Selling for the second time.

Sphynx

I’m struggling to realise the market has changed I think. Our first house sold quite quickly (although this house has only been on the market since 14th). I know I need to be patient.  Anyone got experience of Purple Bricks? I messaged the EA allocated to our property to ask what sort of figures would indicate a good level of interest in our house. He came back talking about putting the price down?! Ugh it’s stressing me out already. 

MovingForwards

If you want to put a link up we can see if there is anything within the listing, property, price etc that could be putting people off.

A lot of the members here would not view a property listed with PB. Why did you opt for them?

Sphynx

MovingForwards said:

If you want to put a link up we can see if there is anything within the listing, property, price etc that could be putting people off.

A lot of the members here would not view a property listed with PB. Why did you opt for them?

I didn’t realise they were problematic TBH. I vowed never to use a traditional EA after last time. It’s such a rip off. 

Mutton_Geoff

Sphynx said:

I didn’t realise they were problematic TBH. I vowed never to use a traditional EA after last time. It’s such a rip off. 

You've been a forum member for a while, a quick search here would have revealed the horror stories related to Purple Bricks.

I don't like estate agents much but paid the last lot over £20,000 to sell my last house (surprising how much even 1% plus VAT mounts up). But I was thrilled with the fact they sold my house for way more than I thought it was worth and they earned their fee many times over.

Slithery

Purple Bricks - Wouldn't touch it.

Davesnave

Sphynx said:I didn’t realise they were problematic TBH. I vowed never to use a traditional EA after last time. It’s such a rip off. 

It's a rip off in a market where houses are moving fast and there's nothing fundamentally wrong with the house one's wishing to sell. Anyone can sell a house in those circumstances; no research or experience necessary.

But if selling in a slow market, then more effort is called for, and that includes being familiar with sold prices of comparables and knowing the few agents in the area that still achieve decent levels of sales in a given time frame. Picking some agent at random, or because they say nice things about your house just doesn't cut it.

A friend spoke to me almost 18 months ago now about her prospective sale. I  suggested two agents in the area who seemed most likely to shift her unconventional property, adding the reasons why. She went with PB.

Now, friend is still on the market. She's already paid PB, but the house remains in exactly the same position as it was almost 18 months ago. Rip-off? I'll say!

Sphynx

Humm. Well I’m stuck with them now. We’ve got another viewing tomorrow which will make 5 which seems comparable to what others have said here. I suppose I’ll just have to cross my fingers that we’re one of the lucky ones. 

Davesnave

Sphynx said:

Humm. Well I’m stuck with them now. We’ve got another viewing tomorrow which will make 5 which seems comparable to what others have said here. I suppose I’ll just have to cross my fingers that we’re one of the lucky ones. 

In your position, I'd be trying to look objectively at recent sold prices for comparable houses,  so at least I had an understanding of whether a reduction is sensible at this point. It's not just PB who talk up the price of houses, float them for a month and then if nothing useful happens, start a long process of reduction. In our small area, which is slowish, the agent who gets the most business does that and gets away with it because they're from are a long-established local family and people think they know more.

If those people got off their metaphorical bottoms and analysed the data, they'd see the agent has poorer results than a couple of much larger outfits, who price realistically from the start. Those agents have much higher overheads, which means they have more incentive to shift property in reasonable time frames. With PB, they already have your money, sale or no sale, or rather Close Brothers do, because the contract is a finance agreement with them.

Sphynx

Davesnave said:

Sphynx said:

Humm. Well I’m stuck with them now. We’ve got another viewing tomorrow which will make 5 which seems comparable to what others have said here. I suppose I’ll just have to cross my fingers that we’re one of the lucky ones. 

In your position, I'd be trying to look objectively at recent sold prices for comparable houses,  so at least I had an understanding of whether a reduction is sensible at this point. It's not just PB who talk up the price of houses, float them for a month and then if nothing useful happens, start a long process of reduction. In our small area, which is slowish, the agent who gets the most business does that and gets away with it because they're from are a long-established local family and people think they know more.

If those people got off their metaphorical bottoms and analysed the data, they'd see the agent has poorer results than a couple of much larger outfits, who price realistically from the start. Those agents have much higher overheads, which means they have more incentive to shift property in reasonable time frames. With PB, they already have your money, sale or no sale, or rather Close Brothers do, because the contract is a finance agreement with them.

Thanks Dave, we did quite a lot of research prior to putting the house on the market and I’ve kept an eye on the sales over the last 12 months. I’m not going to reduce after 4 days on the market, I think it would send out the wrong message. Just in our area houses are selling well so hopefully the (now I see) gamble of PB will pay off.