Solitary chicken - need advice

[clootie]

Why do these people promise you everything until you sign on the dotted line and then not deliver? My main bug bear with agents is the lack of communication which is why, when I had my discussion with the partner of the firm we decided to go with, I stressed very strongly that regular communication would be vital. "Of course" he said "regular communication is key" he said, nodding in agreement while smiling at me like the Cheshire Cat. Guess what? Nothing. I fully appreciate that the market is not good at the moment and I'm not complaining about the lack of potential viewers but is it really too much to ask for a courtesy email to say hello, we are working hard for you, here's some feedback from the people who viewed recently? Perhaps it is. Nowadays it seems customer service is non existent and shame on me for expecting anything more. With the extortionate fees they charge - I'm considering going into business myself !! Grrrrr

[Tessa the Duchess]

That is bad Clootie I recently tried, and failed, to sell a property and the agent was actually very good, phoned me weekly to update me with viewers comments etc., Is it possible that your agents haven't had any viewings, so have nothing to report? I would phone them and see what is happening. Buying and selling property is just the pits

 

Tessa

[dancing cloud]

I used to chase my agent unmercifully, demanding to know what the viewers had said and demanding to know when/where adverts etc were appearing. Thankfully for them the house sold quickly so their nightmare went away

[clootie]

I know they don't have any news or they would indeed have been in touch but an email even just out of courtesy would go a long way. I've since spoken to the partner of the branch (who is on holiday apparently and called me this afternoon) and listened to the speech about the economic climate, time of year, hopes for January etc etc. He did, at the end of it, hold his hands up and say they should have been in touch. I feel he was embarrassed that they had not had better news for us but I don't hold him responsible for the current market !! Hopefully now they will make more of an effort for every client on their books with regard to communication but time will tell. It's not difficult to get the basics right after all. I'm glad he made the effort to phone me and not leave it to the staff in the office. 1 brownie point back!! Anyone want to buy an old house with some land?

[Snowy]

I know they don't have any news or they would indeed have been in touch but an email even just out of courtesy would go a long way. I've since spoken to the partner of the branch (who is on holiday apparently and called me this afternoon) and listened to the speech about the economic climate, time of year, hopes for January etc etc. He did, at the end of it, hold his hands up and say they should have been in touch. I feel he was embarrassed that they had not had better news for us but I don't hold him responsible for the current market !! Hopefully now they will make more of an effort for every client on their books with regard to communication but time will tell. It's not difficult to get the basics right after all. I'm glad he made the effort to phone me and not leave it to the staff in the office. 1 brownie point back!! Anyone want to buy an old house with some land?

Me! Me!

Anyone want to buy a modern house with no land?

My Dad's in the same position Clootie - lovely house in an acre of land, near Spalding, no one is interested I'd have it myself if I thought anyone would buy mine

Glad the estate agent redeemed himself a little. You'll probably need to continue nagging them though

[Paola]

We took our house off the market because of the climate It will be going back on once the market has improved. We just do not need the stress at the mo. I take my hat off to you clootie being on the market at the mo

[Egluntyne]

My sister has had her house on the market for 2 years and I believe she is now onto her third estate agent.

[clootie]

My sister has had her house on the market for 2 years and I believe she is now onto her third estate agent.

 

Blimey

[Paola]

My sister has had her house on the market for 2 years and I believe she is now onto her third estate agent.

 

Is she being over optimistic with the price?

[Cooks]

I lost two buyers before I eventually sold my last house. I didn't have much hope after the last buyer fell through, turns out he had offers on a few houses and was playing games... first one couldn't get the mortgage... so when last when fell through it was between Xmas and new year... I thought NO!!!!!!! we had found this house, it wasn't perfect by any means, it needed gutting and a HUGE extension to make it big enough, but it was the village we wanted.

 

I have to say our estate agent was great and push push pushed and found us a buyer, we had to drop a few thousand but I thought it was best just to secure the deal and go.

 

I dont envy anyone selling a house, I hated it, the viewings, the window shoppers everything!

Edited November 19, 2008 by Guest

[Egluntyne]

My sister has had her house on the market for 2 years and I believe she is now onto her third estate agent.

 

Is she being over optimistic with the price?

 

No......and she has dropped the price significantly. Part of it is due to market forces etc, but much if it is lack of action on the part of the estate agents. She has to chase them up all the time.

 

Edited-spelling mistake.

Edited November 19, 2008 by Guest

[Redwing]

We have just moved despite our estate agents best efforts to thwart the whole thing!

 

I had to move because I was relocated for my work, our house was on the market for 12 weeks in the end but as it was in my contract to be moved by Christmas we had to take drastic action.

 

We dropped our price twice then offered to pay 5% deposit, then 10% deposit, then 10% deposit plus stamp duty!

 

We had to offer the above, the estate agent did nothing and was of the opinion that the market was lousy and we were being a pain!

 

They eventually found us a buyer when we threatened to go elsewhere and luckily everything went through in a month.

 

All in all I wouldnt recommend moving in this market however do try being inventive rather than dropping the price as its often the deposit that causes a problem for buyers as the larger the deposit the more options they get from the mortgage co. Its perfectly legal to pay the deposit but only some lenders accept it, its called Vendor Gifted Deposit.

 

get the money back by driving a hard bargain on your purchase.

 

We ended up with £30K less than our first asking price but sat in my new home right now with chickens in the garden, a sleepy dog on the sofa and a crackling fire it was worth every penny, sometimes you have to lose out to gain something

 

Good luck!

[Ardene5]

Hi Everyone

When selling a property at any time it is hard enough to get the facts from people.

Either they say they are trying to sell it for you and they are not or they really do try.

Well before the problems we now have in the housing market we were trying to sell a 4 bedroom detach house with double garage.( This is about 5 yrs ago.)

The agent we were with were rubbish so took the house off the market for a few weeks and looked around all the other agents.

Then decided to put it with an agent who cover a large area e.g Lancashire not a local one who only covered a small area like Lytham St Annes.

Asked the new agent to put it in every estate agency they had, though out Lancashire which the did and within 4 days we had sold. This was because someone was moving job and wanted to move into a new area, it also meant that although people look on the internet most houses etc are still sold the the estate agents.

Hope this helps

you.

Best regards

 

 

Ian

 

 

 

Ian & Valerie

William & Harry

Missy & Millie dogs

9 lovely hens

Henian Castle with inside it

[Old Speckled Hen]

I gave up after nearly a year having tried two agents

In the end I put it on Houseladder and sold it myself within a month for the asking price and NO commission.

Why don't you give them a try I think it costs about £100 for a year or until it's sold.

[Chook n Boo Mum]

We aren't selling ( DH NEVER EVER wants to move my"stuff" !!), and bear in mind the age of DD in my signature - although she'll be 9 on Monday!!!

 

DD has received about a dozen emails from an estate/letting agent containing particulars for house/flats in Kingston (you couldn't get further from where I would want to be if we did move - I needs fields & lots of fresh air around me, not other houses & busy commuters! Sorry to anyone who loves in K, I'm sure it's lovely, just not for me!). They also contain the name and address of the intended recipient!

 

I sent an email back saying check the email for this lady as it's not the one they were using, and still more arrived. Eventually, to stop it all & calm my very upset daughter (I haven't given anybody my email address honestly Mummy!) I phoned the office in question & left them in no doubt that the Miss Wild they were emailing was not the Miss Wild they need to email, that at 8 I felt she was a little too young to be leaving home & setting up in a flat for £1000 per month, how unimpressed would the correct Miss W be that they were showing such incompetence at using the wrong address and forwarding her home address to complete strangers every time they committed the error & as she won't have received any information from them, she would probably be going somewhere else. I think they got the message!

 

I wonder how estate agents got their bad name?! (Can't voice too many comments at home as my BIL is a retired estate agent & my step daughter was one for a couple of years between gaining a zoology degree and deciding she didn't want to do anything to do with that and retraining as a garden designer )

 

Ho hum!!

 

Sha x

[miffy]

OOOHHH nightmares.

 

We sold our own house 2 years ago built in 1980s 4 beds detached, but tiny garden on modern estate, to the first couple who viewed it, they dropped the price on theirs to get a buyer to buy ours (hope that makes sense)

Then.........we waited almost a year with MiL, living in her bungalow , to find a buyer for the bungalow.

Then it took so long to find this house, we dumped Mil with relatives and lived in holiday lets for a month, then rented for 6 months...NEVER AGAIN......I intend to be carried out of here in my box!!!!

 

I take my hat off to anyone trying to move in the current economic climate, you have my sympathy and admiation