problems selling property.. (really??)

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CKDUBLIN

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Background: Three-bedroomed property, 40 plus years old. Located in Rush Co. Dublin, in a very mature estate. Has been priced to sell quickly and acknowledging that it needs a little TLC....
Am not happy with estate agent... we are not getting many inquiries or viewings (and we think its listed at a very fair price). We did have one offer at 2K under asking that fell through. Perhaps I am being unrealistic about what the agent should be doing... my impression so far is that selling the property has so far just involved them listing it on property websites....
Also a bit surprised about lack of interest given all the news headlines about lack of affordable properties!!!
Advice anyone? What should a good agent be doing for me! We are also considering taking it off the market for a while and letting. Looking for some opinions on what rental market is like in this area...

[ speculation about house price changes removed - Moderators]
 
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What else can they do?

As someone looking to buy a house i go nowhere but Daft

I've contacted about 20 estate agents with my info and got about 6 replies saying they will take note.

1 sent on a house that was twice the price of what i asked and the other side of the city.
 
CKDUBLIN said:
What did they do before websites....
Click to expand...

They should advertise your property where the buyers are looking, which is mainly online these days. I'm not sure how good putting up the details in a window is anymore - I know I only look at them to be nosy! I guess they could advertise in a window close to where there are lots of renters close to where you're selling the house, since if people are already renting there, they might be looking to buy.
 
CKDUBLIN said:
Background: Three-bedroomed property, 40 plus years old. Located in Rush Co. Dublin, in a very mature estate. Has been priced to sell quickly and acknowledging that it needs a little TLC....
Am not happy with estate agent... we are not getting many inquiries or viewings (and we think its listed at a very fair price). We did have one offer at 2K under asking that fell through. Perhaps I am being unrealistic about what the agent should be doing... my impression so far is that selling the property has so far just involved them listing it on property websites....
Also a bit surprised about lack of interest given all the news headlines about lack of affordable properties!!!
Advice anyone? What should a good agent be doing for me! We are also considering taking it off the market for a while and letting. Looking for some opinions on what rental market is like in this area...

[ speculation about house price changes removed - Moderators]
Click to expand...

I guess the simple answer is that your assessment of "priced to sell quickly" or "very fair price" is not in line with the realities of the market in that particular area.
Assume it is listed on daft and myhome? If so, and you are getting very little interest, either the price is just plain too high or the ads are not good enough.
Pictures sell houses, and accurate information (things like BER rating, floorplans, size of gardens, etc.) are really important (BER rating is a legal requirement for example).
 
Hi CK

Some agents are worse than others.

You probably should do a bit of mystery shopping.

Ask a friend to contact the estate agent.

See how easy it is to contact them. I have been astonished over the years at the efforts I had to make as a buyer to contact some agents.

When they do make contact, don't mention your house, ask them about another similar house in the area. See if they mention your house without prompting.

Then arrange a viewing of maybe both houses. See what happens. Ask about price and see how good or bad they are.

Brendan
 
So tried Brendan's suggestion..

Got a friend to call about a similar sized property in same area. Was told it was under offer at its asking price. Agent then told my friend she had another 2 bungalows on the books, one of which was ours. My friend then offered to give the agent her contact details to follow up… but they didn’t seem that bothered, told her to make a call again if she was still interested. That's not good if they aren't bothered taking details of potential buyers...!!!
Have now also listed it on two 'sell by owner' websites (agent agreement is sole agent not sole seller).
 
CKDUBLIN said:
So tried Brendan's suggestion..

Got a friend to call about a similar sized property in same area. Was told it was under offer at its asking price. Agent then told my friend she had another 2 bungalows on the books, one of which was ours. My friend then offered to give the agent her contact details to follow up… but they didn’t seem that bothered, told her to make a call again if she was still interested. That's not good if they aren't bothered taking details of potential buyers...!!!
Have now also listed it on two 'sell by owner' websites (agent agreement is sole agent not sole seller).
Click to expand...

In the "you eat what you kill" world of estate agency, it is very surprising that she's turning down money. Or else she is so busy that she only needs to go for the low hanging fruit and not put any effort into "selling" property to anyone. She's just processing the cases for people who have already made their mind up on the property they want.

What do they get paid? 1.5% of the sale price?


Steven
www.bluewaterfp.ie
 
I never cease to be amazed at the seemingly lack of interest in both car dealers and estate agents in doing anything much in the way of actual selling: basic things like returning phone calls. You would think people selling items costing 10s or 100s of thousands they’d be a bit more interested, but apparently not if my and many others' experience is anything to go by.
 
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Alternative theory... the market is booming and the estate agent is already creaming it and has a full plate of low hanging fruit - people contacting him about specific properties. So not even bothering to push properties or cross-sell.
 
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odyssey06 said:
Alternative theory... the market is booming and the estate agent is already creaming it and has a full plate of low hanging fruit - people contacting him about specific properties. So not even bothering to push properties or cross-sell.
Click to expand...

sounds very plausible to me

newtothis said:
I never cease to be amazed at the seemingly lack of interest in both car dealers and estate agents in doing anything much in the way of actual selling: basic things like returning phone calls. You would think people selling items costing 10s or 100s of thousands they’d be a bit more interested, but apparently not if my and many others' experience is anything to go by.
Click to expand...

my experience too re car dealers
 
Yes think theory about a booming market is correct. Called another estate agent to discuss changing representation... didn't even call back...
Meanwhile back at the ranch... anyone want a ranch... !
 
Made an offer of asking price on house last week. Agent couldn't have sounded less interested.

Not a single phone call or email since.

Should i call them or what? Better or worse if i sound eager?
 
I might have wrong property, if I do, you can ignore :)

but if it's the property with one photo on the property websites, the photo and wording of the advert scream 'this house is so bad that it's only suitable for complete renovation'.
Even the photo that is used shows a neglected property. So imagine what potential buyers think the part you aren't showing look like.

As a seller I would:
Paint the front wall. Remove the big trees in the front.
Put some plant pots with flowers spread along the lane.

Give it some appeal.
Retake photos.

You mentioned renting, so if the inside is ok for renting, Why is there no photos of inside, or the south facing garden?
Why does the advert contradict itself with the number of bedrooms?

The price is too high for the property as advertised. Who set the price? You or the agent?
 
Good spot! It's also listed with an agent if you can find it. More piccies there.
Am waiting to put more pictures on those sites myself. Garden has been done since then. I set price. Was valued by 3 agents at 20k higher....!!
Didn't spot the discrepancy on bedrooms....
Will go back and check.
 
The listing that I was referring to above doesn't appear on any other agents sites, so I have feeling I might have the wrong property or it's extremely well hidden :)

Regardless though, if you have improved the appearance since the agent took photos, get them to put new photos up. You want buyers to be attracted to the property and to view it and imagine themselves there and then they can decide if it's too much work for them or not to get it up to standard.
 
My sister-in-law is currently house-hunting in Dublin and she can't get over the difficulty in getting replies from estate agents when she contacts them through Daft. She saw a house advertised in north county Dublin that she was very interested in, it met all her requirements and the price was fine, but she got no response to emails or messages she left on the estate agent's voicemail requesting information regarding viewings. Next thing she sees the house had been sold! She doesn't know what it was sold for, but said she would have been happy to pay E20-30k above the asking price. Maybe it went for that any way, but if it didn't the estate agent served the seller very, very badly.

So, I would definitely use the 'mystery buyer' approach regularly, just to make sure the same isn't happening with your house. If it is, change estate agent - my sister-in-law has had good experiences too through Daft, ie estate agents who reply promptly, are helpful, and stay in touch with recommendations for other properties if the initial one doesn't work out.

Lastly, from my own previous experience, I can never get over how poor some of the listings are - in terms of inadequate information about the house itself and surrounding area (in some cases they don't even tell you if the house has a garden!) and the lack of photos, or the poor quality of them. If I saw a listing with just one photo, or even three or four, I would skip past it because I would assume the inside of the house was a nightmare!

Best of luck with it all, hope it works out.
 
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