Owning your own home

I really rated Nested. They had a fixed £1,500 fee, and I got £500 off with a referral. The day the first buyer pulled out, they had three viewings arranged later the same day. One of those offered asking (same as the buyer who pulled out).

@Sumo

Shameless plug for the agent I used a couple of years ago, Nested.

Got 30 viewings in the first week on a horribly noisy road in Greenwich. Most of those didn't like the road noise, and the few that did put an offer in. Ended up completing the sale 7 weeks after initial listing, and communication from them was very good throughout. Recommended to stevo who sold pretty quickly through them too, and Rogan (though think his fell through).

Presentation is always good - this was mine
https://nested.com/for-sale/SE10/Farmdal­e-Road/40cl79w1

Plus the valuations are helpful and they'll offer the same valuations on properties you're thinking of buying.

Anyway - selling spiel over. If you do sign up then I think they knock money off the fees with a referral - and some John Lewis vouchers for me (down from £500 sadly a couple of years ago)
https://nested.com?refcode=Uaihdu_RWRQ

edit: Hah - beaten to it by stevo. But yeah - I referred him and it turned out well

I've got a couple of good friends who work for Nested. They used to do a 1% friends and family discount but that's stopped now. They're top of the list of paid for EAs for sure.

I think @amey interviewed with them

Presumably scuppered by his conditions of employment that they render the front of all houses during initial valuation

Maybe they asked his opinion of lino

I genuinely feel the cheap / free to sell agents are only good for

• properties that will only attract and sell to investors, HMO makers, or
  
• properties that sell themselves and you have to fight off buyers with a stick due to their location / architectural merit / type (Mr S's example flat above is probably of this type), or
  
• properties that are very, very competitively priced because the sellers want out quick
  
  

You can't square the circle of 'we want the most money for this with the least possible expense'

If the place has a parking space that should be included in the listing however, regardless of what you do.

we've paid to have our listing featured on Rightmove, surely everyone looks at that rather than waiting for their EA to find stuff for them

They do, but EAs convince buyers to take action. They can persuade people to view something that, had they just seen it on Zoopla or whatever, they might not go and view. They make it easy(er) for them, help them get over inertia etc.

Would you want to do a self directed job search or have a recruiter sort something out for you?

The former might get you a better result, the later will 10x easier

it depends.
this sold over asking in November
https://www.onthemarket.com/details/1110­4487/

This is really lovely, btw. Nice one. I can see why that would have sold as fast as shit off a shovel. Wonderful looking building, view, location.

What is the dropout rate from people viewing on Rightmove to people successfully booking and turning up for an appointment through Strike?

When I booked a viewing through them recently, I nearly dropped out due to the friction (three rounds of emails, texts, calls).

In addition, I haven't given any feedback on why I didn't offer on the house, as it was only solicited by text and I couldn't be bothered to reply. What feedback do you get on Strike viewings?

Good EAs should also be able to help you price it to sell in the current market.

Lastly, it can be offputting to be shown around a house by the owner.

It all depends how much time you have I think.

We've had 1 booking and they turned up so currently 100% but I'm sure someone else must have used Strike on here.
All good points but is it £6k worth of help to have the EA do the viewings.

£6k covers marketing / sales viewings / negotiation / sales progression etc.

As above, if you have a place where you are literally beating buyers off with a stick, it might be OK to think you can still command market value and dodge expenses. Modern, new build flats....they just don't fit in to this category. They are so compromised.

Sorry to be a downer - and GLWS. For what is it is worth, I think the flat looks good in the pictures.

Establised estate agents also have lists of people who expressed interest and call them a little ahead of online listing. If the place is an easy sale (or slightly undervalued because it needs work) the online "window" is mostly for show as everything significant happens ahead/aside from that.

I imagine that these days in Walthamstow they pretty much don't need to use the online platforms.

We have 2 identical 2-bed flats on sale in my block at the moment, one with Dexters and one with a less high-profile, more local, the contrast in viewing numbers is strong.

When listings/opportunities are plentiful estate agents are motivated by volume, not an increased sale price. It's a broken model. They're also a source of mistakes/delays.

Why would they try and sell quickly for you (or get you a better price) when you've already agreed terms/exclusivity and it's more profitable for them to focus on finding the next property to sell?

Personally, I'd attribute any difference in viewing numbers to the property itself, or to the listing timings/images/copy.

It's more that the estate agent gets in those who wouldn't necessarily have considered it due to location, size, price, etc.

Obviously it's hard to tell how many of those will end up being serious and how many just go along to have a look anyway. I'd guess the best bet are those looking at a different area.

I know I viewed places that I wouldn't have looked at (particularly with the faff of booking with an online one) because the estate agent suggested them.

You talked to an estate agent to find the property you wanted to buy?

I don't know anyone who does that, it's all via online searches.

Automated platforms also suggest other properties when you view one, but say you're not interested. That algorithm is usually smarter than an individual estate agent and is more impartial (no sales-driven crap).

I don't know anyone who does that, it's all via online searches.

I think it's a bit of an oversimplification. Things start at online searches, but from there, many twists and turns.

Ironically I bought our gaff via Yopa, but then, we did try to buy through a trad. EA (who we arrived at, via online)

I don't know anyone who does that, it's all via online searches

If you are serious about buying in hot markets, where stuff goes under offer very quickly, one of the more unpleasant things you have to do is suck up to agents with big market share in the sort of property you are trying to buy.

It feels like if you just call up when you get the Rightmove alert you are already on the "B" list.

definily, i found my place being on the estate agent's list and giving away precise criteria. One of which meaning that they first hand offer those to investors they know.

In the example i am giving, they don't have this property online yet.

Hah, I saw that kitchen in Pinterest.

What, mine?

It was a quick IKEA cabinets, metro tiles, worktop express with offcuts for shelves tart up 3months before selling. About 3k all in.
Nice to know it struck the right tone :)

(Looked like this before, and I’d pulled the top cabinets off the wall and hadn’t got around to doing anything in its place so it was a state)

vvv

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i did! about 3 years ago. They seemed like good people.