House viewers refusing to give feedback??

Lazzza

I've never given feedback intended for a vendor. It's their house I am interested in, not their flower and cushion arrangements.

I tell the agent some things so they have a better idea what I am looking for. Maybe if it's an okay place but hideously overpriced I'll say so and they usually agree.

Orpheo

Davesnave wrote: »

My point was, some people, including seanymph, get pretty teed off by the whole selling process, so a bit of basic consideration along the way costs no one anything. People wait for feedback, and as I've said, although it might be useless, not getting it prolongs that wait and causes unnecessary stress.

There's manners and there's walking on eggshells.

ess0two

Lazzza wrote: »

I've never given feedback intended for a vendor. It's their house I am interested in, not their flower and cushion arrangements.

I tell the agent some things so they have a better idea what I am looking for. Maybe if it's an okay place but hideously overpriced I'll say so and they usually agree.

Surely its something along the lines of,rooms too small / busy road / no parking / etc.

Not i dont like the decor / the cushions aint to my tastes / etc.

Anacrusis

When I was looking for a house I found EAs wanting feedback a nightmare - if I didn't like the house I didn't like it! I saw saw loads and EAs try to convince you your reasons for not liking the house don't matter! I went to one house and realised it wasn't for me(can't remember why now, although it was something really significant), so I said so straight away to save everybody's time - the EA was so offended and impolite (in front of the vendor too!) that I had to conceed that I should be giving the house a chance and look round!!

After that I quietly looked around houses not saying a word! I gave feedback to EAs that would help them match me with a house but I didn't go back to that particular EA!

Davesnave

Anacrusis wrote: »

I saw saw loads and EAs try to convince you your reasons for not liking the house don't matter!

I think you have something there.

Most of our viewings were in Wales, where it was a rarity that the agent would ask for feedback at all, the 'ladies at the front desk' doing all the basic stuff like arranging viewings. You only got to see the boss if you were serious. However, in the Westcountry we got more involvement, but not often any pressure. I can imagine things may be different in very urban environments.

We were originally in a small city. Our agent didn't seem to do much 'filtering.'He'd say stuff like, 'She says it's too dear' or 'He thinks the upstairs is too small.' While we could only act on one of those, it was still better than, 'They didn't want to say,' though I don't think we ever had that.

One of the things feedback reassures you about is the fact that the agent is not just sitting on his/her arris, but at least following through. Sometimes it goes somewhere, as it did with our eventual buyers. Couldn't agree more though that bullying people who've viewed and who aren't keen is counter productive.

westlondonbuyer

A lot of agents receive feedback but choose, quite rightly, not to pass it on for reasons of diplomacy. If you can't fix it, why depress you? Oh yes, and in my local housing market the commonest feedback seems to be, "It's very expensive for what it is." Well, yes, but it was the EA who set the price, do you think he's going to tell you all the prospective buyers think he's wrong?

I also agree that getting hold of people is difficult - in work hours, many people switch off their phones. Four days is nothing, particularly for a conversation you don't particularly want to have anyway.

Blodwen

hcb42 wrote: »

I give feedback if the EA rings, would be unlikely to ring them, unless I was ringing about another matter.

Same here- I would never ring the agent to give feedback as it's the agent's job to chase it up, not mine to offer it, but if they ring I always tell them something, even if 'it's just not for me' - not particularly constructive but if it's the truth then so be it. I tend to find with some EAs though that if you don't answer once they will keep calling- not great when you work in a lab and can't always answer your phone straight away! Others haven't even bothered to ring after a viewing, although one rang about half an hour after we'd seen somewhere; OH and I hadn't even had time to discuss it!

As a seller it was nice to have feedback although not essential, because, as previously mentioned, if someone was interested they would get in touch. As a buyer though I am happy to give my opinion when asked, even if the vendor is unlikely to be happy about it or agree. When the EA rang me about the last place I looked at I had to tell them (amongst other things) that the floors upstairs sloped quite significantly towards the back of the house and there was no way I'd buy it - if the EA wants to give vendors the truth or cushion the blow a bit that's up to them, but they asked for honest feedback and I gave it to them.

Lazzza

ess0two wrote: »

Surely its something along the lines of,rooms too small / busy road / no parking / etc.

Not i dont like the decor / the cushions aint to my tastes / etc.

Feedback is useful to help people change things. I tell the agent things so they can show me places that suit me better.

I imagine after several viewings agents can give general feedback to the vendor as to why their place is not attracting offers or more interest. Not sure why it doesn't suit a particular buyer is of much use to a vendor.

tyler80

I also agree that getting hold of people is difficult - in work hours, many people switch off their phones. Four days is nothing, particularly for a conversation you don't particularly want to have anyway

Right from the start I've always told EAs that the best way to get hold of me is by email as I'm often not in a position to answer the phone. Still they phone, if I can take the call I take it but I'm not going to ring back during work hours if I miss a call. If they emailed me I could reply at a time that was convenient for me and would be happy to do so

cazuk11

As a buyer, I always call the agent the next working day to give feedback on houses I've seen the previous day. I think they're starting to hate me as I've seen over 40 houses and none are quite right, but it has helped me as well because now when I call them to ask to see a house they tell me if I'm going to like it due to previous feedback I've given on others so it saves time.

At first they'd try and talk me round, but they're used to me now so if I say I don't like it we move on to new houses on the market.

As a seller, I don't call my agent to ask for feedback. If someone likes it, they'll call me to arrange a second viewing. We've had 3 viewings on the house and the feedback was as follows. First couple loved the house but it wasn't near enough to public transport for them. Second man loved the house and is bringing his wife for a 2nd viewing next week. Third couple loved the house but are not sure the space is big enough for them. Not a lot I can do with any of that information as the house is what it is.

I am letting my agent do all the viewings so the buyers can talk openly about my house and I find that too saves time with gaining feedback as they don't have to be polite to me as the seller if they don't like it.

Good luck with your sale x