Using MMoA to sell home.

Ingold

I'm interested to hear from anyone who has actually used this process to sell their home as my EA is recommending this route for me. I've read a previous thread on this subject but it seems to just be peoples opinions and not actual experience.

user1977

Why are the EA recommending it? (other than because they make more money) 

Section62

Ingold said:

I'm interested to hear from anyone who has actually used this process to sell their home as my EA is recommending this route for me. I've read a previous thread on this subject but it seems to just be peoples opinions and not actual experience.

Even those who have actually used the process will only be expressing an opinion about it.  Even if you use exactly the same people at the same agency you won't necessarily get the same outcome, and what works Ok (or not) for one vendor won't necessarily be Ok for another.

The question is whether in your circumstances MMoA offers anything better than other methods.

Ingold

From what I've read online, the agents like it for the extra commission, as you said, plus it's usually a much quicker process with less chance of buyer backing out at last minute. Think I read that average house sale took about 207 days last year, MMoA around 56 days I think.

user1977

56 days from when to when? The main difficulty is that it will put off a lot of buyers. Bear in mind that if a buyer pays their initial fee, then fails to complete (because e.g. they didn't realise that they can't get a mortgage), it's the EA who pockets the money, not you. Rinse and repeat with the next mug purchaser..

strawb_shortcake

We've seen a couple of MMoA on the market near us and they aren't selling any quicker. I think they were just over priced to start with and remain so, whether it's aimed at someone wanting a new house or an investor

Ingold

Having read up on MMoA my opinion is against the idea, just curious to hear from anyone who has used this method and of their experiences; I might be persuaded, or not! 

whizzywoo

Don't do it.  We tried it with our home, 2 years ago.  Absolutely no bids although plenty of viewers, several of whom offered significantly less than the opening price.

You are subject to hard sell from the auction company who keep on at you to reduce the price or accept one of the very low offers.

We gave notice to them pretty quickly and as soon as the contracted time was up placed our house on the open market with a different Estate Agent.  Lots more viewers and several reasonable offers.  All completely different people to the ones who had shown an interest when it was under the Modern Method of Auction.

It took us some time to sell for various reasons not connected with the house but I would never again consider MMOA.

Ingold

whizzywoo said:

Don't do it.  We tried it with our home, 2 years ago.  Absolutely no bids although plenty of viewers, several of whom offered significantly less than the opening price.

You are subject to hard sell from the auction company who keep on at you to reduce the price or accept one of the very low offers.

We gave notice to them pretty quickly and as soon as the contracted time was up placed our house on the open market with a different Estate Agent.  Lots more viewers and several reasonable offers.  All completely different people to the ones who had shown an interest when it was under the Modern Method of Auction.

It took us some time to sell for various reasons not connected with the house but I would never again consider MMOA.

Thank you for taking the time to tell me of your experience; I had my suspicions about the process just needed confirmation. 

eddddy

In simple terms, the agent's argument is usually something like...
"The buyer pays a reservation fee of £6k+, so the buyer is unlikely to pull out because they would lose £6k+"

But the counter argument would be...
"A buyer is unlikely to offer/bid, because they don't want to pay a reservation fee of £6k+, which they will lose if the sale falls through."



An example of the type of problem that arises:

• The agent 'bullies' the seller into setting a low reserve price by saying "Setting a low reserve will generate more interest and more buzz, meaning that in the end, you will achieve a higher selling price"

• But then the only bids received are around the reserve price. And the seller doesn't really want to sell for that price.

• So the seller just messes the buyer around for months, because they don't really want to sell - until the buyer gives up and pulls out. So the buyer loses their £6k+

• The seller re-advertises the property at a more realistic price - that they would be willing to accept