Any point trying a third estate agent?

dramaticat

My house has been on the market since February. 

The first estate agent I used has offices all over Kent with an office in my village. They handle a lot of local house sales and I've used them in the past a couple of times with great success. However, this time they got me just one viewer in three months. They actually sounded relieved when I told them I was going to try another estate agent in May.

I have no specific complaints about my current agent. They have offices in London and Kent. We marketed at a lower price than before, I'm happy with the property details and they've accompanied most viewings. They got me 8 viewings – mostly in June – and one asking price offer that was withdrawn a week after it was made. I dropped the price again in September to see if that would encourage interest following the summer lull, but no. That was my suggestion – not theirs.

My partner has now completed the sale of his house and has moved in with me (with a lot of his stuff :-), so we're keen to try and get things moving and find a slightly bigger house in a different area. I wasn't so concerned about getting on with things before as we wanted to avoid the hassle of selling two properties in a chain. But now it's different.

As far as I can tell, the new agents have been much more proactive at trying to sell my property than the first were. However, apart from an emailed report on how many online viewings my property details are getting, they don't keep in touch. There may be nothing to say, of course. But I am now wondering if – like the first agents – they're just keeping their heads down in the hope I won't move to a new agent.

But what could a third agent do that the first two haven't? If anyone has had a similar experience, I'd be interested to hear what you did.

MikeJXE

dramaticat said:

My house has been on the market since February. 

The first estate agent I used has offices all over Kent with an office in my village. They handle a lot of local house sales and I've used them in the past a couple of times with great success. However, this time they got me just one viewer in three months. They actually sounded relieved when I told them I was going to try another estate agent in May.

I have no specific complaints about my current agent. They have offices in London and Kent. We marketed at a lower price than before, I'm happy with the property details and they've accompanied most viewings. They got me 8 viewings – mostly in June – and one asking price offer that was withdrawn a week after it was made. I dropped the price again in September to see if that would encourage interest following the summer lull, but no. That was my suggestion – not theirs.

My partner has now completed the sale of his house and has moved in with me (with a lot of his stuff :-), so we're keen to try and get things moving and find a slightly bigger house in a different area. I wasn't so concerned about getting on with things before as we wanted to avoid the hassle of selling two properties in a chain. But now it's different.

As far as I can tell, the new agents have been much more proactive at trying to sell my property than the first were. However, apart from an emailed report on how many online viewings my property details are getting, they don't keep in touch. There may be nothing to say, of course. But I am now wondering if – like the first agents – they're just keeping their heads down in the hope I won't move to a new agent.

But what could a third agent do that the first two haven't? If anyone has had a similar experience, I'd be interested to hear what you did.

No they couldn’t 

Either the asking price is too high or you are too cluttered/run down, the photos are not getting viewers 

dramaticat

Interestingly, all the feedback I've had from viewers has said the price is fine.  But it's always a consideration.

And it's certainly not run down – it's had a new kitchen and bathroom and fully decorated in the last three years. If people want to change the colours, that's a different thing entirely. And certainly wasn't cluttered when the photos were taken. 

gwynlas

if you are happy with the photographs which should be shown in a logical order, the description which should be personalised, and the floorplan then there is no point changing agent.

You should be checking the local market to see how long sales are taking.

if the property price is in the correct ball park then interested viewers will make offers and it is purely current circumstances that are causing delays

MeteredOut

dramaticat said:

Interestingly, all the feedback I've had from viewers has said the price is fine.  But it's always a consideration.

And it's certainly not run down – it's had a new kitchen and bathroom and fully decorated in the last three years. If people want to change the colours, that's a different thing entirely. And certainly wasn't cluttered when the photos were taken. 

If the viewers have said the price is fine, then what did they say was their reason for not taking it further?

dramaticat

For some the kitchen and/or garden were too small. For others it was the location.

12Pearl

I'm assuming you're terminating the contract with one agent before taking another on.  In case I'm wrong, I'd think hard about having two at once.  On the one hand almost every agent advertises on Rightmove or similar so you are unlikely to get any more publicity.  On the other hand, each agent knows s/he only has a 50% chance of getting the sale and consequently will put less effort into selling it.  I viewed a lovely house last year and was about to make an offer 3 1/2 hours later when I saw a second agent had it marked sold!

ExEstateAgent

Is your house on Rightmove? 

Bigphil1474

I'm not sure that many estate agents actually 'sell' the property these days. Most seem to be on Rightmove, and after producing the listing/photos etc. , the only thing the EA did to sell the house we bought was to arrange the viewing with the vendor. I suppose if you live in a niche property or are at the upper end of the market there might be some active selling, and some will have active buyers they can refer to, but other than that I don't see what they do. We looked at maybe 200+ properties on Rightmove and viewed around 30 in person and didn't find the EA input to be particularly valuable (other than the listing). 

OP, you're unlikely to get a buyer this close to Christmas, maybe hold out to spring and see if there is any interest. If you aren't getting viewings then there's something wrong with the property listing or price. Worth looking at what else is on offer in your area, recent sold prices etc. and get a view yourself on whether your house is an attractive buy. Maybe get someone you trust to look at it as a potential buyer and tell you what they think. If it's not on Rightmove, get it on.

ReadySteadyPop

dramaticat said:

Interestingly, all the feedback I've had from viewers has said the price is fine.  But it's always a consideration.

And it's certainly not run down – it's had a new kitchen and bathroom and fully decorated in the last three years. If people want to change the colours, that's a different thing entirely. And certainly wasn't cluttered when the photos were taken. 

There is general downward pressure on the market, lack of demand, higher borrowing costs etc. When the price is right people will be making firm offers, not making polite conversation about how the price is okay but they don"t want to buy the house.

https://www.investing.com/news/earnings/rightmove-shares-crashes-over-25-after-2026-profit-forecast-cut-on-higher-ai-cost-4341271

ReadySteadyPop

dramaticat said:

For some the kitchen and/or garden were too small. For others it was the location.

Those are serious considerations, and you can"t do anything to change them, price is the main tool you have to secure a sale.