Am I right to be unhappy with Estate Agent?

jalowes2002

Just got off the phone to my Estate Agent and have been left feeling very dispondent. Our house went on the market 7 weeks ago with a local Estate Agent. I chose this particular agent after having several valuations because they were adamant we would sell quickely and gave us a fee of 1.25% with a contract of eight weeks.

The house is on market at £114,950 (dropped the price last week by £5000), and is on the outskirts of a very nice village. It is a cottage that has been totally rennovated to a high standard and is immaculate and tidy on the inside. The photos they have taken are reasonable, the only real downside of the property is that it is on a busy road. We have only had one viewing since it went on the market, and all our Estate Agent will say is "The market is terribly slow " and "Its the main road thats putting people off". My problem is that houses do seem to beselling around the area and we bought the house and have lived there for five years without the road being an issue!! (startingh to rant now!!).

My main question is, am I right to be annoyed with the Estate Agent and should I start looking at other agents to switch to (as out 8 week contract is nearly up)????? Just feel maybe they gave me all the hard sell when they came for a valuation and now are just sitting back. Maybe I have already answered my own question! Any thoughts appreciated.

Neel_2

yes i would look at getting other estate agents involved, the market is a bit slow in general, so if i where u ( and i did this) i would get the estate agents around get it re valued and get a multi agency deal with no time on the contract...

I feel it gets the bst out of em, as they are all trying to sell as quick as possible

Pal

It is in the estate agent's interest to sell your property, so unless they are just very bad at it, I guess you have to believe what they are telling you.

I do agree that you should look at using another agent as well, as a bit competition can't hurt.

GreenB_2

I think the main road is the biggest issue and there is nothing you can do about it.
The price of a property identical on a small/minor raod is probably worth 15-20% more so have you factored this into the selling price of your house?
When looking for houses (as we have cats) we always ruled out any house that was within 200 yards of a busy road. I suspect many other pet owners (or those with small children) do the same.

theGrinch

one viewing in 7 weeks is poor. maybe you need to face up to the fact that these estate agents may be able to market themselves but cant sell property very well.

your options include moving to another agent or moving to dual or multiple agencies.

i tend to think vendors overlook the easiest way to sell a property and that is speak to the neighbours and I dont mean the next door neighbours. print off 200 copies of details for your property and mail them locally as well as speak to shop owners, local busy bodies, milkman, postman etc and tell them you are looking to sell (maybe offer £500 for a successful introduction). place cards in local shops and get your own for sale board.

local people tend to sell an area better than any estate agent can as they live there! Its surprising how many people know someone (a friend or relative) looking to move close to them. I have seen this work on numerous ocassions and they tend to be serious buyers paying good prices for the location.

good luck!

sarahg1969

If you're on a main road (and presumably very visible) do you need an estate agent to sell your house? Personally, I can't bear to part with the money (part-exed last two times, so no problems there), and I think I'd have to have a go at selling my home myself, then maybe get an agent in if it didn't work out.

Ian_W

I agree with theGrinch. Whether you use an agent or not you can do a lot to sell the property yourself - if you have a sole agency, not multi-agency as Neel is suggesting, if you find the buyer you don't pay the agent.

Are there any large employers in the area, can you get some adverts on noticeboards or staff newsletters. Is there a local paper with a property section, think about advertising in that privately. Think about using one of the self sell websites.

1 viewing in 7 weeks is very disappointing but the important thing is whether you think the Agent you're using is marketing your property prominently. Are you in their local ads every week or only sometimes, have they got premises in the main local town, have they got you on RightMove etc? It's sometimes easier to shoot the messenger that listen to the message.

Agree that being on a main road isn't for everyone but houses on m/roads do sell, so it is for some. What made you buy it? Why didn't the road bother you? People with the same thoughts are the people you need to view but with lots of property for sale people can afford to be more choosy so you main need to be patient.

Finally - price. Lots on this site say any property will sell if it's priced right. Did you put it up at the highest valuation? Appreciate you've dropped £5k but you can check what others in your postcode have sold for using this SITE. Another way is to put the price you paid into the NATIONWIDEprice index calculator with the date you bought and your region and get an up to date price. Whilst your price does seem quite low, it all depends on area and even if you're only a few thousand over, lots of people won't even look.

Hope that helps - best of luck.

Mark7799

Have you checked yourself how the property is being marketed (how is it featured in local papers, where in the window is it being displayed). Last time we moved, the first agent we put our house with told us that if a house was priced correctly he would expect it to sell within 6-8 weeks. As he hadn't sent a single viewer round in the firsat six weeks we changed agents.

jalowes2002

Thanks very much for all the replies. Maybe the conversation I had with the estate agent placed a rocket in the correct place but we had a viewing last night! Typical! Anyway that is still only 2 viewings in total one through them and one through another aency in a different toen. To answer your questions, I think the house is definately competitively priced, is on Right Move and in the local papers with a board up.

Will obviously have to wait until the 8 weeks is up, but will definately consider going to a different agent!!

Thanks again for all your suggestions!