Thetownend.com

Had out house up for about 9 weeks now I think and being abroad means that, while that usually wouldn't be too long, I have a desire to seel as quickly as possible.

Anyone had any luck in improving their estate agents performance? thinking of offering an extra incentive to them if they sell within the next 2 weeks for example at a rate close to the asking price.

I know that our house is at the mid to lower end of prices, so an estate agent after the first couple of weeks doesn't have a huge incentive to put in the extra hours, plus we had tenants for a month of that which made getting any viewings arranged an issue.  Trying to think of ways of bringing it back into focus for them without the usual easy slash the price option given it is pretty well valued in comparison to others I can see on the market.

A good estate agent will give you good feedback from viewings. I'm presuming you are getting viewings?

Not really, only two real ones so far, partly because we had the tenants in before.

Maybe time to swap agents then. We were with Bushey Boys Moovahome and no disrespect to him, but they couldn't get enough people through the door in nine or so weeks. We changed agents, and within a week we had two decent offers.

It's down to the client list.

Rightmove tend to be the first place to visit in all honesty, the estate agent is secondary really.

I had contact with pretty much every agent in Swindon when we sold/moved three years ago and then the best by far were Richard James. Very efficient. They knew what we were looking for and found us a house and we had an offer accepted before it had even been officially listed online.

Although there was a fit bird with huge tits at Allen & Harris who also stood out from memory :)

Tied in for now, so changing probably isn't an option for a couple of months.  Using Haart.

The best experience I had was when doing-up a house to sell and took all the viewings on myself - the estate agent was chucking people through.  Unless the house is worth 500k, the commission probably doesn't provide enough incentive to tread those hard yards of going out on loads of viewings, hence wondering if giving a short term gee-up might help.  I'd happily give the guys an extra 1k if they sold it this week, rather than take 15k less by dropping the price to do their work for them.

I used Richard James East Swindon branch.
Yasmin said she'd sell my flat at asking price within a week.
They took pictures mid week. Went online Friday. 3 viewings on Saturday. Sold on Monday.

Not really much help I'm afraid

+1 for Richard James

When my estate agent wasn't performing I listed it at another estate agents as well, so listed on 2 at the same time.  It seemed to give them motivation as they sold it within the next 2 weeks.  A little healthy competition never hurts.

Sounds like a really shit Craig David song.....

+1 for Richard James too.

Sold my house without even putting it on the market. That sale eventually fell through but through no fault of RJ. Managed to sell again within a few days.

Maybe we were the exception, but we found Richard James pushy and very slimey when even enquiring. Kept pestering for the 'job'. Not the cheapest in town.

Which branch? We used old town and had no issues. My only issue with them on move day was they constantly kept pestering me to get the keys to my old house.
We had already informed them all we had was a transit van so it would mean multiple trips and may take a couple of hours. As the new owners were going to be renting it out we were told they were in no intimidate rush for the keys. It would seem that was not the case.

Fuck me if Richard James is the best option. I thought they were all cunts. Especially Yasmine.

My son's house is on the market with Charles Hardin in Gorse Hill.  Seems like plenty of viewings but a bit of a problem.  As they are both out at work all day the agents conduct viewings in their absence, came home last Friday and found mud all through the hall and on the upstairs carpets!!  Shitty e-mail quickly sent, apology received but left a bad taste in mouth!!  No puns please!!

Isn't it a lot like buying a football club?

They didn't have to eat the mud!

They would also be getting an invoice for the carpets to be cleaned.

P.S - majority of Agents are clueless fools and know very little about property, or in fact anything really apart from lofty aspects....

That was what I told them, but after a grovelling apology they cleaned it themselves!

That's a workable suggestion.  Your commission rate will increase whether your existing or new agent introduces a buyer, so check your contract for the exact cost.  It would be useful to get another opinion or two on the sale price you are asking, though bear in mind most agents will blanket claim they can sell your property at the price being asked to secure the instruction.  You don't have to instruct any agent yet and research would be good and free.

The other element of your contract you should check is the minimum period of instruction (and perhaps notice period/method). 12 weeks is common but some agents try it on, others are more flexible.  If it were twelve weeks then notify them right now that you will be terminating the instruction and then instruct another on expiry (doing your research meanwhile).  An agent obviously needs a decent opportunity to sell when instructed but offer 8 weeks max and settle for 10 if necessary.  You really need a big marketing effort by October start as people begin to be distracted by Christmas thereafter.

Finally, bear in mind the risk of becoming liable for TWO commissions.  If your existing agent has "introduced" your property to a punter that eventually puts in an offer to agent number two (even after agent no. 1 is disinstructed) you can be legally liable (in my experience agents are like sharks here if they get wind)

If you can't fairly swiftly dispatch the existing agent, the idea that you offer an extra commission to achieve a quick sale at a certain level is not unreasonable.  Indeed some agents offer this at the outset (usually having rigged the odds because they think getting the extra is not really extra and easily achievable). 

A good agent is of course all about getting the extra and holding their nerve when the buyer is offering low and clinching it higher. You need an offer first, of course!



 

We are stuck with them for a couple of months more I think, without having to pay extra anyway.  Thinking we could offer them double commission (currently 1.5%) if they sell within 5k of the current asking price within the next couple of weeks or we'll add another agent into the mix (which essentially leaves us in the same position commission wise anyway).

Price wise we checked 3 agents upfront and all came within 10k of each other, we are currently listed at the lowest price, 230k.  This is why I'm thinking the double commission may give them a little push, that makes our house worth as much as a near 500k house in commission terms to them, but presumably with a bigger market to appeal to.  Quite frankly, paying them 1,150 extra is neither here nor there if we sell the damned thing quickly, especially as I imagine their advice will be to drop it by 5k anyway.

The house itself is receiving a lick of paint and is now empty, so it should be ok when viewed a few times, just need someone to pop in!   I've been checking the market and I don't see much at the same price which would be an obviously better option, so at worst I'd expect some interest from people having a look around.

1.5%! Blimey!

We sold ours 18 months ago at 0.6%. Has it risen that much in that period of time?!

We had the option of using a cheaper provider but they didn't have a street presence and the other Commercial Rd gang we tried out were terrible at even getting around to valuing and talking to us in the USA - so we worked on the basis that Haart had more to gain and seemed ok with the effort involved given the issues being abroad can present them with.  I'd happily give someone nearly 5% to sell the thing at asking price within the next week or two!!  I'll lose more in the money transfer anyway, plus I have 6 months left to sell it before I am liable for capital gains!!

Unfortunately the national estate agencies tend to be more expensive commission wise and generally have alot more houses on their books, so less time to spend on them.  You definitely have more negoiating power with the more local agencies.  We paid 0.7% when we sold through Charles Harding last year (after telling them Richard James had said they'd do it for 0.8%, which was a lie!). Couldn't fault them really.  We had a week to get an offer on our house after we'd offered on one and they got 3 on the table and negoiated the best price from the best positioned buyers.

I'm not sure street presence matters as much as it used to.  We viewed 5 houses and all of them were by seeing them on rightmove.

What length of contract do you have with them? I thought it was 12 weeks as standard?

Double check the length of contract, indeed. Most "standard terms" are negotiable, up or down and the particular agent has probably taken advantage of the fact that you are abroad in your case.  1.5% sole agency is relatively uncommon and more reasonable for multi or joint agency.

You need to sell and it seems the asking price is reasonable. To have only achieved 2 viewings so far is poor therefore although the tenants could have been a factor.  It seems you must achieve a sale before Christmas at the latest for CGT purposes etc and to do that you'll need to have accepted an offer by mid or end October, otherwise that outcome becomes very unlikely.  Allow at least 6 weeks to exchange of contracts as a minimum (more often 8-10) so that a buyer has time to sort out the legals, a survey, a local search and mortgage offer etc.  To have an active agent monitoring this part of the transaction will also be important.  Ideally avoid a chain as this multiplies the risk of failure as any one transaction falling through, buggers all of them. Completion usually follows exchange by at least a week and commonly within two.

I would put a deal to the agent that you will offer 3% say if they introduce a buyer who exchanges contracts for within GBP X k of the asking price with a pre Christmas completion date.  Any buyer will want a discount on asking price at this stage. The Agents should hardly say no as this is what they are being asked to do anyway! If you offer an extra 1.5% rather than a flat 3%, that would potentially end up meaning 1.5% on top of the joint or multiple agency rate you have agreed. Word it cutely if possible.

Meanwhile line up the most professional or convincing agent for a joint agency to commence first week of October or asap thereafter.  There seem to be good tips here. Negotiate better terms with them, ie re joint agency rate (1.25-1.5%) and then offer them an extra incentive too for a pre Christmas completion. Ensure their contract ends by 31st December (in case of failure).  Not sure if multiple agency always works as the agents may fear working hard for nothing. Arguments exist that says joint agency works better. Incentivisation v Spread is the issue.

Also bear in mind that many agents earn extra commissions for introducing mortgage business and this can sometimes colour their advice.  They might even be involved more than once in a chain and could be encouraged to recommend an offer where they are earning more commissions on sales and mortgage introductions within a preferred chain.  No chain is best. Cash buyer with no mortgage is a valuable bonus too.

Empty and with a lick of paint should improve matters for you. Go for the offer without a chain if you receive two for similar amounts.

If you have a good solicitor / conveyancer locally they can probably advise you well (bear in mind again that most agents these days recommend solicitors or conveyancers on the basis of introductory commissions, indeed larger chains of agents are often told to recommend xyz co.  Don't for goodness sake go for some outfit in Hull or MK or wherever because the agent tells you it will go through more smoothly.  That is bollocks.  Go for a local solicitor / conveyancer or your usual solicitor/ conveyancer.

All, imo.

Ta very muchly.  I think that's where the conversation in my head and on here is leading me - set the incentive, give them 2 weeks and then release other hounds.  We are also speaking to a friend who is a professional landlord about the option of renting it again, especially if we reach the tipping point on the CGT issue (which I believe would hit me for about 20k)

Depends on which branch. We found the West Swindon branch to be terrible

Done some digging, and we re tied in for 20 weeks under a sole selling agent agreement (yes, I know, wasn't me guv, although I did sign at the bottom).

Still, even accounting for potentially having to pay on two agents, it' still cheaper than dropping the price by 10% or paying CGT.

You live and you learn, and someone else profits in the meantime.

although oddly the Haart rep signed with the date 20th July 2015, idiot.  Very much doubt I can rely on that though :-)

When I sold - going back a good few years I found Haart awful poor feedback and people viewing that cold not really afford our house but was pushed to by Haart as we may accept a low offer which we wouldnt

Why not, I would at the very least tell them you are majorly unimpressed with their performance and that in your opinion you have the right to fuck off due to the date on the contact, emphasising that its another example of their shoddy performance, if nothing else might focus their minds a bit?

Then again they can't even spell Hart so what do you expect?

If you want to sell cheaply or rely on people just finding you on Rightmove, then use an online service like Purple Bricks or Bushey's Moovahome.

If you want a traditional agent that'll drive viewings and actually work for their money, I've found Castles very good.

I had used Castles before, but my success with them came when doing the viewings myself - which rather does beg the question about the level of time and effort an estate agent wishes to commit to any given house depending on expected commission I guess.  We tried them but they struggled to even respond around the valuation, let alone be useful as a very distant partner, and for obvious reasons, me doing the viewings wasn't going to work out this time.

Don't suppose anyone is/was an estate agent and can shed any light on how to motivate them?

For now, I've decided to get the renting option reviewed - if I can change to an BTL mortgage and revert to interest only, then I can reduce the monthly outgoings to sub 200, and a quick search suggest rents for a 3 bed in Eldene (Snodshill end - that's for Reg) come in around 850-900.  It's not ideal as we really want the cash out of the property, but better than a smack in the chops.

About selling.. I've never done it and we're looking to move in the next 1-2 years depending on whether child 2 happens.

Would it be a good idea to create a portfolio of all the new things added/updated to the house since we moved in and present this to any interested buyers? Or is this done by the estate agent?

sounds good but no special knowledge there.

on the legal side, improvements tend to lead to demands regarding guarantees and certificates later on.  

not sure that most guarantees are especially valuable at sale time. many buyers will have offered without knowledge of guarantees and then get sniffy about their enforceability or transferability. sometimes not mentioning guarantees can ironically save trouble for a seller.

there are however compliance certificates that will likely be required for certain works, especially gas and electrical and in the case of double glazing Fensa certificates.  The absence of these can cause problems to the transaction, often later on, after a buyer has received advice from a surveyor or a careful solicitor has checked the mortgage conditions of a buyer's mortgage offer.

good luck with no. 2

Thanks for the advice - I'l keep this all in mind. The house, imo, is certainly in better condition than when we purchased it. Hopefully potential buyers will see this!

I can confirm that unless you have the necessary paperwork, leave it our for now.  I replaced a window at the property I did up and the company went bust before we could get any documentation!  It ended up with me having to get a Council inspector to come out and confirm it met the necessary guidelines - it was no more than 2 feet wide by 1 foot tall I think-  all to do with ensuring it opens etc. depending on doors between that and the exit and so on.

If you have replaced a big item number, like the boiler you are supposed to advise the solicitors and again having documentation is required, but that is one item that might help as it will reassure the buyer if it's relatively new.

It is amazing what a buyer will miss when viewing - on that house I mention, a bit of plaster blew next a radiator (we'd taken them off to decorate properly and one had leaked a little, but was fixed) about 10 minutes before a viewing.  I found a bucket and mop and located it just in front and on the viewing stood in front, they never even blinked.  To confirm, I did get it fixed before selling, and it was that person who purchased it.