Unable to sell house

Slinky

I'm beginning to wonder if there's something fishy going on here. My friends bought a house where the lady who owned it wasn't local anymore, she'd gone into a care home and the property was being sold on her behalf by a solicitor some distance off. There was a dodgy deal going on with a buyer the agent knew. The property wasn't marketed locally, as my friend never saw it advertised, and it was right in the very limited area they were looking for. They only found out about it at a party where their friend's mother had a key to the house, which was next door.

They tried to get a viewing, the agent wouldn't let them, so the neighbour with the key let them in. They contacted the solicitor directly with an offer £20K more than had been accepted via the agent, and got the house. The agent told them that 'gazumping wasn't very nice'. Well £20K more for the vendor, which was still lower than the asking price, wasn't to be sniffed at.

You're in a situation where you're not on the doorstep, you're being told to spend money on the house to make it more saleable at a lower price than currently being marketed at.  Weird.

Bailey1980

Thanks for all the comments; we know that we are the ones to set the price. 

Initially estate agent wanted to set it at £195K and we said no because we did not think we'd get that or that region. 

Their suggestion was  then £185K - we thought that this might be a little off-putting so they suggested offers in excess of £180K which at the time, i.e. before mortgages went crazy was reasonable. 

Lots of viewings took place and the only feedback we received from the agents was that those viewing it felt it needed too much work so was out of their budget. Each and every time we asked the estate agent to confirm specifically what work those viewing thought needed doing. Estate agent just said it wasn't to the potential buyers particular tastes and the estate agent  that there was nothing we could do about this.  We also asked them to confirm what figures people had in mind/ thought the property was worth and the estate agent told us they didn't have this info because those who viewed it said they didn't know how much work needed doing so couldn't work out how much the work would cost so could not provide a figure that they'd consider to be fair. 

Just after Christmas price lowered to offers in the region of £178-£179K - quite a few viewings booked but no feedback received from any of these. 

Then had multiple conversations with EA about dropping it to offers in the region of £175k and they kept refusing until they decided to be "brutally honest" with us (this was on the 4th phonecall)  and gave us a long and expensive list of work they want us to do for them to agree to market it at £175k otherwise they'd only be willing to market it for £170k and we'd have to accept offers of £160k or £165K. 

This brutally honest conversation was about 2-3 weeks ago and during this time, the forum has been helpful in pointing out things that objectively we hadn't thought was off putting (bathroom sink tap, bathroom mirror, hallway radiator) as well as me going back to the house and trying to put myself in the shoes of a prospective buyer and looking at everything super critically as well as getting quotes for the tweaks we think are possible/necessary/affordable and arranging dates for this to start. As well as getting other estate agents out for their opinions on valuation and their brutal honesty. 

We have served notice to current estate agent to terminate the agreement and next steps is getting the minor works done (starting this week) then once completed new estate agent whom I will ask to be brutally honest with us from day 1 and to press for substantive feedback, obviously without being too pushy/pressured. 

EssexHebridean

I'm glad you are ditching the agent. There is definitely something distinctly strange about an agent who seems to think they can tell a seller what they are willing to market it for - they either need to say "OK - in our option you should do this, but it's your call" or they need to say that they are not willing to work with you on the basis you want, and therefore they are voluntarily terminating your agreement with them. 

There is relatively little that infuriates me more in the world of conveyancing than Estate agents with a power complex. 

robatwork

Ask the EA for their vast list of qualifications, and how many years training to be a surveyor they undertook to offer their expert opinion. Also ask them exact prices of houses sold within 500m recently without being able to look it up onliune. 

Chances are it's an opinion no more (and highly probably less) valid than the members of this forum.

Herzlos

Have you got a friend who can mystery shop the estate agent showing the house? Are they putting buyers off somehow.

Bailey1980

So the other two houses have been sold to subject to contract. 

The one that was advertised at £200K was only put on the market on 02/02/2024

The one advertised at £187,500 and was being marketed by the same estate agent we have had for the last 4-5months (who has been very unhelpful) was only put on the market on 12/02/2024. 

I know that we don't know what was offered and there are is all the conveyancing that still needs doing, but I'm just shocked that they have sold subject to contact within 2-3weeks and we've had no offers in the last 4-5months. 

Scotbot

Bailey1980 said:

So the other two houses have been sold to subject to contract. 

The one that was advertised at £200K was only put on the market on 02/02/2024

The one advertised at £187,500 and was being marketed by the same estate agent we have had for the last 4-5months (who has been very unhelpful) was only put on the market on 12/02/2024. 

I know that we don't know what was offered and there are is all the conveyancing that still needs doing, but I'm just shocked that they have sold subject to contact within 2-3weeks and we've had no offers in the last 4-5months. 

Human psychology. People assume if a property has been on the market a while there is something wrong with it. There is even a term for it, estate agents call it a 'burned property '

I sympathise, my house was listed in September but did not sell. Had to reduce it and then take an offer at 10 k less than the reduced asking. The property I am buying was only listed a week before I viewed so unsurprisingly a low offer was refused.  Cest la vie ...

ReadySteadyPop

Bailey1980 said:

Thanks for all the comments; we know that we are the ones to set the price. 

Initially estate agent wanted to set it at £195K and we said no because we did not think we'd get that or that region. 

Their suggestion was  then £185K - we thought that this might be a little off-putting so they suggested offers in excess of £180K which at the time, i.e. before mortgages went crazy was reasonable. 

Lots of viewings took place and the only feedback we received from the agents was that those viewing it felt it needed too much work so was out of their budget. Each and every time we asked the estate agent to confirm specifically what work those viewing thought needed doing. Estate agent just said it wasn't to the potential buyers particular tastes and the estate agent  that there was nothing we could do about this.  We also asked them to confirm what figures people had in mind/ thought the property was worth and the estate agent told us they didn't have this info because those who viewed it said they didn't know how much work needed doing so couldn't work out how much the work would cost so could not provide a figure that they'd consider to be fair. 

Just after Christmas price lowered to offers in the region of £178-£179K - quite a few viewings booked but no feedback received from any of these. 

Then had multiple conversations with EA about dropping it to offers in the region of £175k and they kept refusing until they decided to be "brutally honest" with us (this was on the 4th phonecall)  and gave us a long and expensive list of work they want us to do for them to agree to market it at £175k otherwise they'd only be willing to market it for £170k and we'd have to accept offers of £160k or £165K. 

This brutally honest conversation was about 2-3 weeks ago and during this time, the forum has been helpful in pointing out things that objectively we hadn't thought was off putting (bathroom sink tap, bathroom mirror, hallway radiator) as well as me going back to the house and trying to put myself in the shoes of a prospective buyer and looking at everything super critically as well as getting quotes for the tweaks we think are possible/necessary/affordable and arranging dates for this to start. As well as getting other estate agents out for their opinions on valuation and their brutal honesty. 

We have served notice to current estate agent to terminate the agreement and next steps is getting the minor works done (starting this week) then once completed new estate agent whom I will ask to be brutally honest with us from day 1 and to press for substantive feedback, obviously without being too pushy/pressured. 

You can`t  "press for substantive feedback", people viewing a property are not obliged to give any feedback, if the agent annoys them they might be put off a second viewing if they had this in mind, be careful with this approach, if the house is priced correctly the viewings will probably pick up.

EssexHebridean

A good agent absolutely will ask viewers for feedback - as the OP says, in a way which isn’t pushy or likely to put folk off. 

Jude57

@Bailey1980 just to advise that if you're intending to rent the property out, make certain you have written permission from your mortgage lender to do so. Your current, presumably standard 'owner occupier' mortgage could be voided otherwise and it's a headache you don't need. Your lender may be willing to convert you to a 'buy to let' mortgage but there are likely to be costs associated with that. Please also be certain that you understand ALL the legal requirements of being a landlord because, as others have said, even a fully managed agency service doesn't absolve you of legal liability. There's a very good Sticky at the top of this board which I strongly recommend you read very carefully before you decide what to do.