Estate Agents and Selling House.

PerplexedKat

Has anyone ever chosen an estate agent only then to feel that they are not really very good and regret the choice? 1st time seller, had no experience of estate agents and sadly, to my absolute dismay did not ask the right questions when the 2 agents came over to value the house. 

Selling house, have new build to reserve but can't til we have a buyer in a proceedable position. Need a fast sale, have solicitors, DIP and all sorts ready to go and wanted to price under the 2 other houses in the street up for sale that are the exact same, 1 new build and the other is 4 years old. Our house is 3 years old. 

The chosen EA came to take photos and said they could get them onto Rightmove the next day but would have to agree over the phone to say we waive the 14 day cooling off period.  I thought well ok, get the house on the market asap with the words still ringing in my ears "The market is very good in Feb round here, never been so busy". EA said it should be priced just a smidge under the new build and above the price of the other as we have a bigger plot etc etc. Felt like it was the right choice, this guy knows what he is talking about, market is good, lots of sales.......yadda.yadda.yadda. 

They then posted a contract for us to sign after the ad went live and we stupidly signed it. But then clocked that we are locked in for 20 weeks minimum (which he never once mentioned at the initial meeting) and if we instruct another estate agent they both get paid. Our mistake, our fault, we shouldn't have signed the contract but the house was already on RM by this point. We did not try to negotiate fees, we didn't say if we instruct 2 agents winner takes all (all of this I have learned since reading threads here after the major mistake of signing and feeling so utterly gutted and like a terrible mistake has been made).  

(I know this next bit reads like I am the MOST impatient person ever, terrible trait, but the house we wanted first time round buying which wasn't available is now available in a better location and we don't want to miss it) 

We feel the house is overpriced. Requested the estate to drop the price as we want to sell quickly and the EA said no. We asked for buyers that are in a position to move ie: have a buyer already, the EA said we should allow viewers who have their property up for sale but no buyer to offer on ours and we should consider those offers. The house has been on for a week, and not one phone call. No viewings. I know, impatient, but if a house is priced to sell correctly then surely at least viewings happen? 

Now I don't know what to do. Because I have in essence "complained" about the price, complained that it took them 2 requests over 4 days to register my email address on their system and lack of foot fall, requested proceedable buyers which they have rejected and told us to consider all buyers, my fear is they will put us to the bottom of the pile and not bother trying to sell the house. (Paranoid maybe, but the stress is doing me no favours). Is there anything we can do? Or are we buggered? 

Many thanks in advance and sorry for the story. 

 

UnderOffer

Why on earth would they not allow you to lower the price? You are paying them, they are working for you, I’d ring them back and insist on your preferred price. Personally I’d allow all viewers, no matter what position they are in. We were allowed to view a property before putting ours on market and someone viewed ours whilst trying to sell theirs. Worked out well, as the same viewers found a buyer, made offer to us which enabled us to offer on the one property we viewed. 

notrouble

The problem often is that the agent who signs you up may be an excellent salesman, who convinces you to go with his firm, but you may never see him again. The chaps actually dealing with the property sale are often completely different and may be useless.

The key is to ensure you have a short minimum contract period (4 - 6 weeks) so that you can quickly and easily change agents if you are not satisfied.

Having said that, one week is nothing. Yes - you are too impatient.....

eidand

This sounds a bit strange. First of all, I am pretty sure no one can just "waive away" their statutory rights. Your 14 days will still apply. Second of all, before you even appoint an EA, you will have a meeting with where they explain how everything works, discuss the contract, price, their cut and everything else.

I can believe that someone would sign a contract without reading it which is not exactly a smart thing to do when you're talking about something as expensive as a house.
EAs cannot say no to you dropping the price, it's your house after all. Regardless of how difficult a seller is, an EAs interest is to sell the house so they can get their commission. 

Something smells really fishy in this story ...

PerplexedKat

UnderOffer said:

Why on earth would they not allow you to lower the price? You are paying them, they are working for you, I’d ring them back and insist on your preferred price. Personally I’d allow all viewers, no matter what position they are in. We were allowed to view a property before putting ours on market and someone viewed ours whilst trying to sell theirs. Worked out well, as the same viewers found a buyer, made offer to us which enabled us to offer on the one property we viewed. 

They said they valued the property based on comparable evidence and they feel it is too early to think about reducing the price. I get your point about all viewers, we just didn't want to be in a position where we are having to wait for a buyer to sell their home, they said all viewers regardless of status offers feedback so we shouldn't decline any viewings from them. It could work out, anything could happen, we could not sell and not be able to buy another property...who knows but I hear you on not denying anyone the opportunity to view/place an offer.  
notrouble said:

The problem often is that the agent who signs you up may be an excellent salesman, who convinces you to go with his firm, but you may never see him again. The chaps actually dealing with the property sale are often completely different and may be useless.

The key is to ensure you have a short minimum contract period (4 - 6 weeks) so that you can quickly and easily change agents if you are not satisfied.

Having said that, one week is nothing. Yes - you are too impatient.....

The chap selling is younger than my son by the look of him. I asked him when in the office on Monday giving over ID docs how long on average does a property take to sell, he said 6 months. The owner who did the valuation said nothing of sort. I've been so so naive that it is terribly upsetting. 

eidand said:

This sounds a bit strange. First of all, I am pretty sure no one can just "waive away" their statutory rights. Your 14 days will still apply. Second of all, before you even appoint an EA, you will have a meeting with where they explain how everything works, discuss the contract, price, their cut and everything else.

I can believe that someone would sign a contract without reading it which is not exactly a smart thing to do when you're talking about something as expensive as a house.
EAs cannot say no to you dropping the price, it's your house after all. Regardless of how difficult a seller is, an EAs interest is to sell the house so they can get their commission. 

Something smells really fishy in this story ...

I've been so stupid. I haven't asked the right questions and now I'm in a situation I can't get out of for 20 weeks. It's all a bit too much to be honest.

He discussed prices, we said we had a new build in mind and wanted a quick sale, he said he would price accordingly. He discussed his fee, he discussed marketing, he discussed things that could be made better in the house prior to photos. He seemed so genuine. He did not advise how long the contract was for but I didn't even think to ask that question. I cannot believe I've been so stupid as to not even be aware of contract length. We signed the contract as the house was already on rightmove, didn't feel like I had a choice with waiving the 14 days thing. 

I guess if the EA sold the house in 2 days as he said many of his properties had done, I wouldn't be so upset. But I feel royally mugged off and I cannot for the life of me make it right. It does feel fishy, the EA is crazy-making!!! They have taken charge of the selling process and I feel I have no say in the matter. I just have to sit back and take it. 


I get that I've been stupid. So naive to let someone dictate on something so important as selling this house.  I truly get it, it's utterly devastating. 

doraspenlow

What does it say about the cooling off period in your contract? I can't believe that people normally wait until the 14 days have elapsed before their house is put on RightMove.

SpiderLegs

This is ridiculous.

You have been on the market for a week and you’re already badgering the EA to drop the price?

I know it’s not a popular opinion in here, but maybe, just maybe, the EA knows what they are doing and needs to be left alone to get on with it.
perhaps not, but it’ll take more than a week to figure that one out.

It sounds like the actual problem here is your unrealistic expectation of how long it takes to sell a house. If you wanted it doing in a week you should have bunged it in auction for 50% of the value.

eidand

doraspenlow said:

What does it say about the cooling off period in your contract? I can't believe that people normally wait until the 14 days have elapsed before their house is put on RightMove.

definitely not, in my case I would only take advantage of the cooling off if I really wasn't happy with the EA, which is not the case.

PasturesNew

Whichever agent you'd picked, you'd feel the same.  It's a fact we're mostly all disappointed when we don't get what we expected to be a rush and an offer PDQ. 

Sometimes people are desperate/waiting for a house just like yours to come up for sale at a price they can afford - and sometimes you're just one of many, the same, in the wrong area. 

Yesterday one came onto the market late in the afternoon... I was at the office 9am this morning when they opened, they already had a viewing booked in for it, so that seller's had two today, first day on the market. 
On the other hand ..... I've almost had agents begging me to look round some houses.... that had been on the market with 2-3 agents for six months ... and are still there three months later. 

Maybe somebody out there is disillusioned and refuses to do any viewings until theirs has sold (I did that after mine didn't fly off the shelves).... and you never know when "the call" will come. 

A week is no time at all really.  While some on my watch list are selling within 1-4 weeks, many aren't. 

A week is no time at all + it's half term for many, so they're putting house hunting on the back burner for a week. 

It might happen tomorrow....  or next week.  You'll get viewings. 

TN1984

Is the EA flat out refusing to lower the price, or just advising you not to as it is so early in the process and you need to give it a chance? If it was priced correctly to begin with, lowering the price after a week isn't usually a great idea IMO. I think it is also worth bearing in mind unless you lower the price by a massive amount, you aren't automatically going to get a load of buyers queuing up suddenly. You could end up selling to the same person you would have anyway, just at a lower price. Ultimately if you really want this new build and are prepared to take a lower offer on yours, I don't think the EA can refuse, though I do think you should at least consider what they are saying.

P.s. definitely take all viewings. What have you got to lose? You don't take yours off the market until they too are in a position to proceed. You don't know what might happen, they might have an offer on their property literally the next day after the viewing.

SMR710

I feel your pain. First agent we went with, we got rid of after 4 days. Very similar reasons to you (not the house price / dropping scenario but others) basically we came to an agreement that I wouldn't bad mouth his business by name and he would cancel the contract withoit penalty. To be honest I never knew about a 14 day cooling off so can't say if that applied to us or not. I was straight on the phone to another agent we had had round last September and she sorted us out pronto and much more professional. I was so relieved.
House went on Oct, agreed a deal mid January. It's going through the solicitors now.
I know just how you feel. My advice would be to contact the agent, in writing, setting out where you feel the relationship has broken down (lack of good communication, lack of understanding and action to your requests) and request that in the interest of both parties you cancel the contract. It might not work but you can but try. 
It's such a stressful process. Once you find a buyer the stress just intensifies as that's when the hard work starts!
Good luck with everything. It'll all work out in the end. Have faith.