My house is for sale with an estate agent, but I'd like to increase exposure as much as possible. Any ideas? I could put an online brochure on one or more web sites, and have the equipment to do pretty fancy printouts and so on.
MM
Just as an aside here - check your contract with the estate agent. Very often these varmints structure their contract so that however you sell the property they will get their slice of the action.
PoP
We produced a glossy brochure of the house and area when we last sold. Each viewer took it away and we heard feedback that our eventual buyers liked it very much. Whether we helped cause the sale is debatable, but we like to think so.
Tony
Oh, I'm not trying to bypass the EA, just help the sale along a bit! They have done what they said they would do, and really, one cannot expect anything more once the property is being advertised, is on the web and so on. But I want to aim at those who don't happen to see the local paper, or are just "passing traffic". I intend to post a card in the newsagents' window tomorrow. I don't think you can do too *much* advertising! I may also consider a leaflet drop. Sky writing or a banner is too expensive, however! (And the weather is still too darned cold and overcast to bring people out!)
MM
Think about the other side of the coin, though.
You can do too much advertising.
For example, if I received a leaflet through the door from somebody trying to sell their house as you describe, I'm afraid I'd immediately wonder what was wrong with it and why is this guy so desperate to get rid of it.....?
The agent's board outside covers passing traffic .
.andy
To email, substitute .nospam with .gl
Unfortunately, this street is in a very quiet neighbourhood and there is not much passing traffic at all. Most of the vehicles that pass by are ones owned by people who live in the street or have friends nearby.
While I agree that a leaflet may in some cases cause the reaction you mentioned, there is also the possibility that the recipient might take a glance and immediately ring his or her friend, whom they know is looking for a property of this type and price.
MM
Damned right... When we sold our last house, the EA we used failed spectactularly to drum up any interest, and the eventual buyers came via my wife's employer. But we still had to cough up the usual % to the agent. Outrageous.
David
If you do some print outs, go to the next marketplace *down* and bung them through the houses for sale there... it may be that a move *up* the ladder to your property is something they may consider
Dunno if that makes sense, but there y go ;)
hth
Well, I wouldn't have coughed up. Unless the agent can prove the buyer was on their books, they wouldn't have got their fee. Anyway, there is nothing to stop you sacking the agent and going with any buyer you like.
On Tue, 6 Apr 2004 08:16:48 +0100, "stuart noble" on their books, they wouldn't have got their fee. Anyway, there is nothing
Not according to EA contracts which you sign. They invariably have a term clause within (e.g. 3 months), and you can't dismiss them if you feel like doing so.
PoP
None of the agreements I've signed has ever stipulated a time, and I know plenty of people that have done the agent out of his fee one way or another. I can't say I feel sorry for them.
My agent is new to the area and doesn't do that. All they want is a two-week notice at any time should I decide to dispense with their services. They're only charging 1% commission as well.
MM
We last moved 9 years ago so perhaps things have changed since then.
It certainly used to be the case that an EA had term clauses which could be enforced. Or maybe I was just too dumb to have them struck out.
PoP
When I put my own house on the market in 2000 there was definitely a clause like that in the contract; a minimum period with the agent (12 weeks?) a minimum notice period (2 weeks?) and even a post-contract claw-back period of 6 weeks IIRC.
As it happened my eventual buyer was a friend and at the time I put the house up for sale she couldn't get a mortgage. I took it off the market, installed her as a tenant for 6 months and sold it to her in 2001. Ok, so I missed out on any rise in value (to be honest there wasn't much in that area at that time), but I did save the agent's fees. I could do this as I'd just married and my wife already had a house :-)
When my wife and I sold our house last year (2003) we were careful to read the contract for these clauses, and expected to have to argue, but this time (different agent, and 200 miles away) the minimum period was
6 weeks, they only needed 1 week notice (IIRC) and there was no post-contract claw-back clause.Maybe things have improved :-)
Hwyl!
M.
When I sold my last place the EA were pretty useless at getting people round - it took them 6 weeks before getting two potential buyers round, both of who put offers in the same day! In the end I sold it to the neighbour's parents, and stuck my fingers up at the EA and their £3k fee.
If you want to get more interest try
Richard
So, cross it out and tell the agent you're not signing *that*.
Estate agents do try this on, but it's almost certainly unenforceable. What is probably enforceable is the more restrictive variant where they can claim a fee if you sell privately to someone whose purchase decision was influenced (directly or indirectly) by the agent's publicity. Pretty difficult for them to prove, though.
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