What should we expect from our agent? (Attempting rational thought before we swap..)

Lizbetty

Hi everyone

We have had our house on the market since January this year. We selected the agent quite carefully and priced the house based on the sale of another similar property around here, which was sort of lower range of the three agents valuations. It's difficult to value the properties here as they come up quite rarely, and we're out on a limb slightly at the very edge of a village (a very quiet bit, that not many folk know exists!).

We had one viewing within two months - a woman who hadn't put hers on the market (the agents weren't aware of the fact she hadn't done that yet). We reduced the house by £5k within three months, having had just the one viewing. We had one viewing after that - again someone who hadn't got theirs on the market, but who was really interested. She actually knows our neighbours! They put their house up for sale after they viewed ours - they live locally and so we noticed - but they put theirs on for a really, really high price, and so we're not too hopeful that will come to anything.

The property is on the major websites (Rightmove, etc) and has been in the local paper ONCE when it first went onto the market. It's not in the agents window, apparently (Mum does a bit of secret shopping every time she is in town). The agents have been nattering us to reduce the price every time they call - at one point insinuating we should because they had been the poorest performing branch. Hmm.

We are obviously open to offers, but I can't see that lowering the price will necessarily attract people if they're not advertising it much.

I know it's a competitive market, and we are trying to be realistic with the price. There are things that bother me though. One is that the agent doesn't seem to be actively marketing the property. That's the biggy. They have said for £100+VAT they will do more marketing..but we will be paying them a fee when it sells, so I don't really understand why we ought to pay them extra to market it when we pay them a fee at the end which was supposed to cover marketing it, amongst other things. Or maybe I missed something?

I do feel that if we can get people through the door, someone will fall in love with it. I did! And a lot of people we know love the house/this area, but none who are wanting to move unfortunately!

Should we expect for the property to be in the agents window, in the papers, etc on a rota basis as part of the end cut? Is this charging extra for marketing normal practice for agents?

One reason I'm holding off moving agents is that the financial advisor is good - my husband is self employed and we need good advice. They also offer a deal wherein you get a sort of 'free' insurance policy included that will cover valuation fees/mortgage admin fees if a sale falls through. That's if you go with their agents and financial advisor.

I'm just not sure what to do. We can't afford to let it go for silly money, and I truly believe that if they had marketed it well and encouraged more viewings we'd be gone by now. But I'm not sure that sticking it in the paper once and having 'PROPERTY OF THE WEEK' in a red circle above it on Rightmove is worth £100+VAT.

Does anyone know what we ought to expect? I'm tempted to move agents but then if it is normal practice, I'm wondering whether it's better sticking with the devil we know.

I have brought up my concerns with them before, but again, a reduction in price and paying them extra is all they throw back at us.

All advice is welcomed. I'm slightly in despair (as I'm sure a lot of others are too) but need to get a good case ready for when we see the new Estate Agent Manager later this week, who would like to come out to visit us because apparently, he can't understand why it hasn't sold either. Hmm.

Sorry for the huge rant. But if anyone knows what we ought to expect for our money from these guys, the advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks folks,

Slightly Disheartened Lucy

DVardysShadow

You need a credible mystery buyer to go into the agent and ask for details of al houses meeting a certain spec which will include yours and see if yours is produced and see if they can get a viewing.

evansmummy

Choose your agents carefully and if youre not happy move.
My first agent was a tossp*t who scared off viewers and who he described viewers as 'a certain type who won't proceed'.
After asking my friend to near enough describe our unusal house type and see if they recommended us, and they didn't we moved to another agent.
This agent has been amazing. We've had a tough time with one sale with some horrendous buyers which eventually fell through day before exchange.
We have now sold again and between exchange and completion and I'm so pleased we changed agents. She has been no end of help through both sale processes and I don't begrudge handing over the 1% fee.
If the financial advisor is independent you might be able to use him outside of the agent anyway.
If not there are a lot of independant advisors out there that can help you. (If you need a recommendation mine has been amazing helping in even through threat of redundancy!) :j

Lizbetty

Thanks for the great advice. I never actually thought to ask someone to call them and see if they were pushing our house to general face to face/telephone enquirers you know, I think I'm so bogged down with Rightmove and paper ads that I forgot about the basics!

Because we're tucked away here I did ask for another 'for sale' board on the main road you know and they agreed but that hasn't materialised. Time for a change I think!

I'm at the stage now where I'm thinking we'll never, ever move, and that no-one must like our house though. It's genuinely depressing. And yet deep down I know that it has loads of character and is perfect for the right person, it's just getting the people to have a look.

evansmummy, I'd be interested to know which agents and financial adviser you used if you don't mind me asking? I am aware that I might think our current agent is crap simply because our house hasn't sold, whereas if that first buyer had been in a position to rock and roll and it'd sold straight away I would probably think they were great. It's fantastic news that your house has sold, you must be elated! It's good to hear it is happening out there! It does feel like it's something that happens to everyone else at the moment mind you

Thanks again for being so lovely. I have a perfect secret shopper in mind and will get them onto the job first thing! And I think teeing up a meeting with the new manager of our current agency and the other local agent we had in mind is a priority, too.

I've been on the waiting list for the past year for cognitive behavioural therapy for anxiety issues - my appointment time has come through and I think I need it more than ever! It's a terrible thing when your home is just a house you're trying to sell. I've been here 14 years and we need more space (2 kids, 2 dogs, 1 self employed husband who needs somewhere for his bits of paper) but it's a huge step. A bit like going through a full cycle in a washer full of stones, really, this house selling business, isn't it?

hcb42

I am selling, same as you. I had an asking price offer within a week, fell through as they lost their buyer..

I have had significant footfall through the house, not 1, and obviously a few are put off by external factors (e.g. pub across road), but the vast majority are just not proceedable until they sell their own (circa £350-400K market)

If the agent (the same agent who came around your house presumably in December) insisted i dropped my price immediately then I would question their expertise. Granted, it might mean ultimately you do need to drop price, but if they promised you the earth in terms of market potential and cannot deliver, then it is time for a relaunch, right price, right marketing techniques etc.

Equally, your immediate problem is not enough demand, and your agent is not generating that potential demand, so certainly a mystery shop might be releaving potential issues.

We have a 4/5 bedroom victorian detached, no en suites, garden on the small side for size of house, no driveway initialy (we invested and now have one for 2 cars and parking in village is never a problem anyway), obstacles can be overcome, but the immediate problem is viewers, and you have no feedback.

I also live in a semi rural area in a popular village.

If you are going to pick a new agent, grill them on their sales technique pre and post viewing, make sure you have price right, and relaunch.