Big Pete

Hi jeanie

A very good post , i totally agree . what do they do ?? Nothing that we cant do for ourselves .. we can use internet free on some sites and about £99 on others .. if you want a advert in local paper just stick it in

When it comes to viewings who does it anyways we do !! They estimate values and stuff money for old rope for them

look forward to many more of your posts young lady

chrisw

Hi Sunnydee! In a nutshell, the agent will send you viewings for about 6-8 weeks then very little to follow. This is the 3rd agent we have been with (put it on for 4 months, 2 years ago). All the agents so far, seem to follow the same pattern, although the latest one we have do seem to follow up a bit better. It seems as though the majority of property that is selling at the moment, is that which would attract 1st time buyers. Maybe you will be one of the lucky ones that sells quickly, so fingers crossed for you!
Chris

Compost Mentis

I've been on the market twice since last August, and with two different agents. The latest lot have been very much better in every way than the first lot. I was interested to note that the market was very different this last time, around January, it was bouyant, and this was when I got my offers. By March it had changed again, and was slow. I know this as in a state of paranoia I asked the agent what the market would be like (in March) if my buyer pulled out. He said that it was a 'different market' even in such a short time, and that as the year progresses, and spring happens traditionally people are in a better frame of mind to make a change. I would say to all those trying to sell, don't lose heart, it's the right time of year. I wish you all the best for your sales.

chrisw

Hi Jeanie27 welcome to the forum! Whinge away, your entitled and it is perfectly acceptable to whinge at estate agents anyway! I am not surprised so many estate agents are expected to go out of business if they don't earn their pay, are you? One of my colleugues at work was in the process of putting an offer in at an agent here, and apparently they have gone bust overnight! Trouble is, during a property boom they don't have to do anything but wait. But during a slump, if they don't have as many properties on their books, they don't sell anything for say a couple of months that is enough to put them under. That is when they have to earn their commission! Hope you manage to sell your house in Spain soon, good luck!

Big Pete

Hi Chris

Just read your viewing saga today , and you was right to stick on the 4th bedroom issue ..
Sounds to me like the guys a twat I use one of the bedrooms here as a study/office and none of my viewers came out with that , so you was right

On the estate agents , sounds to me typical of them not knowing your house purchase plans and stuff as in all honesty you are just one of many on there books !!

Anyways good luck and stick with it ! Now is the busy time so just keep it tidy and it will go , fingers crossed ..
oh good news interest rates staying the same so people will be confident to take out bigger motgages again ..

Big Pete

Oh Jeanie
I meant to say , if i was you i would market it myself !!
Put it on here for a starter . Then put it on free or even the small fee websites , as i for one . am a firm believer the internet is gonna kill the agents . agents close at 5.00pm about the same time the world finishes work ? they work for themselves not got your interest in mind at all if there honest !! So market it yourself ..

chrisw

Thanks Lionda! I am glad you are pleased with your new estate agent's photos. We did the same last year, painted outside and got them back to take a new photo, exactly the same impression, much better with a blue sky background in full sun without shadows!
I agree as well that it is difficult to change a room's usage when you use it for a specific purpose. If I knew it would only be for a month or two I could get by, but who can say nowadays, how long a property will be on the market? Another one of my colleugues at work said her parents house was up for sale for about 3 years and still didn't sell, so they took it off the market! Anyway, good luck with the new agent Lionda! Taking everyones advice by the way, chill out and enjoy easter.
Mind you didn't actually get to put the relaxation bit into progress, OR the Bacardi, as my daughter, son in law and their 3 boys turned up with my son and one of his little boys. I did get as far as putting my CD on, and I did get to the garden, but was bathing the dog when they arrived. He saw them, started howling to get to them, one of them eagerly opened the patio door and let him in. The dog flew into the sitting room and THEN shook all over the wallpaper. Grabbed a towel quick and wiped it, thankfully it was ok. But ain't it awful when your home is not really your home and you follow everyone with dusters and dishclothes! Oh well, hopefully it wont be forever!
Chris XXX

Lionda

Yes, they contact all the people on their books looking for your type of property (or similar) and you get the viewings, then they appear to get bored with you when they get another new property and turn their attention to that one If you decide to switch to another agent you find they suddenly remember they are supposed to be working for you and get you a couple more viewings - probably so that you will think "Oh, I'd better stay with them, they are getting me viewings again"

Lionda

Onwards and upwards eh Chris. We'll get there in the end

sunnydee

We went on with our agent on Thurs. morning. We cut the sole agency contract down by 5 weeks which they seemed happy to do and we told them we would change agencies if it didn't sell in that time. We also told them that we would try to sell it privately. I don't know whether I would have done that or even thought about it if it hadn't been for this thread.
Hi ChrisW, we have a 3 bed semi so wouldn't be for first time buyers where I live unless they were moving from London which is about 50 mins on the train.
We have had 2 viewings so far, firstly, a man bringing up 2 kids on his own - he just popped his head in each door which I think isn't very hopeful although Howard reckons thats all he would do! Our second viewing was a woman - 2nd time buyer who has already sold her house (subject to contract) to a first time buyer.
More viewings today but I'm trying not to be overly optimistic.

wheatsheaf42

These days almost all agents are part of an internet advertising system such as primelocation.com or findaproperty.com and people seem to surf a lot to see what's available before they get details. They can also see what the alternatives are in the same area. If your property isn't somewhere on one of these websites I think a wise move might be to get an agent who is linked in that way.

SueG

Please double check your sole agency contract - I do know that an awful lot of estate agents contracts expect to be paid even if you sell privately. If it is in their contract and you sell privately you will still have to pay them. Please check. Working in Solicitors' offices we have had clients caught on this and the clients have all lost!!!!

sunnydee

Thanks for the advice. We asked and also checked the contract - we would only have to pay if we sold through another agency or if it was client introduced by our agency.

chrisw

I agree with you Wheatsheaf42, but check out the internet site you intend to advertise with, as there was a change of policy last year in relation to the 3 major estate agent sites.
Unlesss the INTERNET agent you are signing with is a REGISTERED estate agent, (and there is only one which I have found which is www.housenetwork.co.uk we paid about £299, and the same again if they sell it!, which included a photographer to take photos and virtual photos and provide floor plans) your property will not be accepted by the "big 3" which are www.propertyfinder.co.uk www.fish4.co.uk and propertyfinder.co.uk . This was because "traditional high street estate agent complained to the big three saying it was affecting their business and unless they stopped taking properties from non estate agents, all the estate agents would stop using their services. As they account for about 95% of their business they agreed. These 3 feed ALL the other servers like local and national newspaper sites, Google, etc, and and endless list which provides exposure to about 12 million potencial buyers with worldwide access!
We actually got caught up right in the middle of this dispute. We signed up for www.clicksell.co.uk , paid our £59, and a week later when the property was still not on the 3 sites called Clicksell who advised us that they had been told a few days before, that they were no longer able to place adds with the big 3! We asked for a refund as they clearly must have known about this when we paid but they refused as they still thought it was good value. :curse: If we took it to court, no doubt we would get our money back but it is enough hassle to sell your house without legal issues pending. Can't be doing it !
There was a link on a post the other day, but when I checked it out they didn't advertise that they were a registered estate agent, so just be aware of situation before paying out any hard earned cash. If they say they can adverse with the big 3 tell them to confirm this specifically, and get it in writing! Good luck all!

chrisw

Right, here we go again! I called our agent this morning and read them the riot act re: sending people whose houses aren't for sale, especially 2nd viewings, (that one was for you Sue!) and people who don't seem to be looking for a family home, like single women with no children, divorced men with no children, people who have children in school OUTSIDE our catchment area and 3 cancelled viewings which NONE of the estate agents we have been with have ever done! :curse:
I told them that I was, quite frankly disgusted that we had been sent such a lot of timewasters! (you go girl!) They asked if we wanted to change the criteria so that the only send people who have their houses on the market, or have their property under offer. I told them yes as we were fed up of being the entertainment for people on a day out! (That told 'em!)
I should add that I have had a rotten cold all week which seemed a lot better yesterday but came back with a vengance today, and my head was splitting so I wasn't in the mood to beat about the bush. They got both barrels!
I also called the internet agent for update, (very efficient, but also can't sell!) and had a chat as have not heard from them re viewings for about 6 months. Have changed from asking price only, to "in the region of" and they are going to sent me statistics from Rightmove on hits per page etc. in relation to our house.

I took a lemsip which unusually didn't work, then Bob and I went out to get a new winsdcreen wiper blade as one has split, ended up getting a few flowers for the back and front gardens (also a coffee and walnut cake and a bag of sweets! Comfort food! You know where I'm coming from, don't you girls?)
When we got back home, there was a message on call minder to ring our agent, which I did.
They have made an appointment for someone who viewed our property last week, who had just received an offer on their property and were KEEN to view again. Hmmmm.
I said to them, "I thought you told me that this lady had already put in an offer on the other property like ours up the road, which you didn't think would be accepted!" I said if that is the case then why do they want to view ours, and if the offer was rejected for much lower than the asking price then again why are you sending them back to us, as our house is 2.5k more than theirs. They said "no, I don't think so, but they are very keen to view your house again"
The plot thickens! So anyway I accepted the appointment, which is for 12 tomorrow so we shall see! Dusters at high noon!
Watch this space for the next exciting episode of:
"Me casa es su casa!"