Im trying to sell my house and have had it on the for 2 months, I have had 14 viewing but no offers lots of interest. My estate agents reckons i should drop the price again as we are heading for another resession and the housing market is going to crash again! Are they being a normal Estate agent or are they telling the truth!
Any advise?
0
Comments
If you have had 14 viewings in 2 months that is excellent, perhaps he should earn his money in doing some selling to his clients, and not just use the mud on wall technique.Have you had any feedback!, constructive comments.....
My neighbour sold his house after putting the price up! and his house had been on the market for 2 and a half years! (fellow Charlton fan) so ignore your agent , and this is just speculation, nobody knows!
Interest rates may well rise early next year...... and after inflation houses will not see a big rise or fall was the last 'prediction' I remember a couple of weeks ago.
Where abouts do you live Gumbo...... a sensible valuation by at least three agents should give you a decent valuation, tell him you are gonna make it multi if he does not sell, that will 'galvanise the lazy bugger'
Maybe it's true maybe it's not, but wee'll be hitting a few more sales this summer when interest rates are very favourable. Clearly people are interested in your property, see what you can jazz up about it for little money. Mind you if similar properties in your area are going down in price then...... it's up to you but unlikely you'll get a high endd price.
* The agents valuation, is just normally what he would be hopeful of getting in a good market.
* It also gives room for you to accept an offer below the agent's valuation.
Also remember, the agent is working for you - in the event of a sale, you pay him commission, not the buyer.
However ..... it's a buyer's market out there.There's not so many of them and they can drive a hard bargain themselves.
The golden rule to remember, is that a property is only worth what someone is prepared to pay.
Now if the agent wants to drop his valuation after 14 visits and no sale, it might first be wise to ask him what feedback he's received from those 14 prospective buyers? There might be other reasons apart from a failing market.
Further, check what similar properties in your area are valued at - and see if the valuation of your house is above these,
plus how many sales are being made in your area.
With this little bit of research from your own agent, perhaps other agents also (pretend to be a prospective buyer looking for property) and property columns in newspapers, websites, etc - plus talk to any one you know (friends, family, workmates, etc) to see if anyone else is trying to sell or has sold, or indeed buying.
Now having done your homework, you'll be a position to know whether to accept that agent's advice to drop your price.
Or whether he hasn't made a sale for months because nobody is buying - and that he's desperate for a commission, any amount to get cashflow to keep his business running!
Around 86,000 homes were sold for more than £40,000 during the month, up from 71,000 in May, according to HM Revenue & Customs.
The figure is the highest since December last year, when 103,000 properties changed hands, as people buying lower value homes rushed through transactions before the end of the stamp duty holiday.
The number of homes sold during June was also 15% up on the same month of 2009, when 75,000 transactions took place.
But housing market activity was still subdued compared with previous years, with 162,000 homes sold during June 2007, shortly before house prices reached their peak.
The latest bounce in sales is in line with figures reported by the Council of Mortgage Lenders on Tuesday, which showed that total mortgage advances had increased by 15% during June, to reach a six-month high of £13.1 billion.
The group attributed the rise to the traditional seasonal pick-up in activity, although it warned that sales levels were likely to remain subdued while access to mortgages continued to be limited.
The two latest sets of figures on the housing market provide some rare good news following a recent run of gloomy data.
Halifax reported that house prices fell for the third consecutive month during June, as the market failed to pick up momentum following a subdued start to the year.
Other surveys have also shown that demand from new buyers is failing to keep pace with the number of properties now being put up for sale, relieving much of the upward pressure on prices.
So I took the initiative. I dropped the price down to 190k and took on Your Move in Strood. This was two months ago. Since then I've not had a single call to update me, and I've had one viewing.
So firstly if you live anywhere near strood dont touch your move with a bargepole, and secondly they all talk crap and lie through their teeth. I dont trust a single one of them. If you think it's worth 120k then leave it there. They want one thing and thats their commission. They take you on by making you think it's worth whatever you want it to be then as soon as you're on they want you to lower the price to try and get a sale.
If there is one thing I hate more than estate agents I cant think of it at the moment.
Mates rates available if he saves on paying out Estate Agents commission!
;o)
Nobody needs to tell you that selling your home is stressful - it damn well is.
To build the value / availabillity "brand" of the house, tell everyone that you are leaving - it's a done deal. Speak to neighbours, newsagents, publicans, local builders, devolopers and leaflet homes in the area with "money pointers" decent cars, gardens, no litter, hanging baskets - with the selling price (no offers).
In the modern world, I personally believe that serious potential buyers DO NOT use Estate Agents to "find" properties in their target area and price. They don't gaze into Glass-on-the-Street house shops, holding hands. I hate to say it but you've had fourteen tyre-kickers in eight to twelve weeks
Qualified buyers will constantly refer to online resources such as Rightmove and will never contact an Estate Agent until they feel that they have to. Serious buyers will know the area and the market value of your property.
But you need to get your property on Rightmove etc.. via an Estate Agent - look at properties in your postcode and see who is selling / who has sold the most.
Also on-line, put on your watch-list properties that you can reasonably expect to buy - you'll learn about your local or preferred are and also price movements (also entertaining).
I hate the fact that Property Lawyers are liable for the minutiae of trannsfers (fencing, drainage, who's adopted the road, boundaries etc) and complete the exchange with hundreds of thousands of pounds within say an hour but are paid about £1200 quid.
Compare and contrast the Estate Agent fee of 3/4 to 1 1/2 per cent on a sale.
Be prepared to "Boss" your estate agent - get the sales details and edit - proximity to schools, railway station, crime levels. Get on their back and stay on the case; phone and nag every few days.
If possible, do the viewings yourself - if the potential buyer can't come on say Saturday pm or Sunday am - then in my view they are not serious - dismiss them. If they can afford it, they'll be back
Gain control of the selling process - if you have a serious viewer - greet them - tell them why you are selling the House (not your Home) and confirm the price. They are on the ground floor - don't be welcoming. Then, be hard - "where are you in the chain" - this is in your budget, right ?
I hope my comments don't come across as harsh - but having had a sale "confirmed" by a complete fantasist who wasted hours of our time, I have a polarised view. Oh, and the Estate Agent took the property off the market without informing us.
I own my own estate agency and obviously have access to Rightmove and all the other websites. Powerchord is right in what he's saying (to a point) which is why we've just started to offer certain packages to a much wider audience. We can basically market any property for sale for under £400.
I would love as many Charlton fans as possible to use my business as although i know you all hate estate agents, running your own business is tough and we need all the support we can get. In return i promise to give you an honest service.
Remember i'm Charlton through and through. Think of me as that and not as an estate agent!
The business is only a few months old and it was a bold decision to make in difficult times but we're giving it a good go and the signs are very encouraging.
If anyone would seriously like to discuss this further please whisper me and i'll be happy to talk.
Thanks for reading!
Right.
But we loved Bolder, Humphrey, Reid.
;o)
They just dont do their job and that is a fact
To an extent.
This particular package is basically for those who believe that the internet does most of the work...and indeed it does (i could reel off facts for you but i'd bore you more than i am already!). We'll also provide you with some property brochures which obviously have colour photos and descriptions.
I'm very aware that i shouldn't be using this forum as a place to advertise so please whisper me and i'll provide more details.
Thanks,
BHR
But we are curious to understand how your system works, so I personally don't have any objection
Therefore if the house actually goes for (say) £140k the agent will still get £2,800. You lose £10K he loses £200.
That is why they give an inflated valuation when they first come round so you sign up. They then spend the rest of the time knocking you down and down.
The decision to make is should I leave a firm with such a complete absence of ethics, professionalism and morality or is every estate agent like it meaning going elsewhere is more hassle than it is worth?
The best way to deal with Estate Agents is presume everything they say is a lie then you wont fall for their Bullshit.
I would not trust one as far as I could spit one, when I bought my place the people here before were nice and we did everything between ourselves. I got sick of asking an estate agent to ask a simple question only to wait a week to be given an answer I could have got by speaking direct to the sellers.
Also, they are idle bastards. Hardly ever do you get shown round a place by an estate agent.
Good luck to the bloke starting his own business but I think all estate agents are corrupt cockblocks
But everybody else gets the usual, dishonest service?
I would love as many Charlton fans as possible to use my business as although i know you all hate estate agents, running your own business is tough and we need all the support we can get.[u aria-level=0 aria-posinset=0 aria-setsize=0]In return i promise to give you an honest service.
[/u][/quote]
But everybody else gets the usual, dishonest service?[/quote]
No but it seems most of you are having a tough time of it.
I started the business a few months ago having never been in the industry. I was doing something totally different but have had bad experiences myself previously when buying and selling so a friend of mine and i looked into doing it (with the intention of doing it better and offering more options to the seller). We researched the market for a year, took the plunge and with a little bit of luck we're doing ok.
Having spent some time dealing with rival estate agents i can sympathise with all of your thoughts on agents as i agree, they're idiots.
If anyone genuinely needs advice or help with selling/buying please let me know and i'll try to help as much as i can.
I really don't want to come on here to get grief. All agents are idiots, but i'm not.
That is the problem, but not everybody surfs the net!.... I appreciate that the local papers are somewhat ineffective, and become out of date, perhaps the 'newshopper' should do this online as well as the paper! along with a couple of profile features.... anyway that aside Agents need to offer an individual service. Too many bung the details on the web and forget it, I registered with 6 agents to send details, only two ever sent me details via email or in the post!
If they are that apathetic to someone who had paid for a HIP and was new to the market, no wonder they have a hard time. I tend to think the web is fine for someone living outside an area, but the local agent needs to know what the client can afford, and there needs, like schools, trains etc. In general I had found the smaller agents a lot more efficient!, the staff in general seemed more informed and stable and were not trying to just reach there sales target.
As a seller or buyer you have to do your homework and know what is on the market in the area, in your price band. I had a large semi extended in a good location which I though would be snapped up!. I seemed to get people telling me that they had seen detached houses in places like Erith and Bexleyheath that were the same price..... As the saying goes 'Location' . My reply was that this was the cheapest 4/5 bed house in the area ( quater mile radius) except those along the side of the A2, a fact that most of the other agents did not know as well! or claimed not to just added to the impression that a lot of agents just send people along based on a price and not an specific area!
That is the problem, but not everybody surfs the net!.quote]
I agree which is why we offer other packages that provide a full service.