My agent's response to 3 weeks no viewings

Toto

The house is freshly painted in creams and neutral colours. The only carpet in there is brand new, so if anything the house has a new carpet/fresh paint smell. We have moved out so there isn't any clutter at all, sadly a bunch of it came with us!

The details as they were are still online if you want another look. Apart from being a bit dark I think the photos are ok. If anything they make the rooms look smaller than they really are. I do think more photos is better than fewer photos.

Actually on the details they sent the pictures looked ok, it is on the web they look a bit gloomy. Thanks for the tips though, I am so grateful for all of your help.

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-4924806.rsp?pa_n=1&tr_t=buy

you can still see the 2 pics he wants to take out.

jamie304

Agents in my area all seem to take photos from around waste height, which makes the rooms seem much bigger. They also over-expose them a bit, so everything looks brighter and newer.

no1gymbunny

CB1979 wrote:

@ Toto, if you knock up a hand drawing with the dimensions on (and scan it to me), I could do you a floor plan in AutoCAD, save it as a PDF & a JPEG as well, if you like. theoretically the agents could then up the jpeg floor plans onto their site as it's in the same format as the photos, would obviously be beneficial if when you click on a photo it enlarges as well though.

I'll do all this free of charge, I HATE Estate Agents!!!!!

That's a very kind offer, but the agent will not be allowed to use a floorplan created by anyone other than themselves or a specified company. The Property Misdescriptions Act 1991 will not allow it. If there are incorrect measurements, they could be reported to Trading Standards and, worst case scenario, be fined up to £5,000. To contravene this Act is a criminal offence.

I'm sorry your property is not achieving the viewing level you would like (ie any!), but this isn't necessarily the fault of the agent. As you know, this is notoriously a quiet time of year. It's worth checking that it is priced correctly for similar properties in the area.

cuffie

Toto wrote:

As for other agents, do you all think the smaller companies or the larger chains are a better choice?

It's just all left me feeling a bit flat today,

Our Agent is a local one and they have been brilliant. Really good at negotiating with fees and a very personal service. He runs a franchise so basically needs to work hard to make the business a success. He is certainly building himself up around here and I cannot fault them at all. I was worried at first that people would tend to go for the "big guys" when looking, but that certainly isnt the case with me. He also said that the profits and commission were shared between all the staff in the office, not just the one that picked up the phone and got the sale and I thought that was a nice touch. I think the big bods rely on the name, but our EA has definitely earnt his money and when looking on right move, a lot of the sold ones are his company.
Please don't lose heart - its such a roller coaster. Just wait till you can get yourself out of this EA's clutches, and try someone else. Don't get yourself into anything till your contract is up, but give it a few weeks and start asking the other agents round to value (at least 3). Its not always the ones that stick out in the high street - most people look on-line or in the papers (we have 2 local free papers and our agent is one of the only ones to advertise your house in both). Give it another week and get the one you like to take piccies. Then before you know it, kids back at school, new agent, loads of viewings - you wait and see. Chin up mate. You'll be posting on here in a few weeks with good news - I know it (and will be looking out for it). xx

lwt2006

Re: post 14 - notoriously quiet time of year...

When is the best time to put a house on the market?

lwt2006

Sorry Toto, did not mean to hijack your thread.

lwt2006

I also agree with you. As a prospective purchaser, I prefer lots of photos. One local EA by us recently put up 7 photos of one house - great you might think - however, all 7 were just different viewpionts of the front of the house! Up the road, down the road, across the road, you get the picture! Fine, now let me see inside... Let down as far as I'm concerned.

rsykes2000

Pics are a bit dark, but obvious spelling mistake is "Dinning Room"

clutton_2

i always get suspicious when i dont see photos of a particular room on EA details, and i have looked at several hundreds, if not thousands in the past few years. My gut instinct of "there is probably something wrong with a room if it is not photographed" is nearly always right" - do other prospective purchasers think the same ?

bobsa1

Just looked at your house and I notice that EA in my area say things about the room, eg spacious etc yours doesn't seem to do that, also pictures only show half the room. EA round here seem to take photos from one end to show space in a room. House doesn't look cluttered at all so I'd say change agents asap