Is my agent doing enough ?

[scarlett423]

My house is up for sale with a local agent, the property is well presented and we are selling at a very reasonable price for a quick sale.

I was disappointed to see that only 3 small photo's were used on the website and on rightmove, none of the bedrooms (3) and none of the rear garden. The written description was very limited and short, I know I could have done a lot better myself. I have actually put the property on Tepilo too.

I am actively looking to buy a property and I tend to think that if not many pictures are shown, the rooms therefore not shown must be poor or have some faults ! Am I right in thinking that ? or will people conversely see one of two pics and be curious about the rest of the house ?

The house is in a popular location, yet after being on the available market for almost two weeks I have not had one viewer. Am I being impatient ? I just don't really know what to expect, I've only sold one house before and was very lucky on that occasion !

Any advice would be appreciated ! Thanks !

[drhouse]

Originally Posted by scarlett423

My house is up for sale with a local agent, the property is well presented and we are selling at a very reasonable price for a quick sale.

I was disappointed to see that only 3 small photo's were used on the website and on rightmove, none of the bedrooms (3) and none of the rear garden. The written description was very limited and short, I know I could have done a lot better myself. I have actually put the property on Tepilo too.

I am actively looking to buy a property and I tend to think that if not many pictures are shown, the rooms therefore not shown must be poor or have some faults ! Am I right in thinking that ? or will people conversely see one of two pics and be curious about the rest of the house ?

The house is in a popular location, yet after being on the available market for almost two weeks I have not had one viewer. Am I being impatient ? I just don't really know what to expect, I've only sold one house before and was very lucky on that occasion !

Any advice would be appreciated ! Thanks !

Firstly you should approve the schedule and be able to make changes providing they don't contravene the misdescriptions act. Don't be afraid to do this as you are paying for it but listen to your agent's advice. Same with the photos - you can have more on. This is subjective though as a few good ones can engender interest - put on pics of every room and they feel they have seen it already, but only 3 is quite limited. I know the Right Move site can handle more than 3 photos.

I can't say if you are impatient though because I don't know the market in your area. My experience at the moment is that Viewings are down generally, people are rightly nervous about tax increases and jobs.

[scarlett423]

Thanks drhouse, I know the economic climate has a huge impact on the housing market. However two properties right next to me were sold very quickly. I do have a tendency to be impatient !
I did make a few changes to the draft the agent sent me. She'd missed some important details. I didn't really feel I should comment on the photo's, as I should bow to their 'better knowledge'
I'll see how things go, I may do a little more repainting, then get more photo's.

[drhouse]

Originally Posted by scarlett423

Thanks drhouse, I know the economic climate has a huge impact on the housing market. However two properties right next to me were sold very quickly. I do have a tendency to be impatient !
I did make a few changes to the draft the agent sent me. She'd missed some important details. I didn't really feel I should comment on the photo's, as I should bow to their 'better knowledge'
I'll see how things go, I may do a little more repainting, then get more photo's.

Of course you can comment on the photos - it's your home. You could take some photos yourself and if you think they are better get her to use them. I have a client at the moment who did his own and they are staged perfectly, he said it took ages to keep moving things till they were right but they are lovely. I also had another client who insisted we use his own pic as a front page. He had taken it of the garden at night with all the lights on. I thought it was rubbish but I had more enquiries with that than with the 'normal' one - it was just something different.

Make sure you ask your agent how many hits it has had on the websites. Not just the ones where it comes up on a normal search but where people have clicked on and viewed the full schedule. If that is higher than the average then I would wonder what was in it that was not encouraging them to view.

[scarlett423]

Thanks, I'll ask about the hits. Good for those clients who took their own pics it's a good idea. Pity I've got a rubbish camera at the moment !
Fingers crossed though, we now have our first viewer, tomorrow. And it's an investor so she has nothing to sell.

[drhouse]

Good luck.

[scarlett423]

Thanks !

[brian]

The photos should not describe everything, merely entice - just one exterior and interior shot alone can develop or kill interest in a property. Photos will *never* properly give the feel of a property and can often actually make it look smaller.

Hence the photos are teasers to represent something of the property, to provide an idea of what it is like. Prospective buyers will decide if they are interested just on that.

In my opinion.

[scarlett423]

Yes, I see your point Brian. The house we have made an offer on,was very poorly photographed and there were very few photo's. We almost decided not to view it. We were very pleasantly surprised. It showed a rather pathetic garden, yet when we saw it,the garden was lovely and huge too !It had lovely bedrooms,yet these weren't shown at all.

[OnTheLookOut]

Yes, the photos are a "teaser", but they still should be of a reasonable quality and show the property at its best. If you are at all unhappy with the way the estate agent is promoting your property you should discuss the matter with them. But just discuss your concerns - don't force you're views. Perhaps they are doing it OK. After all they are the professionals. That's my penny's worth anyway.