20 week initial period

chozza

I've just realised my contract with willaim h brown is for 20 weeks, this seems very long! Is this normal for, say, out of london? I am also on a fixed fee (which equates to 1% of the current asking price) which i didnt think was a big deal as i thought the price they were proposing to sell at (or thereabouts) was fair.

Initially i was happy to sign up with them, and there were a flurry of viewings in the first few weeks, but i've now not had a single viewing in 3 weeks and their only suggestion is to take a few new pics and for me to pay for another premium rightmove listing, so i'm not really sure what added value they are providing.

Just to provide some context, i initially marketed the house myself and i've done this before and under certain circumstances it makes total sense. However i thought a fresh pair of eyes and national agent may be a good option. I was happy to just drop the price myself before signing up, but they convinced me the original price was correct, so i went with them on the basis that i am happy to pay commission for they manage to sell it for 25k more than i would have done.

I'm in no rush to sell, however 20 weeks will take it to the end of may. 

I'm now sceptically thinking that their strategy all along was to over value the property, and then get me to drop the price whereby they will continue to collect the same fixed commission of the original price. 

If i dropped it and then it sold, it wouldnt be a massive deal in the grander scheme of things, however i would be very annoyed with the principle that this was their strategy all along.

I'm tempted just to go back to them and say i'm happy to drop the price but on the proviso that they also drop their commission and also reduce the initial period.

Any thoughts?

DE_612183

you can ask - but I don't see why they would change a contract that you signed up to that would detriment you.

If you sold for £10k over the asking price would you be happy to pay them more?

chozza

DE_612183 said:

you can ask - but I don't see why they would change a contract that you signed up to that would detriment you.

If you sold for £10k over the asking price would you be happy to pay them more?

Well because a) they wont get any commission if i let the initial period expire and go with someone else b) it's not in their interest to NOT to sell it in a reasonable amount of time.

If it wasnt for this 3+ week lull in interest i would be less sceptical, but i'm failing to see what value they have added. 

propertyrental

Always read/understand contracts before agreeing/signing.

You can of course ask them to vary the terms of the contract. They can agree or refuse.

eddddy

You can try negotiating terms with them. 

(In my experience, estate agents like a bit of negotiation. It's what they're trained to do, and it's fun for them. But they might be better at it than you.)


And I guess possibilities include...

• They think you're bluffing, and that you'll reduce your asking price anyway - even if they don't reduce their fee

• Being a large company, there could be a company policy that employees in branches aren't allowed to change contract terms (as an example).