Very few viewings - estate agents being useless

louloumul

fairy_lights wrote: »

It might be worth getting a friend to phone the estate agent to try to arrange a viewing, to check they are sticking to your wishes

I will definitely be mystery shopping come Monday!

chucknorris

PasturesNew wrote: »

Who suggested you use those words? Those automatically go to the bottom of my list as I figure you actually want more than the price says ... so I start off disliking you and "you can stuff your house"

I'm selling my previous home PN, we have already moved into the new home. My house is on at guide price, I think it tells prospective buyers that I am open to offers, why don't you like that phrase?

To be honest its only been on the market a couple of weeks, but I find the feedback frustrating 'It needs a bit more work than I thought that it would'.

This is despite me calling the agent and saying, 'could benefit form cosmetic improvement' doesn't cut it, I want you to say 'requires total refurbishment'. Yet viewings have left feedback as too much work. It needs total redecoration, re-wiring, new kitchen and bathroom, how does 'requires total refurbishment' not cover that?

jackieblack

Lots of good things about the house, but TBH the things that would put me off are things you can't change, so I wouldn't bother with a viewing.

Cakeguts

I am totally confused now. You say that your house has a better plot than the one that sold for £175k but by looking in the sold prices is it looks as if that house backs onto open fields but yours backs onto a road so that your garden is completely overlooked? Is that correct or am I getting all the houses confused?



The white house which you can see just next to your garage is on the road behind your garden is that right? So anyone driving down that road can see into your garden. On street view you can see all the washing out in the back gardens of those houses.



You are not going to get as much interest in a house where the garden is completely overlooked as you would in one that looks out on fields. I personally wouldn't look at yours because of the position of the back garden but I would have looked at the other one because not having a garage is not as big a problem to me as having no privacy in the back garden.

middleclassbutpoor

As someone who is looking to move homes and have been looking at what is out there - I have been completely put off by those houses where it is overlooked.

May not bother some people but its on one of the non-negotiables for me.

Looking on the listing, I can see the house through the windows in your house - would feel like someone was constantly watching me...

Crashy_Time

middleclassbutpoor wrote: »

As someone who is looking to move homes and have been looking at what is out there - I have been completely put off by those houses where it is overlooked.

May not bother some people but its on one of the non-negotiables for me.

Looking on the listing, I can see the house through the windows in your house - would feel like someone was constantly watching me...

Probably most houses in the UK are under the view of a neighbour somewhere or other, you just have to close the blinds if it bothers you, but this needs to be reflected in the asking price, the days of sealed bids for any old thing just to "get on the ladder" are well behind us, thankfully

SMR710

I live o my about 5 mins away from Meltham so it was refreshing to see a postcode that was a) up North b) near me c) in a market I understand (what is with these London prices????!!!!)

Anyway, I'd say you're looking at the right price for the area however i do think you've done yourself out of negotiating wriggle room with putting a guide price 5k lower than what you want! With hindsight (such a wonderful thing...) you should maybe have put it on for £190 then have had room negotiate and possibly get 185k which would have been more than you wanted anyway!

How about, if you're not in a rush to sell, get to the end of you contract with WHB then take if off the market over Christmas / New Year. Then put it back on come spring with a slightly higher price (NOT A GUIDE PRICE!) and change agents. I don't see as many with WHB round here as say ten years ago so maybe look for a more 'popular' agent. We are going to list ours soon and have chosen our agent. Out if the 3 we had round we were very impressed with Ryder & Dutton Colne Valley office. Check out their sale price to marketed price achievement... 96%

Good luck with your sale

SMR710

In terms of the advert...

Ask the agent to change the picture order. Jumping from living space (pictures 2&3) to bedroom (pic 4) then back to living (5&6) doesn't give you a tour a round the property in a way you would walk around it. You want the pictures to show the journey as you would walk around the house. I'd ask for the outside shot, all the living space shots, bedroom shots, then bathroom (currently shown between the bedrooms) then outside space. Also I'd have an even number of pictures rather than odd... maybe that's just me!

Secondly, can you change the position of your dining table? Could you push it against the long wall (long edge of the table against the wall) and remove 2 of the chairs? It looks from the pictures like it is in the way of the flow of the double doors and having 6 chairs is 'probably' too many for the number of people you're probably going market to (ie. A family of 3 or 4)
Turn it round, push it against the wall and you get a better flow of space. You can also see the dining table effectibely blocking the doors from the garden picture (pic 11). It just shouts that the dining space isn't really big enough. Be clever with your furniture to show it is.

You have some high bar stools already so 6 chairs round a dining table isn't needed to demonstrate that there is adequate eating space.

csgohan4

louloumul wrote: »

It's not over-priced. We didn't come up with this number ourselves, we had 3 separate valuations done and all came back at 180k. Also in line with similar properties in the area.

Valuations by who?


Is it by RICS accredited valuations?


If by Estate Agents, of course they will give you the highest figure to get business




Every house has a price, it is not just the EA being 'useless' but the price being unrealistic.

Cakeguts

SMR710 wrote: »

I live o my about 5 mins away from Meltham so it was refreshing to see a postcode that was a) up North b) near me c) in a market I understand (what is with these London prices????!!!!)

Anyway, I'd say you're looking at the right price for the area however i do think you've done yourself out of negotiating wriggle room with putting a guide price 5k lower than what you want! With hindsight (such a wonderful thing...) you should maybe have put it on for £190 then have had room negotiate and possibly get 185k which would have been more than you wanted anyway!

How about, if you're not in a rush to sell, get to the end of you contract with WHB then take if off the market over Christmas / New Year. Then put it back on come spring with a slightly higher price (NOT A GUIDE PRICE!) and change agents. I don't see as many with WHB round here as say ten years ago so maybe look for a more 'popular' agent. We are going to list ours soon and have chosen our agent. Out if the 3 we had round we were very impressed with Ryder & Dutton Colne Valley office. Check out their sale price to marketed price achievement... 96%

Good luck with your sale

The right price for that development is £175k if the very small back garden is not overlooked by all the cars going down the road and all the houses on the otherside of the road.


How do I know this? The answer is because one sold in that development recently which isn't overlooked at the back.



I know this from looking at Streetview which is included in the marketing details and Google maps which is also included. Everyone looking at that house will be able to do the same.



A house is worth what someone will give you for it not what you want to get. No estate agent can force someone to pay more for a house than they are willing to.



If you are getting viewings but no offers the price you are asking is more than people want to pay you for it. If you are not even getting viewings the price is a lot more than people are willing to pay you for it. Every house has a price. If you want to move you have to find out what that is.




In relation to estate agent marketing. Many estate agents value a house higher than they know that they can get for it just so that they can get the chance to sell it. When it doesn't sell at the price they initially list it at they get the vendor to reduce the price. So the asking price is then lower. If that doesn't work then there is another reduction. So when they say that they get 96% of the asking price you need to know which asking price. Their original over the top valuation or the asking price after two reductions? If it is after the reductions then they are claiming that you will get 96% of the correct asking price that you should have started from which is much lower than their valuation to start with to get your business.


The morale of this story is to do you own research into what other houses close to yours are fetching because that will give you a very good idea of what you can get for yours. Not to believe the marketing valuation that the estate agent gives you unless it matches your own research. If you want to sell quickly to start the marketing at the lower price that you have found out about from your own researches.