Is it always hard work to get viewings?

Davesnave

"By their fruits ye shall know them."

No one here is a fan of "We buy any house" companies, and with good reason.

suzie_chapman

For what reasons are those? Maybe I need to do better research into it. I got the impression is a was a quick and easy solution.

Davesnave

suzie_chapman wrote: »

For what reasons are those? Maybe I need to do better research into it. I got the impression is a was a quick and easy solution.

Companies that buy people's houses all wish to give the impression that they are reputable, otherwise they wouldn't be in business long.

However, in the real world, a certain amount of subterfuge may be needed to get someone to part with their most valuable asset for only a fraction of what it could achieve on the open market.

Let's be generous and say one might get 70% 'instantly,' except it will not really be instant or an offer of 70%. The offer might start at 90% and stay that way until the seller is committed to a course of action, then lowered just before exchange. There will be a reason, because there always is, but the real reason is that none of these companies could survive by paying 90% of the true value of a house. It just doesn't stack up as a business model.

And some of these companies don't 'buy' at all; they act as intermediaries.

The advice of this forum is always the same:

If you need to sell quickly, drop your price significantly below that of the opposition. You will still do better than selling to a 'quick sale' company.

There are many gullible people out there, so the quick sale question is asked here virtually every week.

suzie_chapman

Ah well, I just assumed you might save on all the fees and time associated with agencies, viewings, etc. Plus there isn't always a guarantee for a sale, or potential buyers could heavily haggle or change their minds. Not sure whether to trust estate agents to be honest. Can be impersonal and expensive.

Surrey_EA

suzie_chapman wrote: »

Not sure whether to trust estate agents to be honest. Can be impersonal and expensive.

Rather less expensive then selling your property at a 30/40% discount to the type of company you were trying to promote.

LEJC

Suzie...if I can be honest...I think you are dragging this out a bit on a thread that you didn't even start....

perhaps if you feel so passionately about the subject of buying/selling homes at an undervalued price via a company then may I suggest you set up your own thread to discuss the topic rather than continuing to clog this thread started by a poster who wanted advice from others.

I am starting to think that actually you are trying to increase your post count to become more credible upon the site in order to spam at a later date!

suzie_chapman

Good idea, thanks!

WeAreGhosts

We encountered some awful EAs when we were buying. You'd think some of them didn't want to sell the houses on their books, the way they acted!

One springs to mind who we had two viewings with - both times we said the EA showed little interest in us, seemed exasperated when we asked questions, showed up late and didn't know anything about the property. I was going to complain to the manager, only to find out this woman who was so awful owned the whole company!! :eek:

Charlotte09

When you are looking to buy what is the benefit of doing it through agents instead of sitting and googling via Rightmove/Zoopla?

Davesnave

Charlotte09 wrote: »

When you are looking to buy what is the benefit of doing it through agents instead of sitting and googling via Rightmove/Zoopla?

An agent will often have one or two properties they're processing details of, or holding back on for one reason or another, so these may be flagged-up to buyers registered with them before before they go live.

I suspect that fewer agencies work this way nowadays, but it was common enough when I was searching 8 years ago.

Then, it was also the case that agents might push a property a buyer's way when it wouldn't have featured in an internet search. For example, they might say "I know you're after a detached, but this one is very private and only connected by an outbuilding..." That sort of thing.

I think this fitting property to buyer approach is a feature of the better agencies, probably in slower-moving areas, such as the one I live in. In fast markets, where property moves rapidly, there's less reason to bother.