many viewers, no offers

HouseHunter_2

I have a three bed terrace on the market in a desirable part of town, in brilliant condition, neutral decor throughout. I've put it on at a price suggested by the agent, which is similar to the prices suggested by all the other agents I spoke to before I put it on.

Now it's been on the market for eight weeks and during that time I've had maybe 10-12 viewings. It's had consistantly great feedback from every viewer except no-one has put in an offer.

I've suggested to the agent that we reduce the price slightly but they say that they don't think that's a problems as we wouldn't be getting the viewings if the price was wrong.

There was one viewing about 4 weeks ago where the couple are extremely keen to offer, however they have yet to sell their property. I negotiated an 8 week contract with the agent, which is now up. I'm agonising over my options

1. reduce the price?
2. change agents?
3. both?

I don't think there is anything particularly wrong with my current agents to be honest but I feel I need to do SOMETHING to shake it up a bit. I just wondered what the forum's views were. thank you

lilyann1

Have you looked on all the house websites to see what other houses of a similar size are on the market for,also check the price sold website on rightmove,which will tell you what recently sold in your road and for what price.
Things are very quiet this year my agent tells me and we wonder why ours hasn't sold when all others that are smaller ,but more expensive are selling????
There is just no reason for it sometimes.We looked at prices and reduced only by £3k and changed agents and it seems to have worked.Good luck

HouseHunter_2

lilyann1 wrote:

Have you looked on all the house websites to see what other houses of a similar size are on the market for,also check the price sold website on rightmove,which will tell you what recently sold in your road and for what price:

yes.
People don't often move and the houses are all different sizes so it's hard to tell but we are at a similar level to one that sold last year, that I think was a similar size to ours

lilyann1 wrote:

There is just no reason for it sometimes.We looked at prices and reduced only by £3k and changed agents and it seems to have worked.Good luck

Thank you : it's really difficult because I don't think they are doing anything wrong in particular and I am concerned about "out of the frying pan into the fire" scenarios, but I feel perhaps the whole thing will be invigorated by a change. anyone else's thoughts gratefully received...

mjfusent

I think the average ratio of veiwings/sale is currently about 9-10 also remember that anyone who views your property who is not "proceedable" (i.e. either sold or non-dependant on a sale) cannot really make an acceptable offer.

It really depends on the strength of your local market (assuming you're correctly priced of course), but it 8 weeks doesn't sound a huge amount of time, if you're happy with your agent why not give them another 4 weeks. If you decide to appoint more than one agent your fees will almost certainly go up as most agents charge more for "multi-agency".

Astaroth

With the world cup at the moment too people are simply not looking as much as normal. Sure you have had an ok number of viewings but I suspect you would have had more if it werent for the football.

If you are in principle happy with the agents then give them more time but I would speak to the agents to get the feedback the viewers have given... if they do their job well they should be following up viewings to get peoples comments.

Jorgan_2

What has the feedback been that you have received from viewers? It needs to be real, not 'nice house, not for us', try & find out why they haven't gone for your property. As to what to do, are you happy with the way the first agent has performed so far, apart from the lack of viewings?

chocomonsta

Dont panic.

Its the end of a school year for school leavers so lots of couples are too busy with school proms and getting the kids ready for univ places and colleges. Loads of people are going away and of course the football has taken over everything.

I would give it another 2 weeks at least before I made any changes.

Hang on in there - good luck

HouseHunter_2

Astaroth wrote:

If you are in principle happy with the agents then give them more time but I would speak to the agents to get the feedback the viewers have given... if they do their job well they should be following up viewings to get peoples comments.

yep, they are giving the feedback, but it's pretty useless: "oh they really loved your house but they've decided to proceed on one with another agent because they preferred the road" "Oh they really loved your house but they want off-road parking" "oh they really loved your house and they would have made an offer it it had been a bit wider". Not really very useful!

busymumof3

I would agree that your number of viewings is less than you could reasonably have expected. We had 17 in 2 weeks when we sold and that was in the school October break. I think things are generally a little more sluggish at the moment with the football, gearing up for holidays etc.

You seem confident that your property is a good one, in a good location and on at the right price. I wouldn't rush into anything and would give it a bit longer before making any changes.

meanmachine_2

Haha. I wondered how long it would be before someone blamed the world cup.

Next it'll be the hot weather.

Then the summer holidays, then the nights drawing in, then Xmas...

Seriously, in my neck of the woods (N Essex), perfectly decent properties have sat on the market for months. Yes months.

Meanwhile others have appeared to sell quite quickly.

The market seems very variable right now.

Provided you honestly don't think it's overpriced, then change agents.

HouseHunter_2

meanmachine wrote:

Provided you honestly don't think it's overpriced, then change agents.

In my original post you will see that I'm not sure whether it's overpriced: it's the agent that has convinced me not to reduce