Ask an estate agent anything

[MDMA .]

Akz said:

This. There's a £32k/month rent house up in Virginia Water with apparently an underground garage. I want to see it!

https://www.knightfrank.co.uk/properties/residenti...

Hopefully undecorated. Rest of the house is... interesting.

Having a st must feel like sitting in a block of Stilton.

[Simbu]

22s said:

I've heard Bristol has been hot and if you can just bang it on the portals and sell for 10% over at high volume then maybe 1% can work.

This is pretty much the case in fairness. There is a massive shortage of housing against demand, which is why competing bids over asking is typical. It's largely driven by school catchments and especially a demand for the nice Victorian family homes in the area. Anything that's not a lemon will be off the market within 2 weeks.

We chose an agent that put more attention into presentation and who are somewhat selective in their choice of properties and sellers. They also weren't the cheapest, but we felt like we got good value.

We sold chain free and lived with family for a time to put ourselves in a stronger buying position. It paid dividends; being chain free secured our current home (along with a 4% premium on asking price!) The local market is that competitive.


Another question if I may, does Rightmove give you insights into things like the alerts prospective buyers in an area have setup? I can imagine it being advantageous to market a property within a certain price range to maximize exposure and generate interest, then expect a final sale value above list price. Perhaps that only works in a market with undersupply.

Thank you for taking the time to answer questions!

[MitchT]

Cheers for the answers OP!

Looks like you're the exception to the rule. Maybe you could come to Yorkshire at some point and give my local ones a good kick up the backside!

[ninja-lewis]

Will the UK ever abandon number of bedrooms and just use floor area as the primary metric?

[tapandunwrap]

Thanks for doing this - this is a great thread.

Can you give any tips to be a really good buyer? What can I do to be given first refusal, or a heads up on decent properties in advance?

[Miocene]

Full credit for popping your head above the parapet!

What's with the insistence that you have to have sold your property before viewing others? Im sure it used to be you put your house on the market and start looking at the same time.

I can't help feel it's just to put pressure on the seller to find somewhere, even if its not the right place for them, where the agent feeds them the fear that they don't want to lose their buyer.

We've had a bit of a mix here and have been honest with the agents - we're in a smallish market town and there's only 3/4 roads we'd want to move to, have given proof of funds but admittedly do have specific needs due to our daughters disability but will jump at the right place. We've probably been too honest!

[Milkbuttons]

Back again, hope you don't mind.

Will lowering the price of your property considerably below its perceived market value and hosting an open house event really pull perspective buyers in to a bidding war and drive the price higher than the original asking price?

I'm of the firm belief that you can always start with a higher price and come down but going back up in price is much harder, especially if the buyer now thinks their paying well over the odds.

This method has been proposed to me a few times and I've declined every time, fortunately I've managed to achieve the price I wanted but that meant sticking to my guns when the estate agent wanted to lower the price.

Edited by Milkbuttons on Friday 2nd April 22:30

[22s]

Simbu said:

22s said:

I've heard Bristol has been hot and if you can just bang it on the portals and sell for 10% over at high volume then maybe 1% can work.

This is pretty much the case in fairness. There is a massive shortage of housing against demand, which is why competing bids over asking is typical. It's largely driven by school catchments and especially a demand for the nice Victorian family homes in the area. Anything that's not a lemon will be off the market within 2 weeks.

We chose an agent that put more attention into presentation and who are somewhat selective in their choice of properties and sellers. They also weren't the cheapest, but we felt like we got good value.

We sold chain free and lived with family for a time to put ourselves in a stronger buying position. It paid dividends; being chain free secured our current home (along with a 4% premium on asking price!) The local market is that competitive.


Another question if I may, does Rightmove give you insights into things like the alerts prospective buyers in an area have setup? I can imagine it being advantageous to market a property within a certain price range to maximize exposure and generate interest, then expect a final sale value above list price. Perhaps that only works in a market with undersupply.

Thank you for taking the time to answer questions!

That's interesting context to the market, thanks for sharing. Definitely a smart move taking some time out the market to get into a strong buying position.

We have asked that exact question to Rightmove and they have said no. Not sure why they don't want more forward thinking customers to be more successful, but there you go.

The most useful thing about Rightmove is their "best price guide" which allows you to search all old listings (both sold and unsold) to better gauge market value.

MitchT said:

Cheers for the answers OP!

Looks like you're the exception to the rule. Maybe you could come to Yorkshire at some point and give my local ones a good kick up the backside!

Thank you and no problem... If I ever decide to move to greener pastures then I may shake up the local area where you are!

ninja-lewis said:

Will the UK ever abandon number of bedrooms and just use floor area as the primary metric?

Doubt it... It's an interesting point now I think about it. I think most people don't really understand what a sq ft means, and not all sq ft are created equal, and also some places have funny configurations... So I think it needs to be a mixture of both really!

tapandunwrap said:

Thanks for doing this - this is a great thread.

Can you give any tips to be a really good buyer? What can I do to be given first refusal, or a heads up on decent properties in advance?

You're welcome; hope it's insightful and thanks for the question.

I detailed this a bit on page one but you basically want to be on the agents "hot buyers" list. This means answering all their questions, providing them proof of ability to buy, then hounding them as a reminder that you're in market. Also, just pop in (covid permitting), say hello, be nice, be memorable probably helps. I personally am proactive and run a pretty good hot buyers list, but most don't so you need to really be in their ear or they'll forget you.

Side note: in the interests of their client, no agent should offer anyone the right of first refusal (unless they've discussed it with their client and got the green light), but I assume you mean getting in the door first!

Miocene said:

Full credit for popping your head above the parapet!

What's with the insistence that you have to have sold your property before viewing others? Im sure it used to be you put your house on the market and start looking at the same time.

I can't help feel it's just to put pressure on the seller to find somewhere, even if its not the right place for them, where the agent feeds them the fear that they don't want to lose their buyer.

We've had a bit of a mix here and have been honest with the agents - we're in a smallish market town and there's only 3/4 roads we'd want to move to, have given proof of funds but admittedly do have specific needs due to our daughters disability but will jump at the right place. We've probably been too honest!

If I'm understandiing correctly, you're on the market at the moment, but not under offer so agents are refusing to show you around?

If that's right, I sympathise with your situation, but I think I am on the side of the agents here. If I'm selling a property, I want to make sure those buyers I show are ready to make a purchase so it doesn't waste my client's time or my team's time. The best way to do this is to only show to buyers in a "proceedable" position.

It's also VERY busy at the moment, so that probably factors into a lot of agents' decision making on whether it's worth taking round a buyer who is not ready to buy right now. In a slow market with not much on, an agent may take you round just to get out of the office and show the client you're doing something...

Ultimately, in these types of situations I take a view on how serious you are based on our interaction, and I'll then speak to my client to explain the situation and why I think a viewing might be appropriate, and leave the decision to them.


You're kind of between a rock and a hard place. If there are so few roads you are interested in, and within those roads a specific type of property, you need to be ready to snap it up as soon as it comes to market. I would wager that the chances of that coming up at the same time as you being under offer with a buyer who has an open-ended timeline to wait for you to find the right place are vanishing small. However, with a disabled child, selling up and moving into rented accommodation to be chain-free whilst you wait for the right thing to come up is likely not an option... Bit tricky.

I would advise dropping a bunch of handwritten notes to the houses you're interested in on those 3-4 streets explaining your situation and why you'd love to live in their house specifically. Might strike gold and be able to agree a private purchase whilst you wait for yours to sell.

[22s]

Milkbuttons said:

Back again, hope you don't mind.

Will lowering the price of your property considerably below its perceived market value and hosting an open house event really pull perspective buyers in to a bidding war and drive the price higher than the original asking price?

I'm of the firm belief that you can always start with a higher price and come down but going back up in price is much harder, especially if the buyer now thinks their paying well over the odds.

This method has been proposed to me a few times and I've declined every time, fortunately I've managed to achieve the price I wanted but that meant sticking to my guns when the estate agent wanted to lower the price.

Edited by Milkbuttons on Friday 2nd April 22:30

Hello again and please do ask away.

It's a high risk strategy that I avoid unless in a hot market with a desirable property. You are completely right that if you price too low and don't generate the interest you need then you are royally fked as there's going to be no competition and therefore close to impossible to achieve above asking price. I've had a recent one where I've had to unpick the mess of an incompetent competitor who recommended the price low strategy to a seller before they listed wth us and it has ruined the chances of that property selling at the price the owner wants.

The flip side is that I've done it in the last couple of weeks with two great properties (one on a desirable road with great decorative finish, one with an unusually large south-facing garden) and both went for above asking price. However, I would never price signficantly (10% or more) lower than market value unless I was specifically instructed to by a client.

We sadly can't do open houses at the moment due to the pandemic, but still do block viewings if we can.

[Miocene]

22s said:

Miocene said:

Full credit for popping your head above the parapet!

What's with the insistence that you have to have sold your property before viewing others? Im sure it used to be you put your house on the market and start looking at the same time.

I can't help feel it's just to put pressure on the seller to find somewhere, even if its not the right place for them, where the agent feeds them the fear that they don't want to lose their buyer.

We've had a bit of a mix here and have been honest with the agents - we're in a smallish market town and there's only 3/4 roads we'd want to move to, have given proof of funds but admittedly do have specific needs due to our daughters disability but will jump at the right place. We've probably been too honest!

If I'm understandiing correctly, you're on the market at the moment, but not under offer so agents are refusing to show you around?

If that's right, I sympathise with your situation, but I think I am on the side of the agents here. If I'm selling a property, I want to make sure those buyers I show are ready to make a purchase so it doesn't waste my client's time or my team's time. The best way to do this is to only show to buyers in a "proceedable" position.

It's also VERY busy at the moment, so that probably factors into a lot of agents' decision making on whether it's worth taking round a buyer who is not ready to buy right now. In a slow market with not much on, an agent may take you round just to get out of the office and show the client you're doing something...

Ultimately, in these types of situations I take a view on how serious you are based on our interaction, and I'll then speak to my client to explain the situation and why I think a viewing might be appropriate, and leave the decision to them.


You're kind of between a rock and a hard place. If there are so few roads you are interested in, and within those roads a specific type of property, you need to be ready to snap it up as soon as it comes to market. I would wager that the chances of that coming up at the same time as you being under offer with a buyer who has an open-ended timeline to wait for you to find the right place are vanishing small. However, with a disabled child, selling up and moving into rented accommodation to be chain-free whilst you wait for the right thing to come up is likely not an option... Bit tricky.

I would advise dropping a bunch of handwritten notes to the houses you're interested in on those 3-4 streets explaining your situation and why you'd love to live in their house specifically. Might strike gold and be able to agree a private purchase whilst you wait for yours to sell.

Appreciate the comments.

We put our house on the market last year when something came up, unfortunately we didn't get that and nothing has come up since. In that time our house did sell quickly, so we have reasonable confidence it'd sell again as we had a lot of interest, but at the same time don't want to ps off another potential buyer.

We've discussed dropping notes through a few doors and should just take the plunge!

[easytiger123]

22s said:

bristoltype603 said:

A question about buying agents. I heard that in some parts of London estate agents wont take you seriously unless you're represented by a buying agent and that it one of the few ways to get on an agents 'hot buyer' list?

Also what's your view of buyers from out of London with houses to sell?

I've never heard that before re: buying agents. Where did you hear that? Buying agents are still rarity, especially in core/mid-market. They're also a headache to deal with and almost always want to be paid on both sides of the deal (i.e. they want a slice of the selling agents' fee) so it's often a disadvantage to have on in reality.

We're looking for a second home in the country and we were advised by the big 2 (KF and Savills) that we really needed a buying agent as most of the decent stuff doesn't touch the open market, plus it gives you credibility with potential sellers as the buying agent checks out your financials as part of the process and can vouch that you have the money ready to go if you find the right house.

We have retained one (not linked to either of the firms above) and it turned out to be good advice as we've seen a number of houses that are not on the open market.

Interesting that this isn't really the case in London.

[C Lee Farquar]

Certainly true of the £2m plus stuff near me, North Oxon.

Of the most recent five sales, two weren't marketed, two were bought via a retained agent and one was bought by someone senior in Knight Frank.

And two of the five are being knocked down for a replacement dwelling.

[22s]

Miocene said:

Appreciate the comments.

We put our house on the market last year when something came up, unfortunately we didn't get that and nothing has come up since. In that time our house did sell quickly, so we have reasonable confidence it'd sell again as we had a lot of interest, but at the same time don't want to ps off another potential buyer.

We've discussed dropping notes through a few doors and should just take the plunge!

It's worth dropping the notes if you're serious about moving... Surprising how often you hear of it working! Just a bit time consuming writing them all out!

easytiger123 said:

22s said:

bristoltype603 said:

A question about buying agents. I heard that in some parts of London estate agents wont take you seriously unless you're represented by a buying agent and that it one of the few ways to get on an agents 'hot buyer' list?

Also what's your view of buyers from out of London with houses to sell?

I've never heard that before re: buying agents. Where did you hear that? Buying agents are still rarity, especially in core/mid-market. They're also a headache to deal with and almost always want to be paid on both sides of the deal (i.e. they want a slice of the selling agents' fee) so it's often a disadvantage to have on in reality.

We're looking for a second home in the country and we were advised by the big 2 (KF and Savills) that we really needed a buying agent as most of the decent stuff doesn't touch the open market, plus it gives you credibility with potential sellers as the buying agent checks out your financials as part of the process and can vouch that you have the money ready to go if you find the right house.

We have retained one (not linked to either of the firms above) and it turned out to be good advice as we've seen a number of houses that are not on the open market.

Interesting that this isn't really the case in London.

Yes, different in country market for sure. I did some country work last summer and there were a lot of buying agents.

My thesis is that there's a lower density of housing and less homogenous stock, so that smaller selection plus massive competition means that taking any edge you can get makes sense.

Also, lots of people buying in the country are from the cities and have the money but not the time, energy or local knowledge to perform the search.

Finally, people buying substantial country houses tend to have a long time horizon so want to get it right and therefore much more selective about the property, so professional help is a good thing. London tends to be 1/2 bed flat, bigger flat, terraced house, country house.

C Lee Farquar said:

Certainly true of the £2m plus stuff near me, North Oxon.

Of the most recent five sales, two weren't marketed, two were bought via a retained agent and one was bought by someone senior in Knight Frank.

And two of the five are being knocked down for a replacement dwelling.

Interesting re: KF senior employee there - was the agent marketing the property KF as well?

[valiant]

What do you think of Foxtons modus operandi of flattering the seller with a, in my experience, vastly overvalued price guide to help justify their quite ludicrous commission and then the obvious reductions as the sale doesn’t materialise compared to the competition locally?

What’s the industry perception of the big boys like Foxtons? Are they avoided by experienced estate agents looking for a new challenge or are they used as a ‘boot camp’ for newbies to the industry who’ll then aim to move on?

[Dromedary66]

Windsor or Balthus?

[C Lee Farquar]

22s said:

re: KF senior employee there - was the agent marketing the property KF as well?

Message sent

[bristoltype603]

22s said:

I've never heard that before re: buying agents. Where did you hear that? Buying agents are still rarity, especially in core/mid-market. They're also a headache to deal with and almost always want to be paid on both sides of the deal (i.e. they want a slice of the selling agents' fee) so it's often a disadvantage to have on in reality.

Re: out of London with house to sell, depends if under offer or not. If you come to offer on one of my properties, I will ask to speak with your agent first to get an understanding of the situation with your buyers and any downward chain, and then take it from there...

Hello and thanks for answering this. The impression buying agents try to give is that they use their influence over the selling agent to make sure the agent calls them first before putting it on the open market (also they'll know you're in a proceedable position since this is verified before sign-up). It doesn't surpise me that they'd like a cut of the selling agents commission but I don't understand then why any agent would ever bother to call them and they'd go bust?

One of the other things buying agents seem to tout is access to the online agent only property site LonRes. Is that actually useful?

[DanL]

Here’s one - you’re clearly qualified to do other things. What motivated you to pick what must be one of the most derided professions in the UK? Is there really room to differentiate from the other players when the market is (presumably!) price sensitive?

[CloudStuff]

bristolracer said:

Does it bother you that many of your overseas investors will have made their money by morally dubious means or by exploiting their countrymen in appalling working conditions? Does it bother you that they will leave many of these properties empty far from the reach of the law and reduce the availability of housing stock?

You are Kath Viner AICMP.

[C Lee Farquar]

CloudStuff said:

bristolracer said:

Does it bother you that many of your overseas investors will have made their money by morally dubious means or by exploiting their countrymen in appalling working conditions? Does it bother you that they will leave many of these properties empty far from the reach of the law and reduce the availability of housing stock?

You are Kath Viner AICMP.

You could have looked closer to home a while back. A Bedminster Estate Agent during the 1980's related to me that there was so much Brinks Mat money laundered into the housing market that it was driving the market.