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Rightmove Featured Property

chieftains
chieftains Posts: 5 Forumite
in House buying, renting & selling
Hi,


We have our house for sale with an online agent. The house has been on the market for 12 days and we have had 14 viewers. We have not had any serious offers and the viewings have slowed (we only have one booked).


Has anyone paid extra to have there property listed as a featured property on Rightmove. Our agent charges £240 for a month. We were wondering if its worth the money?


Thanks for your help :)
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Comments

  • jbainbridge
    jbainbridge Posts: 2,014 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper Combo Breaker First Post
    I wouldn't - makes you look a bit desperate to be honest!
  • Dan-Dan
    Dan-Dan Posts: 5,272 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker First Post
    Any serious buyer will find your property easily without you resorting to that
    Never, under any circumstances, take a sleeping pill and a laxative on the same night.
  • sheff6107
    sheff6107 Posts: 451 Forumite
    Everybody's 'desperate', so I don't subscribe to that view personally.

    We tried it for a week and our conversion rate went from 3% to 6%.

    It's a useful tool for getting to the top of the listings (people reduce their prices to get bumped up all the time), but there's no point after only 12 days. Maybe after a few months.
  • Boatdweller
    Boatdweller Posts: 158 Forumite
    It's not worth £240 a month. Not at all. If the agent is doing their job properly you don't need a premium listing.
  • eddddy
    eddddy Posts: 16,412 Forumite
    First Anniversary First Post Name Dropper
    edited 9 June 2016 at 11:22AM
    If they wanted to, your EA could give you detailed information on how Featured Listings impact their sales - but they probably wouldn't because it's commercially sensitive info...

    Rightmove property performance reports show:

    - The number of times each property appears in a search
    - The 'click-through' rate (i.e. how often people click to see the property details)

    Then the EA's own records show the follow up stages:

    - The number of viewings the property gets
    - Viewings to Offer ratio, Time to offer etc.


    So, in theory, the EA should be able to show you examples of their properties that had featured listings vs those that didn't - so you can see the impact all the way through to the final sale.

    But I bet they won't!
  • ElsieMonkey
    ElsieMonkey Posts: 268 Forumite
    edited 9 June 2016 at 12:44PM
    Boatdweller wrote: »
    It's not worth £240 a month. Not at all. If the agent is doing their job properly you don't need a premium listing.

    I'm not sure I agree with the idea that if an estate agent was doing their job properly the vendor wouldn't be encountering the issue they feel they are having. What do people think estate agents do? They advertise properties on Rightmove and the like, and put a key in the door to let people in for viewings. Adverts in windows/newspapers are useless since no one shops like that anymore, and in my experience they are no help on viewings as they can't answer any questions. So what is doing their job properly? What is it that the estate agent should be doing? Do they have that elusive list of people ready to move, that many of them claim, who they call up and try and convince them to view? Estate agents don't sell properties, no one can be convinced to buy something they are not really interested in, especially by a group of people who have a reputation of being less than honest. Estate agents advertise your property, that is all.

    If you're having problems it's always down to price in my experience. The amount of viewers so far indicate that the advert is performing relatively well. But perhaps on visiting viewers feel it doesn't offer value for money, or there's something they see in person that puts them off. OP have you had any feedback from viewers? Also bare in mind that we're edging towards summer holiday season which tends to get a bit quiet, and on top of that the referendum is coming up which I feel is holding people up from making decisions. This may explain the sudden drop off of viewers.

    I wouldn't pay out that kind of money for an enhanced advert, seems like an awful lot of money. You have been getting a fair amount of viewings which indicates the advert isn't the problem...it's something further down the process that's putting people off. I'd be looking at my listing price, and have a hard look at what may or may not be off putting in or around my house when people are viewing, which I can improve.
  • dc197
    dc197 Posts: 812 Forumite
    Combo Breaker First Anniversary
    sheff6107 wrote: »

    We tried it for a week and our conversion rate went from 3% to 6%.

    Is that a ratio of viewings to offers, or of website traffic, or what?
  • hazyjo
    hazyjo Posts: 15,470 Forumite
    First Anniversary Name Dropper First Post Photogenic
    In an area like mine, yes, estate agents do have a list of people looking to buy. They're climbing over each other to get that first call, or be first through the door to view. Obviously different in other areas.


    'Featured Property' might make me look twice if it was awarded that status on its own merit, but to pay for it? Nah, I'd maybe look to be nosy where I wouldn't have done before, but I'd definitely have found it on the main listing anyway if it's what I was looking for.


    It's not even been on 2 weeks. People are holding off now until after the vote. You said no serious offers, so I presume there has been some interest/offers. New buyers are looking every day. It just takes one of them to want it.


    Def wouldn't worry about price after less than 2 weeks (especially with the EU referendum round the corner).


    Jx
    2023 wins: *must start comping again!*
  • aniahill
    aniahill Posts: 181 Forumite
    First Anniversary Combo Breaker
    Whenever I've seen them, I've been put off by featured properties - it makes me think that if you're paying for that, the property is on the market for too much, or they're getting desperate.

    Unless there are thousands of properties in a small area, similar price, similar number of rooms, people will be seeing yours; this has been proven by the amount of viewers. Depending on the area, it's not been on for a long time
  • sheff6107
    sheff6107 Posts: 451 Forumite
    dc197 wrote: »
    Is that a ratio of viewings to offers, or of website traffic, or what?

    Sorry, it's the Rightmove click-through rate
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