Is this normal?

TheJP

10 viewings no follow up viewings and no offers = priced wrong.

Check the area and recent activity then rethink.

ReadySteadyPop

TheJP said:

10 viewings no follow up viewings and no offers = priced wrong.

Check the area and recent activity then rethink.

Good advice.

[Deleted User]

Sassybot said:

Bigphil1474 said:

Typically a property gets lots of viewings in the first month, and then they peter out. Its when the viewings peter out and you've had no acceptable offers that you want to start having a rethink. 

I've spoken with the agent this morning and asked them to only send through folks who are already on the market etc.

Exactly right. Otherwise you not only waste your time but you get a false impression of genuine interest. Last time I sold no agents were taking viewings unless the viewer had sold their house, and you had to show evidence. That was during COVID, admittedly, but I would be very hesitant to take an offer from someone who hadn't sold their own. And I won't be viewing any until I've sold mine.

[Deleted User]

TheJP said:

10 viewings no follow up viewings and no offers = priced wrong.

Check the area and recent activity then rethink.

Certainly they need to do their research, but I don't believe a high price would prevent offers. Unless it's absurdly high in which case the buyer wouldn't view in the first place. If it's just high, then they've nothing to lose and everything to gain by making an offer, even if it's only 85%. IMO repeated viewings with no offers will be a potential issue, such as shared drive, septic tank, overlooked garden, unexpected urban views, etc.

Sapindus

Is your agent not getting feedback from the viewers on what they thought?  I had five viewers before I got an offer from a family who hadn't got their house on the market yet.  Then another seven before the people who bought it.  From first viewer to the eventual buyer was 15th May-20th June.  From each viewing my agent rang with feedback and it was mostly "nice, but not quite right for us" so I just carried on until the right people came along. 

Sassybot

We have four agents to value and selected the medium valuation from this, we're happy to negotiate obviously. All four agents showed comparative properties sold in my immediate area in the same price range. Other houses have sold in my area for more, so I duno. 

I went through the feedback again:

- One liked the house but had an offer accepted on another property, which is fair.
- The cancelled second viewers decided it was too far from work.
- One couple wanted a downstairs toilet
- One couple wanted a fourth bedroom (side note, how annoying are things like this? Like the house would magically change from the listing lol). 

The rest of the feedback was basically they aren't yet in a position to move. This is what I meant yesterday about how it feels like we've only really had a couple of genuine viewers. Obviously there is a possibility that the agent is misleading us, but I have no evidence of that. 

Hopefully now we've had a word with the agent, we'll started getting people who are actively seeking to buy viewing, rather than folks having a nosey. Two booked in for Saturday and I'm hoping the feedback will be a bit more productive. If it's more "they're not ready to move" nonsense I'll need to have a think about next steps. 

EssexHebridean

It sounds to me like some pressure on the agent to actually start working for you might be a good thing. There are a lot of agents out there who have only been in business during a period where houses were basically selling themselves - but now a little more work has become required. The old school agents have returned to proper marketing - the newer ones are foundering a bit though. 

Is there a proper floorplan on the listing? One with room sizes, at that? 

Making sure the agent is aware that you don’t want time wasters is a good step, and ensuring that they are also aware that it is absolutely not acceptable for them to fail to show up to viewings! Make it clear that you expect feedback after every viewing too. 

Sassybot

EssexHebridean said:

Is there a proper floorplan on the listing? One with room sizes, at that? 

Yes, I can't fault the listing to be honest. Pictures are clear and both the floor plan and listing have accurate room sizes etc. Tbh, the viewing agent told me that the fourth bedroom couple basically had a row over it. Dad couldn't understand why mum agreed to view it if the fourth bedroom was an issue. 

For the sake of my own mental health, I've decided that we've technically had four viewings, since the rest was a load of nonsense lol. 

Bigphil1474

I disagree with above - 10 viewings without an offer (even if some were worthless viewings) doesn't mean over priced. People don't generally view a house they couldn't even throw a cheeky offer at. If price was an issue you'd get low ball offers, not no offers. You might have to lower the price at some point if you aren't getting viewings, but that should be a while away yet.

I can understand the 4th bedroom couple - we did pretty much the same when we were viewing. We would have gone for a 3 bed if the 3 bedrooms were spot on, but really needed a 4th bedroom for my home office.

Sassybot

Bigphil1474 said:

I disagree with above - 10 viewings without an offer (even if some were worthless viewings) doesn't mean over priced. People don't generally view a house they couldn't even throw a cheeky offer at. If price was an issue you'd get low ball offers, not no offers. You might have to lower the price at some point if you aren't getting viewings, but that should be a while away yet.

I can understand the 4th bedroom couple - we did pretty much the same when we were viewing. We would have gone for a 3 bed if the 3 bedrooms were spot on, but really needed a 4th bedroom for my home office.

The viewing agent told me about it, so I don't know the whole conversation—just that they had a proper argument over it, lol. After having to do the viewings myself at the start, I refuse to be around when they come in as I get obsessed over each tiny comment. Instead, I sit in the park across the road. That way I'm there if they have any questions but completely out of their way. 

TBH I very much expect a couple of cheeky offers and am happy to take less than what it's listed in the right circumstance. If we're still in this position come middle/end of month, then we'll drop the asking. But even then, the house is selling for significantly more than I expected. The equity back at the lowest end of the scale each agent valued is essentially almost what we bought it for, which feels nuts. 

I'm feeling more positive about things today. We have two viewings from FTB with decisions on Saturday and the sun is shining. The break from having to keep the house "viewing perfect" for the past two weeks has been nice too; I even left a cup in the sink overnight last night haha! I'm counting them as viewings five and six  and drawing a line under the other nonsense.