4 months, 2 agents, 0 viewings

amma2451

Hello, I am looking for some advice. I have been reading through the forums about people who are concerned they are not getting any viewings after a few weeks, well for us its been 4 months and the only advice our agent can offer is "to drop the price before the market starts slowing down for the end of the year".

We first put the house on the market 4 months ago after 4 valuations. The valuations themselves were £55k different and the estate agent fairy tales begin.

We picked an agent who put a fair price forward and discounted the others who told us things like you can only count bedrooms upstairs as bedrooms (its a 4 bed converted bungalow, 2 up, 2 down, he would only market it as a 2 bed), discounted the agent who refused to put price in writing or provide T&Cs as it "would affect his liability insurance", and the other agent because he compared our house to a 2 bed, poor condition house further down our road which had sold cheaply as it needed work and said "people do research so you might as well drop the price now to save doing it later".

We have a detached bungalow with large rooms, 4 beds, offroad parking, front/side/back garden, conservatory and more. Its a reasonable enough road, our little section is all bungalows on our side and a recently completed Bellway development on the other side which is nicely landscaped with the houses set back from the road. Gardens are not overlooked, we back onto parkland and have nice views of the mountains in South Wales. House is neat, agent photos are good, we have floor plans.

We sacked the first agent after 2 months because they kept advertising it as 3 beds and started using the phrase "we have to check the legality of calling bed 4 a bedroom as you have a desk in it". When i asked them for feedback their response that left me gobsmacked was that only eldery and disabled people buy bungalows and that our drive and loft conversion woukd make the house unsuitable. They also refused to stop marketing the house when we instructed them but thats another story.

We appointed a new agent who promised us the earth with a raft of potential buyers desperate for our style of house, 2 months on all I hear is that the house is fairly priced, they are doing all they can with rightmove and that the number of newbuilds in our city is stopping us moving so drop the price.

I am sick of the whole thing. I have challenged them about their so called mailing list and asked for feedback for which they say they cant get any. I just dont know how to get things moving, any suggestions?

mrginge

Post the rightmove link.

Annie1960

http://www.tpos.co.uk/code_of_practice_sales.htm

Here is the code of practice for EAs. As you say, they are misleading you.

How long do properties take to sell in your area? What have similar properties to your sold for?

Often if a property is not selling it is due to price.

Is your EA part of a large chain, or local independent? I don't know what things are like in Wales, but here in the Home Counties the small independents are much more reliable. The large chains often overvalue just to flatter people into signing a contract. Then they start saying you have to drop the price when it doesn't sell.

Small independents don't have the same financial incentives as the larger chains have so tend to price them more accurately at the start.

amma2451

I have had quite alot of dealings with EAs in our area over the years and its never been good. Worse example which happened in last house, letting agent obtained our keys from EA without permission, let himself and viewers into our house when we were asleep at home.l

In general houses are a long way from the 6 week turnover in London. On our road there are houses below and above our price but they also vary in type and size. Nothing is selling quickly but we have seen a couple of lower priced semis sell in the last month.

Where we are loooking to move 3 miles away some houses have been on the markets for 2 years but they are vastly over priced and not willing to budge.

EA is an independent with a few branches, I am not aware of it being part of anything larger.

amma2451

I should add that there is not really much in terms of comparable properties in the city and that was one thing all the agents did agree on.

PasturesNew

Bungalows are funny things .... and any property that has one living room downstairs and calls the others bedrooms is annoying.

Bungalows can be expensive if you're after bedrooms - if you want the most bedrooms for your money then houses are often a cheaper choice.

Can't tell what it is without a link... but everybody, every agent - and viewers - are all telling you the same thing "drop the price".

Here, that's our usual first answer too.

mrginge

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-44013553.html

Here we go. Best to let everyone have a butchers.

Personally -
No floor plan.
Not sure i like the sloping drive.
Kitchen diner looks like a kitchen with a small table in it.
2 upstairs 'double' bedrooms measure quite small to me.

Looks very much like a three bed to me. Why is the office being marketed as a fourth bedroom?
Personally if i was looking for a 4 bed house i would look at those pictures/measurements and just move straight on.

If i wanted a three bed and it was marketed as such (and priced appropriately) i'd be more likely to consider.

mrginge

...just re-read your OP. Whilst the bit about EA 1 - 'legality of calling bed 4 a bedroom because of the desk...' is rubbish, They were imo entirely correct in trying to market as a three bed.

PasturesNew

Details are a bit wordy/hard to follow... I lost the 4th bedroom for ages
No floor plan.
No upstairs bathroom or loo.
Picture 12 with the bunkbed without room to get into the top bunk makes the room look small.... so then two of the upstairs bedrooms start to look small ... viewers are picky.
Driveway/steps look a bit tricky .... bad drivers might be put off by having to get their car down there in the dark without hitting the steps.

Although no conservatory, if I wanted 4 bedrooms, I'd look at this first ... £15k cheaper and more "regular" http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-46376504.html

And a little further away is this 4 bed house, with master en-suite and a ground floor playroom. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-41625211.html for £15k less too.

thequant

amma2451 wrote: »

Where we are loooking to move 3 miles away some houses have been on the markets for 2 years but they are vastly over priced and not willing to budge.

.

OP I think you have answered your own question.


Clue: Give it enough time, your 4 months will become 2 years

I_have_spoken

Even if wasn't in Newport that's going to be a very difficult property to sell

I guess OP paid £162k back in 2006 and did the work of conversion of attic into bedroom(s?) and put in the drive to replace the lawn/ski-slope

TBH it's very hard house to understand - with the very different pink/blue decors there appears to be two rooms in the attic but only suitable for small children??

Where is there for a family to eat? The tiny table in the kitchen struggles to get two chairs and a high-chair.

How has the stair been added and what has that done for 'flow' on the ground floor? Is that why the kitchen is now tiny?

No garage, no en-suite.

IMHO this is an example of where development hasn't actually added great value.



TBH, I'd rethink the marketing as a 3-bed all on ground floor and box rooms/study/home office in the attic space. Having a new build estate of straight-forward houses just opposite isn't helpful.