Can I end my selling contract with non-performing estate agent?

Ruby-Tuesday

In the hope of selling my house quicker, in a very slow buyers market in my area (probably elsewhere too) I instructed an additional estate agent, on a joint agency basis with my original agent. Signed a 12 week joint agency contract with the new agent. I have now been on the market with them for three weeks, at the same price as my original agent (who arranged a viewing last weekend) with not one viewing.

I've raised my concerns that they have not delivered the potential buyers that they said they had registered with them, only to be told that my property would sell better if I obtained planning permission for some works  I consider that they misled me when they said that they had buyers registered with them who would be "perfect" for my property and I would like to  dis-instruct them.
Has anyone else successfully ended a contract early without having to pay?

mi-key

Three weeks is no time in selling a house. Also they may have shown it to lots of potential buyers, but none were interested in viewing

Flugelhorn

Trouble with taking on another agent is that they are still selling the same house as the original agent, nothing has changed and all the people who might be interested have probably seen it with the first agent.  It is just going to be a case of being patient now - 3 weeks is definitely not very long 

Ruby-Tuesday

I would imagine that after 3 weeks, anyone the new EA had registered with them will have already seen it, via an email being sent out to their registered potential buyers, so now I'm just relying on new buyers registering with them. I was led to believe that they had "perfect" buyers already on their books. Clearly, they do not, otherwise I would have had at least one viewing in the first couple of weeks.

Flugelhorn

I haven't been looking for a property for  quite some time (over a year) but still seem to be on some EA books - they still e-mail me with "the perfect property" - probably have told the vendors that they have buyers lined up etc 

gwynlas

Why did you take on a second agent when your property was already on line? Perhaps you could provide a link so that knowledgeable viewers on here could check whether there are any glaring reasons why the property is not attracting viewers.

Ruby-Tuesday

Typically, when you put your house up for sale, your property gets seen a lot, and we mean A LOT, in the first 2-3 weeks of marketing.

Potential buyers will skim past the properties that have been on for a period of time, but they will click on the ones they see as new or recent. So activity in the first 2-3 weeks is very high – here’s a typical graph of what happens.

Source: Mark Stern. https://markstern.exp.uk.com/
Once you get to week 4, everyone who is actively looking has pretty much seen the property and you now start to rely on new buyers coming into the market. So the first weeks are crucial in selling a property, hence my dissatisfaction.

PartyOfFive

The common factor between both agents is the house.  This should be your focus rather than the estate agents.

They can’t force people to come and view.
Something in the photos / marketing is clearly off putting.

if you don’t realise what it is, put a link up to the board - many knowledgeable people here will be able to give constructive feedback.

steve866

How long has it been on for with the first agent? I'm not sure paying for a second agent is a worthwhile investment to just get views on the same platforms your property is already listed with. 

Unfortunatly all agents I've dealt with claim to have interested/perfect buyers which rarely materialize. I'd be surprised if you could get out of the contract. 

diystarter7

Hi

I'm no fan of EA's but I am a fiar and honest man. Three weeks is not a long time, especially in these markets and other factors, EG, price, location, modernised, number of bedrooms, bathrooms, peoples tastes and what else is on the market around those prices/similar. Therefore I'm with the EA.

You signed a contract and IMO it will be diffuclt to get out of it and you need to read the cotract carefully what happens when you go to another and the person buying the property first viewed via this eA

Thnaks

diystarter7

Flugelhorn said:

I haven't been looking for a property for  quite some time (over a year) but still seem to be on some EA books - they still e-mail me with "the perfect property" - probably have told the vendors that they have buyers lined up etc 

Hi

All EA's worth their salt will say that. It is up to the seller to consider waht is being said. Having said that a property priced well will sell realtively quickly. 

Thnaks