Changing Estate Agents?

[Deleted User]

House been on the market 5 months now. Very competitive price compared to others in the area.
We just don't seem to have had that many viewings - prob 7/8 in 6 months.

Estate agent is a lovely lady who was recommended to us. No shops all online and no board outside the house. Trouble is she seems mega busy and I do wonder how pro-active she is.

Considering getting someone else in for a different approach maybe.

I'm assuming others have done this. I appreciate the Estate Agent has done a lot of hard work and if we leave they'll get zero (although the did charge us for photos). 

I don't want to shaft anyone but will they be upset or is this just part of the game?

Hoenir

What was the feedback from the viewings you've had? 

eddddy

[Deleted User] said:

I don't want to shaft anyone but will they be upset or is this just part of the game?

It's part of the game. 

The estate agent voluntarily decided to offer "no sale, no fee" contract terms - because she felt it made good business sense.  You didn't force those terms onto her.


Or if you want, you can look at it this way:

I imagine that 5 months ago, the estate agent essentially told you that she could sell your house for £x. So you hired her.

She was wrong. She has failed. Maybe you could argue that it's her who has shafted you.



Maybe your estate agent isn't quite like this, but I've also come across many estate agents who...

• Initially say to the seller "I'm confident I can achieve £x for this property"
• Then a few weeks down the track say to the seller "You're being unrealistic expecting to get £x for this property"

... so trying to shift the blame for failure from themselves to the seller.

EssexHebridean

There are a lot of agents out there now who have only been in the business during the good times - when all you had to do to sell a property was stick it on Rightmove and the viewings would flood in. That’s changed now and we’re back in a position where work is required to get the properties on their books in front of interested parties - active marketing is needed p, and right now, a lot of agents haven’t yet woken up to that. 

I’d ditch and switch, personally. Look for a well established local firm who’ve been about longer than 15 years or so, ideally. Keep an eye on RM for a few weeks - which agents around are selling properties similar to yours? Those are worth approaching. 

Bigphil1474

I think a lot of house sales need the offline marketing element as well as online, so one with a local window is a good choice. Whilst most people will go on the likes of Rightmove, not everyone will. It's also about being able to get hold of the agent to arrange viewings, and if you can't host the viewings yourself, them being available to do them. We had 4 estate agent offices near where we lived, and one of them was hard to get hold of to go look at properties, rarely returned any messages, and were generally not very good. Glad we avoided them. We went to a local regional EA, and it worked for us. I'd agree with above, time to switch but check your contract.

Herzlos

Get a friend to find your house and do a viewing to see how she acts.

I saw find your house because I'm also curious as to how easy it is with an online only presence and no sign. Is it on rightmove?


You'll find a lot of people still use estate agents shops and signs - I bought my last house based on seeing the sign outside and got some interest from people after seeing a sign when I put it up. Even if it's not a high throughput road it'll make it easier for people to have a drive by before contacting the EA. We'd noticed when our sign went up a woman parked outside and had a look around twice, and was the winning bidder.

[Deleted User]

eddddy said:

[Deleted User] said:

I don't want to shaft anyone but will they be upset or is this just part of the game?

It's part of the game. 

The estate agent voluntarily decided to offer "no sale, no fee" contract terms - because she felt it made good business sense.  You didn't force those terms onto her.


Or if you want, you can look at it this way:

I imagine that 5 months ago, the estate agent essentially told you that she could sell your house for £x. So you hired her.

She was wrong. She has failed. Maybe you could argue that it's her who has shafted you.



Maybe your estate agent isn't quite like this, but I've also come across many estate agents who...

• Initially say to the seller "I'm confident I can achieve £x for this property"
• Then a few weeks down the track say to the seller "You're being unrealistic expecting to get £x for this property"

... so trying to shift the blame for failure from themselves to the seller.

To be fair they never made any promises but there seems to be no urgency with them at all.

[Deleted User]

Herzlos said:

Get a friend to find your house and do a viewing to see how she acts.

I saw find your house because I'm also curious as to how easy it is with an online only presence and no sign. Is it on rightmove?


You'll find a lot of people still use estate agents shops and signs - I bought my last house based on seeing the sign outside and got some interest from people after seeing a sign when I put it up. Even if it's not a high throughput road it'll make it easier for people to have a drive by before contacting the EA. We'd noticed when our sign went up a woman parked outside and had a look around twice, and was the winning bidder.

Yes on all the main websites....

Do you know what I was thinking of doing that....

To be fair, they're good when it comes to viewings but I think they are sitting back and waiting for people to contact them all the time. I moan and she re-posts it on facebook, I don't contact and they do nothing.

EssexHebridean

Facebook is somewhere I would not even consider looking at for property to buy. This sounds like a very “millennial/Gen Z” way of selling houses… 😆

Hoenir

[Deleted User] said:

To be fair, they're good when it comes to viewings but I think they are sitting back and waiting for people to contact them all the time.

That's generally how selling a property works. People either sign up with EA's  to get first dibs or see a property of interest on Rightmove etc then contact the EA.  You can lead a horse to water but you cannot make it drink. The nature of the property, it's state, it's location , proximity to good transport links, whether it's in a good school catchment area. Are all factors when people weigh up whether to spend thousands of £'s. 

If you local market is quiet. Then price will be the key.