Do viewers not read the brochure?

avenida

This is what I am up against, the local estate are hesitant to give out sold prices incase a property does not complete :mad:

http://www.nethouseprices.com/redesign/FAQ/House-Prices-Northern-Ireland.php

harrup

avenida wrote: »

This is what I am up against, the local estate are hesitant to give out sold prices incase a property does not complete :mad:

http://www.nethouseprices.com/redesign/FAQ/House-Prices-Northern-Ireland.php

Hmmm, bummer.

Do you think it's worth changing EA? Since you seem to had no luck with them thus far. Perhaps your's isn't as pro-active as they should be in marketing your property? Could you send a friend as a stooge to their office to see how well they perform.

Other than that... is there any way how you could improve your property's " kerbside appeal". If you posted a web link to the property's details maybe we could help with ideas.

Other than that, depending on how desperate you are to move, all you can do is drop the price. Until someone bites. Some properties, even really lovely properties, are bears to sell. They are just a bit too small for some and a bit too expensive for others.

Doesn't help that all buyers are really skittish at the moment - no one wants to buy too high in a market which could go down a lot further.

Hang on in there!

Orpheo

Catbells wrote: »

Don't agree with this line of thinking at all. IMO I think you should blame yourself for wasting your own time - not the EA. Its pretty hard for you as a viewer to get it right and when you do see somewhere you love it comes like a bolt out of the blue. Do you thank the EA then?

Fair enough. I don't agree with the above.

I'm not referring to the majority of my viewings. Most of the time I'm appreciative of the experience and of the vendor's time, while it may not be the right house it may serve to inform what I am or am not looking for. I am referring to the ones where the particulars are misleading or just incorrect and the ones where the EA has pushed for a viewing where I would not have necessarily selected to view myself.

EAs ask you for your parameters and then consistently bombard you with properties that fall outside them. I have aksed EAs questions about particular properties and their location and been told that it is their policy "not to comment" as it may no be in the best interests of the seller. Nearly every time an EA has shown me around a property and I have asked specific questons about the property the EA has shrugged their shoulders and said I don't know, I don't have that information. At best this is ignorance. If I'm going to spend tens and hundreds of thousands on something then I want my questions answered where they are basic and reasonable. When the EA doesn't know, I don't want shrugged shoulders, I want them to say, "I don't know, but I will contact the vendor to find out or you." They operate with a lack of awareness, knowledge and professionality that just wouldn't be tolerated in most other lines of work.

There have been silly boom years where EAs have had to do nothing but collect their commission as house would sell for asking price and above almost as soon as the vendor considered selling. Now that those times have gone the truth is emerging that some EAs have forgotten how to sell something and some EAs never, ever knew how.

Horizon81

Orpheo wrote: »

EAs ask you for your parameters and then consistently bombard you with properties that fall outside them. I have aksed EAs questions about particular properties and their location and been told that it is their policy "not to comment" as it may no be in the best interests of the seller. Nearly every time an EA has shown me around a property and I have asked specific questons about the property the EA has shrugged their shoulders and said I don't know, I don't have that information. At best this is ignorance. If I'm going to spend tens and hundreds of thousands on something then I want my questions answered where they are basic and reasonable. When the EA doesn't know, I don't want shrugged shoulders, I want them to say, "I don't know, but I will contact the vendor to find out or you." They operate with a lack of awareness, knowledge and professionality that just wouldn't be tolerated in most other lines of work.

EAs are just salespeople though - pure and simple.
They could be selling a house, a car, a sofa, windows etc. Their expertise is not in the product, it's in the selling (mind even then, 'expertise' may be pushing it a bit). It's like when looking at cars, most salesmen haven't got a clue about all things automotive, they just state the obvious and if you're interested want to 'talk turkey' and get the best deal they can. I don't see EAs any differently - in fact if anything they hardly speak for fear of saying something that may put the potential buyer off. Of course, that's not the way it should be, but it does seem to be the way it is.

Orpheo

Horizon81 wrote: »

EAs are just salespeople though - pure and simple.
They could be selling a house, a car, a sofa, windows etc. Their expertise is not in the product, it's in the selling (mind even then, 'expertise' may be pushing it a bit). It's like when looking at cars, most salesmen haven't got a clue about all things automotive, they just state the obvious and if you're interested want to 'talk turkey' and get the best deal they can. I don't see EAs any differently - in fact if anything they hardly speak for fear of saying something that may put the potential buyer off. Of course, that's not the way it should be, but it does seem to be the way it is.

Quite, but the best salespeople know their products and work to match the product to the needs of the customer.

I have yet to meet an EA who is an 'expert' at sales.

Unfortunately there are some products that are sold by people that aren't interested in the product or the customer, just the commission. Making a fat commission because they are selling a need to the uninformed when the market is fueled by mania doesn't make them good salespeople, mostly they are suckling at the teat.

avenida

harrup wrote: »

Hmmm, bummer.

Do you think it's worth changing EA? Since you seem to had no luck with them thus far.

If you posted a web link to the property's details maybe we could help with ideas.

Hang on in there!

I have already changed my estate agent once so dont know if its worth changing again, fees are around £200 each time you re-market.

I have posted links on before and got a lot of feedback mostly good! but if you want I could put a link up again?

I know you say hang on in there but its so soul destroying as many on here know

zappahey

Orpheo wrote: »

There have been silly boom years where EAs have had to do nothing but collect their commission as house would sell for asking price and above almost as soon as the vendor considered selling. Now that those times have gone the truth is emerging that some EAs have forgotten how to sell something and some EAs never, ever knew how.

<Applause>

That was actually one of the key decision points for us, when selling in Spring 2008. We ended up choosing an agent who had been through the bad times before and knew about selling in a dropping market.

seven-day-weekend

jonewer wrote: »

Sometime a buyer just wont like a house.

Theres nothing in particular, just didnt like it. In the same way a person might not like a certain model of car.

I had this earlier in the year. The EA kept pressing me for feedback so I said the garden was too overlooked. It wasnt. I just didnt like the place. Sometimes people just dont like certain things.

Yes, this happened to us when we were loking for an investment property.

We looked at a house and just didn't like it, not even for an investment property, although on paper it ticked all the boxes.

Our feedback was that we had seen a really nice flat in a better area for the same money. This was actually true, but at no time did we tell the vendor that we did not like his house.

So the feedback may not tell the whole story. But it needn't be downright lies either!

avenida

seven-day-weekend wrote: »

We looked at a house and just didn't like it, not even for an investment property, although on paper it ticked all the boxes.

Our feedback was that we had seen a really nice flat in a better area for the same money. This was actually true, but at no time did we tell the vendor that we did not like his house.

So the feedback may not tell the whole story. But it needn't be downright lies either!

I know what you mean, you just didnt get a good feeling for the property, I do still believe in the 20 second rule, as soon as you walk in you just get that passion for the property, has happened to me before!

ILW

Orpheo wrote: »

Quite, but the best salespeople know their products and work to match the product to the needs of the customer.

I have yet to meet an EA who is an 'expert' at sales.

Unfortunately there are some products that are sold by people that aren't interested in the product or the customer, just the commission. Making a fat commission because they are selling a need to the uninformed when the market is fueled by mania doesn't make them good salespeople, mostly they are suckling at the teat.

Never used Foxtons then. Their people are good. They get the boot very quickly if they don't hit sales targets.

A person who natches a customers needs to product is not really a salesperson, a real saleperson alters the customers needs to what they have to sell.