Estate Agent doing there job??

dalepearson

I have had my house on the market now for 5 weeks, in the first week we had a viewing but nothing since. The viewer liked the house alot but thought the 3rd bedroom was to small.

Two other same houses in my road have sold fast with other estate agents, my house is no better or no worse, but nothing. The EA tells me they have sent out my details to 58 people but nothing, anyone got any opinions?

We are trying to buy a house with the same EA, so I would have thought they had a double interest to sell ours, as this means we can buy the other they have for sale can be bought by us (our offer on the property has been accepted).

Doozergirl

When did your neighbours sell? What were their asking prices and (try to be objective!) what sort of condition were they in compared to yours. Apart from the EA, what other reasons could you find for people not viewing?

58 sets of details in 5 weeks doesn't sound that bad to me. At least they have a good enough database to keep track!

Where do they advertise? newspaper/internet> Is your house featured? What would you think of the details and photos if you were looking for a house?

Careful_girl

I would look at using another agent as well if that doesn't break your agreement or look at sole agency with another agent if you are unhappy. I had one viewing in 3 months with one agent and when I changed the house was sold in a week. I had another house with 2 agents and one was a very savvy lady (Doreen Anderson Ponteland) who was markedly better at selling houses than the other larger agent. I have sold my house in a month this time and a property at the end of the road has been on the market for a year.
Much of the whole thing is luck but if you try to do a bit of detective work you may work out which ones are the best at selling your particular type of property.
Hassle them and check up on them. Get friends to ask for similar properties from them and see if yours is offered and how they sell it. I am amazed at how many vendors do their own viewings when they are not only paying the agent to do it but supposedly this is what they are skilled at. Did you like they way they sold you the house you want or did the house sell itself to you?
If you can't get out of the agreement for a bit, encourage them!! They cannot have a hold over you just because you want to buy from them-you are an important sale too.
Good luck!!:j

dalepearson

Neighbours sold a month ago. We have priced our house lower than both in an effort to attract more viewings and sell fast. Obviously, this hasnt worked currently. I am being objective when I say my house is on a better plot than both, and in better condition inside.
The property is in the paper each week, and on 4 websites.

I will have to contact the EA and check the agreement with regards to other agents. I agree 58 is good for brochure send out if its true, but 1 viewing in this time is very very poor in my mind. As for the other house, it sold itself so nothing to do with the agents, I decided to sell with them as I thought they would really go for it as its in there interest to sell mine so I can buy the other, but its not appearing that way.

Jorgan_2

Can you agent get feedback as to why people don't want to view the property? Is the agent being pro-active in their marketing. Sending out 58 sets of details is ok but is any body following up with a phone call?

What is the market like where you are? In my area its doing some funny things, three weeks ago we agreed sales on thirteen houses in one week, everything from a one bed to a very large 4 bed detached, in the last two weeks we have agreed just three sales.

With regards to the marketing, I would ask your agent what there plans are for the coming weeks. Apparently there are a couple of football matches coming up in Germany over the next few weeks, which may slow the market even more. My concern is that your property may start to appear 'stale' if they keep advertising every week, advertising every other week generally keeps things looking fresher, in my opinion. If you/they want to keep advertising every week, can you use alternate photos, maybe using a kitchen/ or iving room picture, if suitable, to try and bring it to peoples attention?

Whats the difference between the agents that have sold the other prperties & your agent? Do the others specialise in selling your type of property/area?

PJD

Sack them ASAP IMHO.

Who cares about the whys & wherefores about what these EAs have & haven't done. Bottom line is you've had one viewing in five weeks - diabolical.

They're useless, get rid of them.

You hear about it all the time, people recieving no viewings (or feedback for that matter) for weeks & months (& wondering what's wrong with their property), then they'll change EA & suddenly they're getting a viewings every single day.

dalepearson

I have just spoken with the agents, lets see what happens in the next 2 weeks, and go from there. I have also asked them to let me have a copy of the contract, so I can go over everything again.

PJD

If you're under a sole agency contract, check that you haven't got a contract which states you have to give them one month's written notice or something to cancel...

lynzpower

One thing is to add to Jorgans post, if there have been 58 brochures sent, how are they in the office? Do they return calls etc?

You might want to ask one of your mates to phone up saying they are interested in a viewing, to see what thier repsonse is. If its lacksadaisical, then you have found the weak spot. Or at least one of them

Is it so underpriced that potential buyers might think theres something wrong with it? ie a potential survey problem?

natwill_3

get rid, give them notice asap...I did to mine and my new agents got a buyer in 7 days

clutton_2

i have recently put a property on the market, and have only just realised that the EA's offer viewings of props from Thursday to Sunday !!!!! anyone else encountered this ? this seems to be cutting down by almost half the amount of time available for potential viewings - they are the largest EA in town tho.