Giving honest feedback to a vendor

Sharp_Harp

Yesterday I viewed a house that I found via housenetwork.co.uk, and today I received an automated email from them asking for feedback.

As far as I can tell the vendor will be able to view the direct feedback that I enter, rather than it been passed on by an agent (who might perhaps reword and sugercoat it).

I have never been concerned about giving honest feedback to an agent (because I assumed that they would do any required sugercoating for the vendor), but I hesitate slightly with this.

The house is on the market for £500,000 and my honest feedback would be:

* The kitchen is much too small for our needs, is much smaller than most properties we have viewed in the area, and, due to the nature of the shared driveway, cannot really be extended
* The lounge and dining rooms, and all of the bedrooms feel significantly smaller than most houses I have viewed in the area
* The garden is nice and a decent size for the area
* The vendor seemed concerned that the decor in the house was poor, although it actually is probably average for the area and would not put us off
* The loft conversion is fairly good, although the sloping roof at one end makes it slightly smaller than many in the area
* There have been a number of sem-detached properties sold in the area over the past year, of which I have viewed a majority. To the best of my knowledge none of them have sold for more that £480,000 and many have been in the range of £440,000 to £480,000. All of them have been more spacious inside, with more potential for extension and the more expensive ones have been much closer to parkland, shops and/or travel links. Properties that are similar in size, have been initially marketed for prices between £450,000 and £500,000, but, have either stayed on the market or have eventually sold for much closer to, or even less than, £400,000. On that basis I consider that the property is substantially overpriced

Now, I think that somebody without an emotional attachment to the property, might actually find that useful and I would like to provide useful feedback, but I am not sure that I am comfortable giving the above direct to the owner of the house, who told me that he has lived there since the 70s.

Any thoughts?

DVardysShadow

It is all useful feedback, so I would give most of it. Just the price comparison you make is nearly half your feedback, which may give the impression that you would make an offer if the asking price were lower. But it seems that you would not.

Sharp_Harp

DVardysShadow wrote: »

It is all useful feedback, so I would give most of it. Just the price comparison you make is nearly half your feedback, which may give the impression that you would make an offer if the asking price were lower. But it seems that you would not.

No, I wouldn't. In theory, I would perhaps make one if it were an investment property, although the offer would probably be sub-£400K, which would, at this stage of marketing, no doubt be a waste of time.

However, I am looking for a house to live in and, you are right, I wouldn't buy this one.

I think that the price information could be interesting to a vendor, but when it is his own house, I think it is likely to insult him more than help him...and I don't want to insult him.

kate2805

just word it carefully and it wont offend him. It may be that other viewers have mentioned the price already and thus your comment made make him think about reducing it.

Be constructive and not offensive and I am sure he wont mind,.

Sharp_Harp

kate2805 wrote: »

just word it carefully and it wont offend him. It may be that other viewers have mentioned the price already and thus your comment made make him think about reducing it.

Be constructive and not offensive and I am sure he wont mind,.

Yes. This is exactly why I don't mind doing it via an agent, who can reword as they see fit.

To be honest, I don't mind taking the time to give the feedback, but I really don't have too much time to worry too much about how to be word it (if that were the case then I probably wouldn't bother).

Do you think that the word above is currently too harsh (for want of a better word)?

DVardysShadow

Sharp_Harp wrote: »

... I think that the price information could be interesting to a vendor, but when it is his own house, I think it is likely to insult him more than help him...and I don't want to insult him.

Then cut it down

[STRIKE]* There have been a number of sem-detached properties sold in the area over the past year, of which I have viewed a majority. To the best of my knowledge none of them have sold for more that £480,000 and many have been in the range of £440,000 to £480,000. All of them have been more spacious inside, with more potential for extension and the more expensive ones have been much closer to parkland, shops and/or travel links. Properties that are similar in size, have been initially marketed for prices between £450,000 and £500,000, but, have either stayed on the market or have eventually sold for much closer to, or even less than, £400,000. On that basis I consider that the property is substantially overpriced[/STRIKE]

to

* I have viewed the majority of similar properties on the market in the area over the last year. I am not contemplating making an offer based on the factors listed above, but I would say that I perceive the asking price to be too high.

Ulfar

I would shorten it too, I have viewed properties in the area and this one is overpriced. Other properties I have viewed are generally larger with more scope for expansion.

You didn't post a link or state what area you are in, for half a million pounds I would not want to be sharing a drive.

Sharp_Harp

Ulfar wrote: »

I would shorten it too, I have viewed properties in the area and this one is overpriced. Other properties I have viewed are generally larger with more scope for expansion.

You didn't post a link or state what area you are in, for half a million pounds I would not want to be sharing a drive.

I didn't want to give too many details of the area, because I didn't think that it would be appropriate for this public post to be linked to the property.

However, I think I can comfortably say that it is in North London and that £500,000 might just get you your own driveway, but it would be far from guaranteed.

poppysarah

Sharp_Harp wrote: »

* The kitchen is much too small for our needs, is much smaller than most properties we have viewed in the area, and, due to the nature of the shared driveway, cannot really be extended
Estate agents details
* The lounge and dining rooms, and all of the bedrooms feel significantly smaller than most houses I have viewed in the area
Estate agents details
* The garden is nice and a decent size for the area
* The vendor seemed concerned that the decor in the house was poor, although it actually is probably average for the area and would not put us off
* The loft conversion is fairly good, although the sloping roof at one end makes it slightly smaller than many in the area
Estate agents details
* property is substantially overpriced
Estate agents details

Any thoughts?

Are the Estate agents details so bad you couldn't tell any of these before you viewed?
My concerns would be that you are just blinding picking houses to view without looking properly at room sizes.

Ignore the fact the property is overpriced. If they want to sell in the current market they have to be realistic and offering low is the best thing you can do.
You can't overcome room sizes though.

Does the EA do floor plans showing the room sizes? Sometimes it's hard to imagine what the measurements mean.

Most houses of the same type in that area will be the same internal measurements.

The 1930s semis in my area are TINY inside even though they look quite big. The third bedroom is little more than a cupboard and none of the other rooms are decent sizes. So I know not to bother looking at any of these.
Many have extended kitchens and third bedrooms but like you noticed - because of a shared drive - there's only one direction they can go in - so they become narrow small nasty rooms even if money is spent.

Sharp_Harp

poppysarah wrote: »

Are the Estate agents details so bad you couldn't tell any of these before you viewed?
My concerns would be that you are just blinding picking houses to view without looking properly at room sizes.

Ignore the fact the property is overpriced. If they want to sell in the current market they have to be realistic and offering low is the best thing you can do.
You can't overcome room sizes though.

Does the EA do floor plans showing the room sizes? Sometimes it's hard to imagine what the measurements mean.

Most houses of the same type in that area will be the same internal measurements.

They actually vary quite a lot. As you say, hard to tell until you see the place.

The room measurements looked OK on paper, but seemed much smaller, so I wouldn't be surprised if the measurements were wrong.

I don't know why you would think that I was blindly looking at houses, without looking at room sizes. Perhaps you think I am an idiot.

zzzLazyDaisy

Sharp_Harp wrote: »

I don't know why you would think that I was blindly looking at houses, without looking at room sizes. Perhaps you think I am an idiot.

Strangely, that sort of thing is not uncommon.

When I sold my last house more than half the viewers gave feedback along the following lines 'it is too small, we are really looking for a four bedroomed house'

The house was a good sized 3 bed detached with large through lounge, a separate dining room, and a dining kitchen. But with the best will in the world, a three bedroomed house is never going to be a four bedroomed house, so why view, if that's what they wanted/needed? Crazy!