Overseas families buying in our street as holiday homes - how to market?

quadrupole

I live in a town in the South East, within walking distance of a train station that gets to London for commuters.  In the last few years, my particular street has had the recent interest of some families from abroad, who only visit for a couple of months a year.  The street is still pleasant, though now quieter outside of summertime (or in a pandemic).  Almost all of the recent house sales in the street have been to these folks, and chatting to them (pre-covid) they they did mention they would be looking for more to purchase in our street or round the corner, to bring further family members for a break.  We're now looking to sell (due to lack of space - I've nothing against the street or visitors), though not on the market yet. 

It's quite likely we'd get interest in our house from locals, London commuters, as well as from the visitors.  As there would be potentially more demand for my house from the visitors they may pay a premium.  This knowledge may not be present with most local estate agents.  Should I use this to identify which agent to choose?  Should I potentially keep that info close after choosing an agent and reveal this to suggest a different marketing method?  Or should I get a valuation from an agent, and talk direct to one of the visitors with a view to direct negotiation?

theoretica

Can you remember/find out which agent sold any of the houses that have been bought by the visitors?

user1977

quadrupole said:

This knowledge may not be present with most local estate agents.

What makes you think they wouldn't be aware of current trends in local property buying, given that's, well, what they do for a living?

pinkteapot

Agree with the others that EAs will likely know exactly what's going on... But one thing I would do is ask the overseas owners (if you see them on the street for a chat) how they found their properties? Did they use Rightmove UK or through some sort of local agent who works for buyers looking overseas, or what. Might be interesting to hear how they bought... 

GDB2222

You seem to have three choices:

Hire a full service estate agent, and leave him to get on with offering your property to the whole market

Contact one of the foreign buyers, and offer it direct.

Use one of the ultra low cost estate agents, like Strike or Doorsteps, plus also offer direct to the foreign buyers.


I'd do the last of those, but YMMV

AdrianC

Any half-way savvy overseas-based investment buyers will be looking at the perfectly mainstream EAs.
Any half-way savvy EA will be marketing to them...

quadrupole

Thanks for your comments all.  I'll take it on board when selecting agents, and will also take a look at the low cost/simple service agencies, with a view to offer direct. 

In answer to the questions, I don't recall which agencies sold the previous properties as they never had boards up, possibly some sellers went direct.  My suspicion for all agents not knowing what's going on is that the activity on our street is quite localised - it's only on our street I see this happening and not on others in my estate.  Not to say it doesn't happen in other parts of town though.  My visitor neighbours have not been here since 2019 so I can't ask in person.

Cheers

eddddy

Invite a few EAs to do market appraisals of your property. (You should treat these as interviewing the EAs, to decide which one to give the job of selling your house to.)

Include questions/discussion about who they see as target buyers for your property. Maybe you'll find that some are more knowledgeable than others.

Also, 'pick their brains' about selling to overseas buyers. Is it generally smoother, or more complex?


I've heard conflicting anecdotes...

• Some people say it's simpler, because the overseas buyers never ask a single question and just get on with it
• Somebody else said it was a constant battle - for example, the buyer kept trying to delay and haggle the price down for silly reasons - perhaps because that's what happens in their home country

If it's likely to be a painful sale, maybe you want a 'full service EA' to handle all the hassle.

AdrianC

eddddy said:

Also, 'pick their brains' about selling to overseas buyers. Is it generally smoother, or more complex?

I've heard conflicting anecdotes...

• Some people say it's simpler, because the overseas buyers never ask a single question and just get on with it
• Somebody else said it was a constant battle - for example, the buyer kept trying to delay and haggle the price down for silly reasons - perhaps because that's what happens in their home country

Or perhaps it's not quite as easy as that, and the 99% of humanity that don't live on this small, damp island aren't one amorphous, homogeneous lump? 

eddddy

AdrianC said:

eddddy said:

Also, 'pick their brains' about selling to overseas buyers. Is it generally smoother, or more complex?

I've heard conflicting anecdotes...

• Some people say it's simpler, because the overseas buyers never ask a single question and just get on with it
• Somebody else said it was a constant battle - for example, the buyer kept trying to delay and haggle the price down for silly reasons - perhaps because that's what happens in their home country

Or perhaps it's not quite as easy as that, and the 99% of humanity that don't live on this small, damp island aren't one amorphous, homogeneous lump? 

Speak for yourself.

hazyjo

I'd leaflet the street (or specific houses if you know exactly where they all live) first. It means if they're not interested, you won't put off local buyers if you then decide to market for less with an EA.

Saying that, you can market for whatever you choose, even with an EA. If you want to use one, just let them know about the foreign buyers possibly paying a premium.

You could you try advertising with a price bracket. Not usually recommended, but might work well for you.

Good luck.