Is there any point in changing estate agent?

LynBM1

Have had my parents property on the market for 6 months now (dad died last Oct, Mam has now moved in with us as 92 yrs old).
Initially the agents told me it would be very popular if they put it on the market at ‘offers in excess’ of £289,950 and they would expect to get around £310-320k.  It’s in a popular north east coastal village, 5 bedroom 1 bathroom, stone built in 1850s has been well looked after but in need of updating to more modern tastes (ie new kitchen, decoration).  There’s no major problems and would be totally liveable in whilst updating.  We had an offer of £290k in the first week but from someone who wanted to turn it into a ‘spiritual retreat for pagan worship’ which we surmised would need permission to change the use from residential to business and because the agent had told us we could expect lots of interest etc etc we declined the offer.  Since then we’ve had 3 viewings, but the agents have been useless when showing them around, not pointing out the huge potential (3 bedrooms have more than enough space to add an ensuite and generally the rooms are massive with high ceilings etc). I know the agents have been useless as I have security cameras set up as we live 250miles away and the house is now unoccupied.  On the last viewing the agent even forgot the key and had to rearrange the viewing😡.  I refused to allow that agent back to the house to conduct any viewings and thankfully they found another lady who was really good, this resulted in an offer of £272k, which we accepted (we dropped the price about 3 months ago to ‘offers in the region of £279,950). But those buyers dropped out after a couple of weeks as they had changed their mind about the area.  The agents don’t ever keep me informed of how marketing is going and don’t appear to be proactive at all, I’ve had to ask every time how it’s going and what more we can do to shift, and apart from dropping the price by a few thousand to generate interest (which has never worked!) they don’t come up with anything.  Im pulling my hair out with them, but if I take it off the market with them I have to pay almost £500 to them, and I begrudge doing that as they’ve been useless!
so……do I cut my losses and take it off them and get it on the market with someone else?  Travelling up there end of September so could get new agent on board whilst up there,  and….  do you think I’d have any luck getting the fees reduced/cancelled due to their incompetence?   Or…..given that most prospective buyers look online these days, does it really matter what agent it is up with?   In the village there are no other larger properties on the market at the minute, only 2/3 bedroom ones, as all the other 4/5 beds have been sold (only difference is they were refurbished already but were then £150k more expensive because of that).   Looking around at the area, as we’ve done lots of research! We feel the property is priced correctly to allow for work to be done.   HELP/ADVICE REQUIRED

macman

When does your contract with the existing EA expire? 6m is usually as long as a single agency contract is valid for?
I don't quite understand why you turned down the pagan offer. If PP were required, that would be for the purchaser to apply for, not you. Unless you have objections to them sacrificing goats in the back garden or whatever they were planning to do....
Is there a better local agent that you feel would do a better job?

TBagpuss

Why do you have to pay to switch? 
Have you made any formal complaint about the errors? 

It might be worth spekaing to another couple of agents - maybe look at listings to see which agetns seem to be actually selling properties sucessfully, locally, and maybe get a friend or another family member to do a mystery shop to see who they are when asnering thephone, delaing with any enquiry. 

That said, if it has been on the market for 6 months and the only proceedable offer you've had was £20K under asing price then it may be that it's overpriced .

It may be worth considering doing some inexpensive work - for instnace redecorating ( espeically it it has dated wallpaper ) in neutral colours - other considerations aside if you do take it off the market brielfy then re-market it will be visually different to the previous listing andmay be more appealing. 

Ramouth

It may be worth considering doing some inexpensive work - for instnace redecorating ( espeically it it has dated wallpaper ) in neutral colours - other considerations aside if you do take it off the market brielfy then re-market it will be visually different to the previous listing andmay be more appealing. 

I think this is a good idea - when we were looking we didn’t bother with houses that had been on the market for a while as we assumed there was something wrong with them.  

The other thing to consider is getting some rough plans drawn up showing a potential layout - i.e. en-suites you mentioned, forming large family kitchen if possible etc.

youth_leader

I'm up in Northumberland and I changed agent after nine months, I was with a sole agent who didn't advertise on RightMove, silly of me really.  Pm me if you'd like the name of my EA.  

eddddy

You probably should think about changing EAs - see what some other EAs say.

I guess your minimum contract period has finished with the current EA - but you might have to give 2 or 4 weeks written notice. (Check your contract.) 

Presumably, the £550 is a withdrawal fee. (TBH, I see it as fee for the EA for failing to do what they said they would do - i.e. sell your house. )


So...

• Invite some other estate agents to look at the property and give an appraisal. (Did you get multiple agents to look at it last time?)

• As you're 250 miles away, you can do everything by phone. Tell the EAs to pick up the keys from your current EA, and give your current EA consent to hand over the keys.

• (Some people think that telling an EA to pick up keys from a competitor EA is awkward or weird - but I've done it many times, and I know others who have done it as well. I've never known an EA to refuse.)

• Ask the EAs why they think the property isn't selling

• Ask each EA to forward you a copy of their contract by email - check their terms carefully, they can differ a lot.

Things to check their contracts for...

• Aim for 'No Sale, No fee' - i.e. no £550 withdrawal fee next time. (You almost never get withdrawal fees down south, but I know EAs in the North East like to ask for them.)

• Aim for a 'Sole Agency' contract rather than a 'Sole Selling Rights' contract - but either way, make sure it's agreed that you don't pay the new EA any fees if somebody introduced by the old EA comes back (e.g. the pagans) 

• Aim to remove any "Ready, Willing and Able Buyer" clause from the contract. (But again, EAs in the North East seem to be more difficult about this.)

• Negotiate a sensible minimum contract period - 8 weeks is a good target to aim for

• You can also try negotiating on fees

tooldle

Read the terms and conditions of the contract very thoroughly.
Regardless of the error with the key, the agent would likely point out their introduction of a proceedable buyer at above asking price, therefore fulfilling their side of the contract. 

macman

How can a withdrawal fee apply after the end of the fixed term contract? As I said, 6 months would normally be the maximum for an initial sole agency contract. Many are 3 months only, and it's always negotiable, just like the fee.

eddddy

macman said:

How can a withdrawal fee apply after the end of the fixed term contract? As I said, 6 months would normally be the maximum for an initial sole agency contract. Many are 3 months only, and it's always negotiable, just like the fee.

EAs contracts aren't generally fixed term.

They usually have a minimum term - which might be 8 weeks, 10 weeks, 12 weeks or whatever.  After that minimum term is up, they continue until you terminate the contract - but you usually have to give 2 or 4 weeks notice.

Some EAs charge a withdrawal fee when you terminate the contract. (I always try to avoid EAs who do that.)


  

macman

I have never encountered that. Only a charge if you want to exit prior to the end of the minimum term

Ath_Wat

TBagpuss said:

Have you made any formal complaint about the errors? 

What, forgetting the key once?