Approaching the sellers

kimmie32_2

We are interested in a house but we bought our first house with countrywide and unfortunatly the house is on the market with the same estate agent!. We will have our house on the market in the next week. Do you think it is ethical to go to the seller when we look round and ask about doing business without their estate agent? Saving them money and also piece of mind for us?? Or is is just not done that way??
Any help appreciated....
Also any tips on selling a house!!!!!! Happy easter and thanks in advance

david29dpo

if its with countrywide, do everything you can to !!!!!! them off!. from my experience and others on hear, i beg you, have nothing to do with dixons and countrywide.

Doozergirl

It isn't done that way. If you found out about the property through the agent, then they are entitled to their fee from the vendor. If you found out another way, then you can bypass the agent as long as they don't have sole selling rights.

Selling? Batter the agents commission down to 1% (don't even bother trying to knock down coutrywide - it's a fruitless task) and research the market properly and be confident that your asking price is correct. Don't stick your house on at more than similar properties because you think yours is better - it doesn't matter if you have gold plated taps, it really isn't. Put it on at the same price and gloat when you sell first!

You have to have a major clear out when you move, so clear out now! It will really help.

Make sure your carpet matches and that it's in great condition. Get them professionally cleaned or even buy new carpet if it's worn. Worn carpets can stop an otherwise fine house from selling because people perceive the cost to be high. Really.

Clean within an inch of your life for every single viewing. I like to try and sell a lifestyle, so although I don't stage as much as a showhome, I hide all the real toiletries and put posh girly matching ones in the bathrooms and on the dressing table, my best new designer shoes by the bedroom door and a bottle of champagne or nice wine and two glasses in sight in the kitchen

Lighting is everything. Turn all your lamps on, even if it's bright sunshine outside.

See if I think of anything else....

kimmie32_2

Thanks for that i only have one problem i cant buy new carpets but it was going to be a bargaining tool with any prospective buyer they are not that bad but 3 kids and a dog have made their mark and it is a cream carpet!!!!! HELP. We are doing the hanging baskets today and promoting kerb appeal that i keep hearing about. We really want a quick sale so we are going to clean until our fingers bleed!!!!!
Our first valuation is wed so fingers crossed..
As for the house it wasnt countrywide that showed us or sent details we saw it on rightmove and it doesnt even have a for sale sign outside we could say it was word of mouth couldnt we??

Ian_W

kimmie32 wrote: we saw it on rightmove and it doesnt even have a for sale sign outside we could say it was word of mouth couldnt we??

You could say that, but would you be prepared to do so on oath to a court or in an affidavit if the EA sued the vendor? The EA contract isn't with you, it's with the person selling the house so it's them taking the risk. Personally I wouldn't because in practicle terms [ignoring the morality of breaking a contract] you gain a lower price and I take the risk of being sued, not a good deal for the seller IMO and if you're happy to lie - how much can I trust you to back me up later?

silvercar

I guess you could put notes through the door of a few houses on the road asking if anyone is interested in moving.

bylromarha

kimmie32 wrote:

Thanks for that i only have one problem i cant buy new carpets but it was going to be a bargaining tool with any prospective buyer they are not that bad but 3 kids and a dog have made their mark and it is a cream carpet!!!!! HELP. We are doing the hanging baskets today and promoting kerb appeal that i keep hearing about. We really want a quick sale so we are going to clean until our fingers bleed!!!!!
Our first valuation is wed so fingers crossed..
As for the house it wasnt countrywide that showed us or sent details we saw it on rightmove and it doesnt even have a for sale sign outside we could say it was word of mouth couldnt we??

Hanging baskets really put me off a house as a buyer. Silly, but a first impression of the house was important to me and a hanging basket implied that inside was twee and not what I wanted.

And i guess it was countrywide that put the house on rightmove? If so, you have used countrywide's services to find the house and they've introduced you to the property.

Tassotti

kimmie32 wrote:

Also any tips on selling a house!!!!!! Happy easter and thanks in advance

May seem obvious, but look at the house you are selling objectively (from a buyers point of view)

If house needs work, buyers will think 'oh this needs doing, offer xxx£ less'. If you do it, they have no come back and it will probably cost you less than £xxx.

Doozergirl

kimmie32 wrote:

Thanks for that i only have one problem i cant buy new carpets but it was going to be a bargaining tool with any prospective buyer they are not that bad but 3 kids and a dog have made their mark and it is a cream carpet!!!!! HELP.

You can hire a Rug Doctor carpet cleaner from supermarkets and DIY stores. It isn't hard to use and will cost you less than £50 with all the shampoo and stuff it makes a real difference to the presentation of each room. We really thought we were going to have to buy a new carpet in our last house (cream too! Why do we do it with children and pets?!) but it came up beautifully.

kimmie32_2

We have tried carpet cleaners in the past both professional and DIY. Unfortunatly when we moved in and had new carpets fitted there seemed to be a problem with the concrete dust under the underlay. Every time we try and clean it it comes up with dirty black mark wherever its been cleaned. The professional carpet cleaner was really confused as to why it was happening. We have since discovered that the concrete residue was not ever cleared away!?? No idea what that means. So cleaning the carpet will make it worse.

We didnt get the baskets today as i thought about what attracted me to this house and will try and focus on just that, hence all day have been stripping wallpaper and bought a great big tub of magnolia..

Have taken on board what people have said so will not approach the house sellers. Who knows might not like it when we view it again if i take my rose tinted glasses off!!
Thanks again
xx

courtjester

kimmie32 wrote:

As for the house it wasnt countrywide that showed us or sent details we saw it on rightmove and it doesnt even have a for sale sign outside we could say it was word of mouth couldnt we??

The seller is unlikely to want to get involved unless they are actually advertising the property privately (have you tried searching the main national private house sales websites?) - it is them that will face the agent's commission claim, not you. Claiming 'word of mouth' is hardly likely to provide a good defence in court...

However, if there *is* private advertising going on, that would provide a suitable audit trail and the seller is perfectly entitled to advertise privately alongside a sole agency contract, and deal direct with any buyer not registered with their agent, with no liability to the agent if they find a buyer (genuinely) through their own private advertising.