To those selling in these difficult times Part Deux. AKA sellers support network!

tyllwyd

I'd agree with the poster above - do your own research, and go on the market at the price that seems right to you. You can always drop the price, but you can't (sensibly) raise it. And a fixed fee doesn't seem a problem in principle, but at 2.5% it doesn't sound like a bargain.

Jackinbox99

Thats my thoughts exactly. I will put it on for what i think its worth based upon my research, I can always lower it in 4 weeks time if no interest. I will see what the other 2 agents say in the week and try and pitch them against one an other. 2.5% seems very high from my perspective.

WheelieWood

WheelieWood wrote: »

What is a big deal is that she was apparently told not to bother with our house but to take a look at one round the corner instead as it was much better! :mad:

Just spoke to the branch manager and he assures me that this could not have happened. He sounded genuinely astonished that someone had even suggested it and stated that in the current market there is certainly no way they'd put anyone off any house they had shown interest in. Apart from the fact that this seems sensible, I do actually believe he was telling the truth :shocked:

He could only speculate that the other house had been mentioned, on the call, as another option to consider and that the description of fully refurbished and high-spec fittings became "better" in my neighbour's mind. Some time later my neighbour may have formed the opinion that because the other house was "better" the EA was trying to push it over mine. I guess its a plausible explanation as I see no reason for my neighbour to make this up.

Bah! Back to looking for other reasons why we're not getting viewings.

tyllwyd

We are getting to the point where we have almost forgotten that the house is actually on the market. I keep expecting the EA to phone, but I think he's given up on us.

We do want the EA to come back & take some more pictures because we have done bits & pieces to make the front of the house more cheerful (including laying new turf which is looking lush at the moment!) but the major problem in my eyes is that we don't have a fence between our drive & next door, which wouldn't be so bad except there is an old gate post which got left behind when the fence was taken down, and it is sitting slap bang in the middle of the photo of the front of the house. My OH has promised to get rid of it, but it is not a 5 minute job (will need an angle grinder he tells me) but he is so busy at work there is no prospect of him doing it any time soon. Its one of those things, I never even registered this old post until I saw the photos, and in my mind it is putting people off coming to view the house.

I've also arranged to get someone to come & fit blinds for the bathroom & cloakrooms - again, maybe a waste of money if we do move but I've been waiting for them for three years so I've had enough!!

Squish_21

Squish_21 wrote: »

We have decided to drop the price of our flat in an attempt to try and get it sold before the end of the year.

I dont hold out too much hope though, will probably still be here for Xmas but hey.

We decided not to drop the price and to go offer 5% towards deposit as our 1 bed flat should appeal to FTB's (if they still existed) and it might help them out to buy our place.

fizzystutter

Hi All,

We have an open house viewing today (12 until 4) which will hopefully attract some buyers. I've spent the last week painting, fixing and cleaning everything in sight at the house so fingers crossed it will be worth it.

I'm trying to exhaust avenue the EA is suggesting and I think this maybe the last one before I either move to a new EA or release the equity and rent it out.

James

kymie

Good luck everyone - the sun is shining, hopefully it will bring a few buyers out for you!!

fizzystutter

Well we didn't get any viewers today. I popped into the EA to find out if our house had been given a push in the window..... nothing, the advert hadn't even been changed to reflect the open day.

The lady inside was quite sheepish when I told her who I was and went on to say that a mailer had been sent out to those people in our price bracket, but for some reason even though I'm on that same list (to track their advertising), I didn't receive anything.

Looks like I might be forced into releasing the equity and renting it out in order to move on.

They can't say I haven't tired.

James

westlondonbuyer

Fire the agent (contract permitting). Failing to even advertise your open day in their window is a really elementary, inexcusable fail.

westlondonbuyer

alexanderreturns wrote: »

My first price cut was from £335000 (2007 price) to 325000 and it made no difference. I spoke to other agents and they said I need to get into a different price band on Rightmove altogether. I needed to reach different viewers. I cut to £299000 and had an offer from a cash buyer the same week.

When we sold, our agent told us to price our flats just under the Rightmove price-bands, and then price reductions the same way.

Most people aren't going to look at stuff outside their own price bracket.

alexanderreturns wrote: »

Foxton's often show me stuff 20% above my price range. The first time I asked why and EA said he knew how much I had to spend and he knew how much his vendor wanted to sell.

Same here. The difficulty is, not *all* vendors want to sell at a reduced price so prospective buyers can't assume it's a blanket pricing policy. It's impossible to identify the really motivated sellers, unless they reduce the price rapidly and have "keen to sell" banners on their Rightmove listing.