there again, I remind myself that I have a home to live in and I should be thankful for that at least.

The first time buyers are having a hard time too, there are lots of bargain houses out there and they can't get the mortgage they need. I saw on TV a bloke who had saved 10,000 now needed 25,000 deposit (how he saved 10,000 - I could never do that! Im down to 400 in savings now). The goalposts keep moving - maybe the bank deals will make a difference? fingers crossed.

I do hope you manage to sell at the right price. If someone comes along and offers something you can afford to sell at and you really want to go, then accept it. If you can afford to hang on, then I'd hang on like me, but its a long-term hanging on and it is hard financially!!

Best wishes and good luck to you, and to all those out there, and my thoughts go out to those unfortunate ones who have been repossessed - its just awful.

pinkshoes

Cuba_Cat wrote: »

All suggestions very gratefully received. Link to my house here:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-22479005.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

CC x

Right, from a search on rightmove, then there are 85 properties with at least 3 bedrooms within a mile of your postcode, ALL under £120k!

What you need to consider is how many buyers there are in the area, and how to get them to look at yours before any of the other 85!!

I would view this one before yours:
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-20102540.rsp?pa_n=3&tr_t=buy&mam_disp=true

My views on your house and improvements you could make:

1) The front looks bleak! The link above to the other one at least has a hedge!! Plants?? It just strikes me as a bit characterless, so I just scrolled past it on rightmove (as there were SO many to look at!), as many other might do. You need to make this photo stand out more so people actually click on it!

2) People like to be able to see the kitchen and bathroom, which I can't really see on yours!

Apart from the above, the inside looks nice.

SABJ

emmajones11 wrote: »

Hi
I had the same problem as you are having, i found a site called you dont need an estate agent .com

I emailed them my pics and stuff and they loaded it onto there site for a one off payment of £99.

I have just found a buyer via them and saved over £5k.

You should give it a go.
Good luck

HAHAHA there s/he goes again !!