Giving honest feedback to a vendor

DVardysShadow

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

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!

Feedback is so fickle. Many people don't really have an objective reason not to want a property. They just don't like it very much, so when they are pressed for feedback, they thrash around for any random excuse. But if the feedback is consistent, you need to take notice - for example if the message is that the house does not have enough bedrooms several times over, then perhaps the Agent is somehow misrepresenting the place.

Sharp_Harp

zzzLazyDaisy wrote: »

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!

It may well be that they would be prepared to compromise on the number of bedrooms, for the right house.

There are, of course, real idiots out there, but I don't think that many people would view a 3 bedroom house, if they absolutely had to have 4 bedrooms.

Hard to find the ideal house that ticks all your boxes, and you can sometimes be surprised by a property when viewing it, and see unexpected potential in it, so it is worth seeing a few too many, than too few.

poppysarah

Sharp_Harp wrote: »

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.

Not an idiot ... perhaps the rooms seemed full which makes them seem smaller (But unless you're going to put less furniture in if you lived there then...)

Next time you view take a tape measurement and then you will discover if the room is smaller than described.

I think it was Sarah Beeny who suggested people look at the ceiling to see how big the floor space actually was (I suspect she was actually lay on the floor too... )

Sharp_Harp

poppysarah wrote: »

Not an idiot ... perhaps the rooms seemed full which makes them seem smaller (But unless you're going to put less furniture in if you lived there then...)

Yes, it's all perception of course. I have considered buying an electronic measure to use, but I normally just pace rooms out if I'm not sure.

In this case they felt too small, and given the other issues, I didn't delve too deeply.

Still, I thought it would be useful feedback for him (because a lot of people will just go on gut feel about the rooms sizes too, I would suspect).

CatSplat

I think the word overpriced can sometimes be taken the wrong way. Rather than saying the house is overpriced say that the price seems high in comparison with other houses in the area.

My other advise when giving constructive criticism is to make a compliment sandwich so:

Compliment
Criticism
Compliment

myhouse_2

Cut and paste and send!

Racky_Roo

Hi, I sold through House Network and as the vendor, you don't get to see the exact feedback details the viewer sends through. HN just give you the bullet points so i'd do the same, don't waste time giving the ins and outs, most of the points you've made can't be changed by the vendors anyway, such as room size so you'll be wasting your time giving lots of details

harrup

I think your proposed feedback is exellent. It's candid yet neutral and reasoned. By definition it's subjective - after all it's YOUR impression of the property . ANY other prospective buyer could only ever offer the same. Some, of course, may not bother at all or be reticent to be frank. But how does that help the vendor...or anyone else?

Could the vendor take the hump? I can't see how. True, s/he may well take a sharp intake of breath and mutter something unflattering for a moment or two ( we are all emotionally attached to our homes and see them somewhat rose-tinted)....but so what? That's par for course if one sells one's house ESPECIALLY without the "filtering mechanism" of an EA.

I'd say go for it. The only addition I would suggest is that I would write a sentence that the house, regardless of price, simply wasn't the right property for you and that you thank the vendor for their time in showing you their home.

Welsh_Totster

Are you going to buy the house?...probably not. Are you ever going to see or speak to the vendor ever again?...probably not. So I'd say your original post is just fine and dandy as feedback, it's thorough, concise and is honest, what more is there?! I wouldn't worry about upsetting the vendor as you're not going to be in contact with them again are you? It might just help them realise that at the price it's currently on the Market for, it's not likely to sell.