Playing the home moving game.

Thoughts on the psychology of moving home and dealing with agents.

[yoginid]

In over two years of looking, in different places, with different agents, I have found that: in general a house or flat that sells quickly would have sold whoever the agent or agency was; and point two: that while over pricing a property will naturally deter many buyers, a property in a place where people 'need to be' (work, school, family home that fits bill/commute etc) as opposed to say 'want to be' also gets competing bids, even as this market and the economy has changed.
When I started looking (and I'm talking generally but based on factual observation), buyers were less discerning, chucking the cash to get what they want and agents were generally flippant and more brash than usual. Buyers are a tonne more questioning now. Sadly, agents - while far less rushed off their feet - don't seem to have changed much though they do tend to ring back and that's a change!
Should add: have met some lovely agents along the way but I know however helpful, lovely or proactive an agent may seem, and whether they're an independent or part of a chain, it's ALWAYS about money. Every verbal and relationship exchange, is underlined by... money.

[stephengreen]

When I bought in 2001 looking on Rightmove was not a thing so we drove to the town we had chosen and said we wanted a four bedroomed property with a study. We haven’t got anything like that said the agent who was apparently glued to her chair. We started doing a tour of the houses on the walls, reading the details. What about this one, oh and that one. We found five to look at in total and bought one of them. We’ve also bought houses where the agent opened the doors and then sat in the car. A motivated agent is night and day different and I think you are right Charlie that if it’s a fair playing field, your good agents can prosper.

[stevestone]

I'm viewing next Monday - no stopping here!!!

[lapinchiloca]

100% agree. An owner-manager is the person that sold our house just before things were starting to get funny in January. Slightly higher fees, but very sound advice from the start.

[mohammedfrancis]

Cracking discussion Charlie. I dealt with lying, dreadful negociating agents.

[johnspringate]

I generally agree that some of the larger EAs are willing to discuss a property or the market overalll, but the smaller ones are much more personable for both buyers and sellers.

There is nothing wrong with waiting. I feel the market is going to wake up and smell the coffee next year - that's when you start pulling the levers - the stars will be more aligned.

[williammonk]

Great thumbnail, let us know when the album comes out

[mikedennington]

Go smaller where they really need the commission, as Charlie advises. I've been with both and the big guys don't really make any effort besides advertising and waffling. The smaller companies either make an effort or go under so they are motivated.

[rustyshackleford]

I'm selling my 7th Property now - so I've also bought 7 in the last 40 years. This is the toughest time for selling I've experienced, I have never had so many viewings (over 40) without a single offer being made.
You can say I have the price wrong, but the fact is I have to price based on what I'm looking to move too.
If I can't make the numbers add up, there's no point selling.

[VinceSamios]

I've been burnt by dealing with owner operator agents.... on more than a few occasions they've been dishonest and duplicitous.

[SycAamore]

Hi Charlie, I kind of disagree with your advice to go out and constantly view properties, even if you're not planning to buy now. This is a huge time-sucking effort, and do you really want to be spending your weekends with some scumbag lying estate agents, telling you the market is strong and they had several offers on that property, while in fact there are none...No thanks, I rather spend the weekend with my family. A simple check on RM with the price log add-in tells me where my local market is headed...

[tallgirllucy]

We have agreed an offer on our house, viewed a house we liked, the EA told us we were the first people to view it (9 days after it went up for sale, we had people looking at ours the day after), the property is ex-rental and needs a fair bit of modernisation throughout, AP is 350k, we offered 300k - rejected, we then said 310k was our final offer, the EA didn't get back to us for 4 days as they apparently went on annual leave - also rejected. We told them we are leaving the offer on the table. Are we being daft? Our EA said it is overpriced for the condition and the location. The sellers EA seems to have a lot of houses which are reduced and have been up for a while.

[cyclist]

I am buying and selling. Once your property is “out there” on Rightmove Zoopla etc, how much impact is the agent going to make?

[Perry-James-uk]

Is the Car in the thumb nail a W126 Merc?? Fab cars we used to have a 500 SEC wonderful machine sorely missed

[Onidax]

Any thoughts on the likes of Knight Frank and Savills?

[rustyshackleford]

Charlie is cash rich and looking to buy in a depressed market.
He doesn't care about 'first time buyers' - he couldn't care less about you.
He is looking to buy at the margins - distressed sellers, and want's you to bid the price down.