We're thinking of changing Estate agents, but can't decide whether it's a good idea or not.
Reasons for changing
Our current agent has got a horrible picture of the exterior of our house - taken on a dark rainy day. Although they've replaced it with a brighter, sunnier one on the RightMove website, they refuse to change their details or the adverts in the local press.
Our house only has 1 bedroom. They neglect to tell prospective buyers this & so far the only negative feedback we've had is because the viewers want a larger house.
They've been trying to sell it since November last year (not a good time to sell, I know...) & we think that after 4 months it's time for a change.
We live in a village between a big town & a small town. We're currently with an agent in the big town, thinking we'd get more exposure. However, every other property in our village is being marketed through an agent based in the small town
In fact, the only reason we haven't changed already is that I'm a bit worried that prospective buyers will see the sign in front of the house change & think "oh, they must be desperate to sell, there must be something wrong with the house" Which there isn't, at all. The other reason we're reluctant to move is that we've accepted an offer, but it's from someone who has to sell theirs. So presumably if we switch agents, will we lose the offer?
I'm no expert, but if you've accepted an offer, aren't you liable to pay the fee to the agent anyway if you pull out of the deal? They've done their bit of the job, and if you haven't specified an 'end date' in accepting the offer, you may well be stuck with them for now. Perhaps you need to go back to them and agree a reasonable 'completion' date on this offer? If, after that time, all the other reasons still stack up as above, you'd be justified in changing, seems to me...
Sorry to sound so critical but why did you accept an offer from someone who doesn't have an offer on theirs? Are they planning to buy yours without selling? If that's the case fair enough. But if they need to sell, then frankly their offer is practically meaningless. And if you've accepted an offer, why is your place still being marketed? It sounds to me as if everyone is wasting their time.
Accepting an offer from someone who still has a house to sell does not mean you should take the house off the market! You could be waiting Months for them to find a buyer! Your Agent should be still activly marketing your house to prospective buyers.
I agree with both comments above but - why accept the offer at all? Why not say thank you very much, we're glad to hear of your interest, we'll talk again when you've got an offer on your place. I don't see who gains by an offer made and accepted under these circumstances The buyer can't buy because he hasn't sold. The seller can't sell to that buyer etc. It's not a deal at all.
presumably Josie 'accepted' the offer because the estate agent asked her whether she did or not. The ea should have advised her to say to the person making an offer 'please come back when you are in a position to proceed'.
Josie, I understand why this is not black and white. The ea has not technically introduced a buyer to you as they are not in a position to proceed. The likeliehood is that they won't be able to proceed for quite some time. Your 'buyer' may also achieve less for their house than anticipated and hence reduce their offer to you. As said elsewhere, the offer is meaningless BUT there is a possibility that it may go somewhere. Without wishing to have a pop at ea's in general YOUR ea should have explained the context and meaning of this 'offer' to you. It is re-miss to assume that you have the experience of buying and selling to know the implications of this 'offer' (ie that a sale is highly unlikely to result).
Ok, so solutions for you - if you want to go to another agent then this 'offer' should not hold you back. The phrase to use with the next agent when telling your history is that you had one offer but the buyer was not in a position to proceed. If there are more details not revealed here that suggest that the 'offer' is firmer for some reason than it may appear here then a way to hedge your bets may be to go joint agency if the ea's are agreeable to this.
try making your product more interesting to buyers We are able to sell good properties quickly but the ones that the vendor wants something for nothing are the ones that struggle. Why is it ALWAYS the fault of someone else! Some of the C%^P I see where vendor wants the same price as the 'Stunning' House in the street!!!!
"The greatest trick the Devil played, was convincing us all that he did not exist"
sorry Josie - the other part of your post I meant to reply with was
quote:
Our house only has 1 bedroom. They neglect to tell prospective buyers this & so far the only negative feedback we've had is because the viewers want a larger house
This strikes a chord with me as my place has 1 double and one single bedroom described as such on the details. Even when the ea points it out some viewers still come and complain it is too small (the house as a whole and the bedroom only). House equates in most peoples's minds with 'bigger' and it seems that only viewing can dissuade some people!
I think 1 and 1.5 bed houses have a small market and you may have to wait longer for a buyer. does this equate with reducing it? I'm not sure. You could offer it for 10 grand but it still wouldn't be a solution for a family or friends living together or for couples who have friends to stay regularly. What I'm saying is that with smaller places, the opportunities for increasing the size of your potential market are more limited.
...just to add - I work in Fast Moving Consumer Goods and we find that consumers like products that they can easily categorise (ie they are a bit different but it's obvious which 'category' they belong to ie don't put a shampoo in a bottle that looks like a hair spray because however great the product is the bottle is inappropriate for the category 'shampoos'). Had I realised this before I bought my dinky detached then I may not have purchased it! Not many people set out to buy 1.5 or 1 bed houses. Places like this are hard to categorise - they have lots of benefits but the benefits are normally found in other (bigger) homes. this is why you get people wanting to view but then complaining about the size.
Originally posted by immy21: try making your product more interesting to buyers We are able to sell good properties quickly but the ones that the vendor wants something for nothing are the ones that struggle. Why is it ALWAYS the fault of someone else! Some of the C%^P I see where vendor wants the same price as the 'Stunning' House in the street!!!!
I think what the vendor wants is a realistic valuation and an enthusiastic agent that can get people to view their property. We are not ALL being so unrealistic as to expect to sell at last years prices and are not ALL comparing our houses unrealistically with our neighbours. Some sound advice from an agent would be nice as ours seems cr&p and we're stuck 8 wks into a 16wk contract with no viewings since day 1 on the market. We are now at the point of deciding between installing central heating or dropping the price. Any suggestions which would be best to go for? (or both even but probably will then run out of funds and have to forget the whole idea of moving)
I think one of the reasons there is such a lot of conflict between vendors and ea's is unrealistic expectations on the part of the vendor and unrealistic promises on the part of the ea!
eg/ an ea can't make people view - they can only draw the property to the attention of the likely buyers. Believe me, you don;t want them to trapse a load of tyre kickers through your home just to jolly you along. One of the ea's I have used was 'forceful' with viewers (combining viewing my place with other viewings to 'persuade' reluctant viewees) and as a cosnequence I have had umpteen no shows and completely inappropriate people wasting my time and theirs.
eg. an ea can't tell you what will make your house sell with ANY degree of certainty - it could be the central heating, it could be the price - it depends on each individual and the context/time in which they are viewing. What one individual values another will not.
Ea's have a limited range of marketing tools available to them - records of buyers, internet, newspaper, store front and conviviality/orgnaisation for the buyers who they deal with. There's not much that they can do beyond that - except for the price. On another thread someone has described getting useful advise on whether to put a loo in from an ea but I have NEVER been given any advise from an ea regarding home presentation or improvement even when I have directly asked eg. should I show my 2nd bedroom as a study or bedroom - er dunno -doesn't really matter! In fact in placs with multiple staff you'll be lucky if they have even seen your house. I'm currently being told 'ooh we've just sold a few properties in a road by you' by the ea I currently have who obviously can't even remember that the properties sold are all ex-LA and mine is private build.
so I don't have a beef with ea's - just think that they are not fountains of knowledge and far from being maestros of marketing.
Ooh - so many replies! Firstly thanks for replying to me first-ever "post"
The offer we "accepted" three weeks ago was from someone who had sold their flat. However, since the offer was made, their sale has fallen through, so they still want our house but need to find another buyer for theirs. Although, thinking about it, this probably means the "offer" is not entirely valid anymore.
We have been for sale since the Autumn & have so far accepted 5 offers (not counting the one refered to above), all of which have fallen through, usually due to first-time-buyers deciding they can't afford it. Why they don't decide how much they can afford before making an offer, lord only knows!
immy21 - I can't think of a single way to make our property any more interesting - we've got a 16th century cottage with exposed floorboards, beams, stonework etc, all recently renovated with large rooms (15ft x 17ft bedroom, for example), parking for 2 cars, garden, quiet location. It's pretty individual & the only other property in the area which is even remotely similar is on for £5k more, & that's on a busier road. So I don't think price is the problem.
