Selling Large Property

joli_3

I've been reading some of the advice given here and just want to say how useful it is and hope that someone can help me. I have a large and a bit unusual house to sell (Exmouth Devon) and have put it on with a local but small estate agent in the town. He is friendly and helpful but I am not sure if he covers a wide enough area for this sort of property. It would make a good guest house as it has 8 bdrooms and is on the seafront. I have not signed anything with him yet even though he has put a board up and put ads in the local paper and I am wondering if it would be out of order or advantageous to me to see what a commercial property agent could do, or what do you think about putting ads on internet? He says he has connections with agents in other areas but 'm just not sure if 'different' properties need something more than the local shop windows. Any ideas about getting the word about myself?

Dora_the_Explorer_5

Does it appear on rightmove and other national websites ? I guess that's where people in other parts of the country planning to move to Devon would look.

david29dpo

at the moment i would be more concerned with this agent. you have a board, he has put ads in the paper, yet you have not signed anything? is he being pushy? do you pay for all this if you decide not to use him?

Jorgan_2

What is unusual about your property? If it is run as a B&B or has equastrian facilities there a specilaist agents which may be worth approaching. Again, depending on the type of property you have an advert in one of the specialist papers like Daltons Weekly could be worth a shot.

Make sure you know what you are getting from the agent you are currently dealing with.

By law an agent has to put his terms & conditions in writing to you before taking the instructions from you to sell the property. You may wish to point this out to your agent. I have dealt with with many 'small town' agents who feel that any legislation doesn't apply to them as they've been in business for 30-40 years & have never had a problem.

PoorDave

joli wrote:

I've been reading some of the advice given here and just want to say how useful it is and hope that someone can help me. I have a large and a bit unusual house to sell (Exmouth Devon) and have put it on with a local but small estate agent in the town. He is friendly and helpful but I am not sure if he covers a wide enough area for this sort of property. It would make a good guest house as it has 8 bdrooms and is on the seafront. I have not signed anything with him yet even though he has put a board up and put ads in the local paper and I am wondering if it would be out of order or advantageous to me to see what a commercial property agent could do, or what do you think about putting ads on internet? He says he has connections with agents in other areas but 'm just not sure if 'different' properties need something more than the local shop windows. Any ideas about getting the word about myself?

Not having signed anything with EA raises my eyebrows too!

How do you know he's not going to charge you 10% of the sale price as his fee?

I agree with other comments about rightmove. If i search on there now, does it come up? If not then you might struggle, because that's your way to get someone from London (or wherever) with plenty of cash to buy it!

I agree if it has business potential, then there are specialist agents, most of which seem to have a "web presence"

joli_3

david29dpo wrote:

at the moment i would be more concerned with this agent. you have a board, he has put ads in the paper, yet you have not signed anything? is he being pushy? do you pay for all this if you decide not to use him?

Thanks for replying. He has told me his rate (1.25%no VAT) if he sells but that's about it. Can't see how he can make me pay if he doesn't have a contract? I will look at right move and then decide about changing agents. When I say it is unusual it is in the sense that it is not a regular family house and not really an investment property either which is what most of the ones are that seem to be on sale around here. It is not officially a B&B but would make a good one because of it's size and proximity to the seafront. What about putting it on ebay????Anyone tried that and what response did you get???

bootman

Wow 8 bedrooms and on the sea front, sounds expensive.

I would love to live by the sea, one day maybe.

Back to the question though, I have been trawling right move as we are looking for property in the huddersfield area. I have found the right move site really useful as I have no knowledge of the area for estate agents.

itsakidsworld

Don't put it on ebay. That is (orshould be) a site to have a little fun which you would not have. This is serious business and need serious thought.

If I were looking to buy in your area I would spend ages on websites checking out information, prices, the area and also types of property I would be interested in before I made a visit. So look for a big company who maybe charge more but do a thorough job for you. Why not pretend you are looking for a unique property in another area and see which agency comes up when you look online? That would give you a good idea of who to contact.

Nothing at all wrong with small agents, but you appear to have something that would appeal to a wider audience so you need maximum exposure, not minimum.

Dora_the_Explorer_5

He has told me his rate (1.25%no VAT)

He certainly hasn't got the biggest turnover in the world has he. Is that because he's a new startup or because he's a useless EA?
Why not get valuations from a couple of national EA's that do commercial as well as private property?

cattie

david29dpo wrote:

at the moment i would be more concerned with this agent. you have a board, he has put ads in the paper, yet you have not signed anything? is he being pushy? do you pay for all this if you decide not to use him?

My two previous homes were very close to central London & with each of those sales I wasn't asked to sign any documents for a contract by either of the estate agents.

It's only since I discovered this site that I learned that many vendors have to sign a contract & be tied to a particular estate agent for a set duration so that's been a bit of an eye-opener for me.

Jorgan_2

OP, get some more valuations, try & get some agents that will give the coverage you need. It may be possible to achieve a higher figure than the local market will pay, if marketed in London for example.