Coming up to 3 months without a viewing

Thatsthespirit

Apologies for another thread but thought this needs addressing.

Went with Purple Bricks for the sale of my flat at the end of March and haven't had a damn viewing. The guy has contacted me maybe twice max since it being up. I've emailed him every few weeks asking what to do and basically all he's come back with is 'price or patience'. I've sort of asked/told him about lowering it.

I'm only 23 so whether he thinks he can mug me off considering this is my first selling experience, when I've told people I haven't had a single viewing in 2-3 months they've been shocked. I live in a town, the flat is situated in a complex of other flats, of which there's about 4 currently on the market including mine, and although I'm ground floor and the others aren't mine is about £5k over. There's another one £5k more than mine.

When it first went on it was on for 115k!!! I've whittled it down to £105k for now but feel it needs to come down even more! But I wasn't expecting it to come down this much, now I'm not sure I want to go through with it considering I'm not going to make as much as I thought!

And what is winding me up is people close to me keep telling me 'to hang in there', 'the warm weathers coming so hopefully people will come now'. What an absolute load of old pish. If someone likes the look of a flat and it's price they'll come and view it rain or shine.

smallholdingsister

I share your frustration.

booksurr

so:
- yours is not the cheapest flat for sale in the same block
- have you looked at the price of your other competition in the immediate area using Rightmove as that is what the majority of buyers will do before deciding which to view
- yes there are certain times of the year when people do physically go out and look, it is seasonal although, as you say, booking a viewing is not related to rain or shine

your advisers are 100% correct, a property sells because of
a) price or
b) time (ie time lapsed means price is now behind market and so looks "good value")

bigfreddiel

Give purple bricks notice and try a local estate agent

StumpyPumpy

Thatsthespirit wrote: »

Apologies for another thread but thought this needs addressing.

Went with Purple Bricks for the sale of my flat at the end of March and haven't had a damn viewing. The guy has contacted me maybe twice max since it being up. I've emailed him every few weeks asking what to do and basically all he's come back with is 'price or patience'. I've sort of asked/told him about lowering it.

I'm only 23 so whether he thinks he can mug me off considering this is my first selling experience, when I've told people I haven't had a single viewing in 2-3 months they've been shocked. I live in a town, the flat is situated in a complex of other flats, of which there's about 4 currently on the market including mine, and although I'm ground floor and the others aren't mine is about £5k over. There's another one £5k more than mine.

When it first went on it was on for 115k!!! I've whittled it down to £105k for now but feel it needs to come down even more! But I wasn't expecting it to come down this much, now I'm not sure I want to go through with it considering I'm not going to make as much as I thought!

And what is winding me up is people close to me keep telling me 'to hang in there', 'the warm weathers coming so hopefully people will come now'. What an absolute load of old pish. If someone likes the look of a flat and it's price they'll come and view it rain or shine.

The first thing I think you need to do is to figure out whether or not you really want to sell at a price that buyers will be interested in. If the answer is no, then you may as well take it off the market now or set yourself for the long term and hope that either the market catches up with your expectations or you get a rogue buyer who "Really must have your flat".

As you have said, there are a number of other flats in the development, including some that are "brand new" that are still for sale, one for more and two for less. Any buyers are swamped for choice, putting you in a poor position. If you want to get some action on the sale then you do need to drop the price. How much? Who knows, but small drops as you have done never seem to spur much interest, especially if you don't cross over some of the standard price points on Rightmove. The drop from £109k to £105k will have made little difference as the bands are £120k, £110k, £100k, etc you need to go to £100k to make yourself visible to more searches.

Remember that whilst EA advice is often worth listening to: they work for you, under your instruction. If you want to drop the price, you need to tell them very clearly that you do and they will do it. It is not in their interests to have a place on sale for a long time, they want a quick sale as much as you do and the amount of commission they get on a £105k sale compared to a £100k sale is trivial if they have to really work hard to get the top price.

People often tell you conflicting stuff on how to act when selling a house, this forum is no exception. But the bottom line is that the only person who is impacted by it is you, so you need to make the decisions.

My guess is that you will be lucky to get your money back for your flat. If this isn't acceptable to you then you will need to plan an alternative (Take off market and continue to live there, leave on in hope rather than expectation, move on and rent it out, etc. etc.) But the one thing I think you must do is take proper control of the situation and make sure that the people you are paying to do a job are doing it in accordance to your wishes.

SP

Thatsthespirit

StumpyPumpy wrote: »

The first thing I think you need to do is to figure out whether or not you really want to sell at a price that buyers will be interested in. If the answer is no, then you may as well take it off the market now or set yourself for the long term and hope that either the market catches up with your expectations or you get a rogue buyer who "Really must have your flat".

As you have said, there are a number of other flats in the development, including some that are "brand new" that are still for sale, one for more and two for less. Any buyers are swamped for choice, putting you in a poor position. If you want to get some action on the sale then you do need to drop the price. How much? Who knows, but small drops as you have done never seem to spur much interest, especially if you don't cross over some of the standard price points on Rightmove. The drop from £109k to £105k will have made little difference as the bands are £120k, £110k, £100k, etc you need to go to £100k to make yourself visible to more searches.

Remember that whilst EA advice is often worth listening to: they work for you, under your instruction. If you want to drop the price, you need to tell them very clearly that you do and they will do it. It is not in their interests to have a place on sale for a long time, they want a quick sale as much as you do and the amount of commission they get on a £105k sale compared to a £100k sale is trivial if they have to really work hard to get the top price.

People often tell you conflicting stuff on how to act when selling a house, this forum is no exception. But the bottom line is that the only person who is impacted by it is you, so you need to make the decisions.

My guess is that you will be lucky to get your money back for your flat. If this isn't acceptable to you then you will need to plan an alternative (Take off market and continue to live there, leave on in hope rather than expectation, move on and rent it out, etc. etc.) But the one thing I think you must do is take proper control of the situation and make sure that the people you are paying to do a job are doing it in accordance to your wishes.

SP

I really appreciate this, thank you.

ElsieMonkey

bigfreddiel wrote: »

Give purple bricks notice and try a local estate agent

Seriously? Estate agents don't sell homes, they advertise them. They all advertise them in the same way, because everyone searches for property in the same way - Rightmove etc. Why pay a high street agent more for the same service (or in some instances less).

If your home isn't selling (or worse, not even getting viewings) it's price. I don't think your guy at purple bricks is fobbing you off here.

Cakeguts

Every property has its price. If you get the price right it will sell. A buyer will only pay what it is worth to them not what you think it is worth. You have established that 105K is too much. A lot too much because if it was a bit over priced people would view and then make low offers but you haven't even had any viewings.

You will be able to get an idea of what it is worth by comparing it to other flats that have sold.

BookerTee

ElsieMonkey wrote: »

Seriously? Estate agents don't sell homes, they advertise them. They all advertise them in the same way, because everyone searches for property in the same way - Rightmove etc. Why pay a high street agent more for the same service (or in some instances less).

If your home isn't selling (or worse, not even getting viewings) it's price. I don't think your guy at purple bricks is fobbing you off here.

Totally agree your local EA will do nothing more than advertise it on Rightmove. Dont under estimate buyers, they look at all options to find what they want. Your flat will sell, for the right price, you have to decide if thats acceptable to you.

Old_Git

can you post a link .Then we can give better advice

Crashy_Time

Thatsthespirit wrote: »

Apologies for another thread but thought this needs addressing.

Went with Purple Bricks for the sale of my flat at the end of March and haven't had a damn viewing. The guy has contacted me maybe twice max since it being up. I've emailed him every few weeks asking what to do and basically all he's come back with is 'price or patience'. I've sort of asked/told him about lowering it.

I'm only 23 so whether he thinks he can mug me off considering this is my first selling experience, when I've told people I haven't had a single viewing in 2-3 months they've been shocked. I live in a town, the flat is situated in a complex of other flats, of which there's about 4 currently on the market including mine, and although I'm ground floor and the others aren't mine is about £5k over. There's another one £5k more than mine.

When it first went on it was on for 115k!!! I've whittled it down to £105k for now but feel it needs to come down even more! But I wasn't expecting it to come down this much, now I'm not sure I want to go through with it considering I'm not going to make as much as I thought!

And what is winding me up is people close to me keep telling me 'to hang in there', 'the warm weathers coming so hopefully people will come now'. What an absolute load of old pish. If someone likes the look of a flat and it's price they'll come and view it rain or shine.

Yes, so maybe the look or the price, or even both are wrong in your case?