My agent's response to 3 weeks no viewings

bylromarha

Can't recommend this company enough for "official" floor plans if CD1979's aren't good enough for your EA. They'll produce a plan by fax for your agent.

www.particular-plans.co.uk

Also, I'm not sure the new pics will be any better as the photographer + equipment seems to be at fault, not the photos. The photos don't show enough of your rooms, the lights weren't on and the photos were taken at too great a height if you ask me (which makes the room automatically look smaller). EAs can be great at selling your house, but it doesn't make them good photographers with a point and click digital camera.

Make sure you approve the new photos before they release them on your details.

andycarmi

Toto wrote:

It seems my little moan at my agent might have helped. I have 2 viewings this afternoon and one on saturday. Fingers crossed eh.

How did the viewings go Toto?

Toto

Hi Andy, I have now had 4 viewings. All of them (apart from the first one) seemed to really like the place. The family who came today seemed very keen, time will tell I guess.

But, every day my agent does something else to annoy me. Outside my house is space for residents parking for around 15 cars. Usually this is over half empty because the other side of the street all has driveways and garages, and lots of the residents on my side of the street are eldery and don't own a car. Today one of the families a few doors down had a christening and there were many more cars than usual. There was only one space left in the parking bays. I parked in another road and walked down, to leave space for my viewers. But the agent turned up and took the space before them. I said to him that this was unusual for my road and I didn't want the viewers to turn up and be unable to park, so asked him to move. He refused and said, they will find somewhere, there are spaces at the other end of the street. He then went out and waited in his car.

My viewers turned up as the family were leaving for church, so they saw the whole family, whch meant I could explain this was unusual. But they did have to park in another street which can't have looked good.

Actually the agent may as well have not been there, I'm not even sure why he came, he hasn't to any of the others. He just wandered around not saying a word.

The director of the company is returning from his holiday on wednesday and I have an appointment to go in and see him. I don't want to sound lke a serial complainer but things are going from bad to worse. I'm still not convinced half of the viewers are genuine, but I can't prove that so I won't say anything.

But, honestly, seeing as I am having to be on the back of the agent all the time regarding the marketing, and I am doing all of the viewings myself I can't honestly see the point in having the agent.

Thanks for asking how things are going, I will keep you all posted.

xx

cuffie

Hi Toto - have been following your story so keep us posted!
Tell agent to naff off. They don't need to be there, and probably make the place look cluttered having an extra bod in there. As for not moving his car...well....I am shocked. I would seriously complain - you really derserve better. Good luck! x

abbecer

I would tell the Agents now that you wish to leave them as soon as the 8 weeks is up. If anything they will pull their finger out as they won't want to lose your money. My friend recently had a very similar experience and had no viewings in 3 months. He was always calling and getting fobbed off. In the end he told them he was taking his business elsewhere as they were not promoting his house enough. Lo and behold that weekend he had 2 viewings and two offers and his house is now sold.

Remember that you potentially pay their wages so you should expect the best service.

Rebecca x

PS Your house looks lovely so i'm sure with the right promotion you will have no trouble selling.

tomstickland

They sound like a waste of space to me.

His response was that the regulations don't permit them to alter pictures in any way

With regard to brightness levels that sounds like a load of crap to me. So if I turn the brightness up on my computer screen then the house is no longer the same house?

Tell them you want more pictures, not less, and you want them brighter.

WindyMiller_3

Well you can knock me down with a feather ... I had some viewings over the weekend and ive recieved an offer of 99% of the asking price from a proceedable FTB :j

The agent sent me the "new photos" which were worse than the old ones :rolleyes:

They also did not have an advert in the paper when they said they would - so I was not going hang around with them for much longer - then out of the blue up comes an offer :j

Im keeping my feet on the ground as its very early days yet, I knew I had my house keenly priced as it was the lowest priced in the area for that size of property - a fair price IMO.

Toto .. your house does look very well presented, it certainly would not put me off a viewing. Whats the Hatfield market like ? How many other similar properties are on the market ?

If your still unhappy with your EA in a week or so's time .. then I would change - just threatening to change might wake them up a bit. Best of luck and keep posting on the progress.

Windy

Toto

:j yay good for you windy!I hope it all runs smoothly for yoy xx

RHemmings

Toto wrote:

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.

I apologise in advance if this posting offends you. But I think all of the photos in your rightmove page are awful. As you say, several of the photos make the house look really dark, even on a bright day. I know that's a photographic problem, but I would definitely be put off by those photos.

Your back garden looks like it needs work. The grass is dead. Can't you do something about that? I replanted a lawn once. A bit of seed and some watering and a few weeks later I had a nice green lawn. And with the current speed of markets in most of the UK, you have a few weeks. While it might be pedantic to talk about the composition of the photos, your back garden photo has a green umbrella as its centrepiece.

The only photo I think is good enough, you are selling a house, is the outside photo.

Other houses that have sold on your street have all been "terraced" houses. You're asking twenty-five thousand pounds more than those prices, but are selling a "semi-detached". I would expect twenty-five thousand pounds to be a good margin for a semi over a terraced. But nothing has sold in your street for well over a year. Are houses selling in surrounding streets, and how do prices in those streets compare to prices a year ago?

Edited text. I now see that you've sold the house. So much for my so-called advice.