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Seb - Foxtons philosophy sounds to be pretty similar to just about any estate agent that currently practises with one caveat. You mention Foxtons push enough potential buyers through the door. This appears great to sellers except that a percentage of these buyers will have no desire to buy the property they have just viewed whatsoever - if your statement is the case. Unkle Paulie. The market we are now in is not one of rapid growth, or one where a valuer is likely to agree with a sale price if he thinks it's unrealistic given other supporting comparable properties that have sold recently. Even if Foxtons or any other agent for that matter got a very high offer an any given property, there is a very big chance that the valuer will not agree and provide a lower valuation for the mortgage lender. In most circumstances this will lead to a revised and lower offer from the buying party. There are glass ceilings being set by Surveyors, and this is another reason for many sales not completing. There have to be a number of factors as to why sales volume is so low. Its not all because of lower levels of mortgage lending.

TonyQuinn Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > New ma, I don't want to promote myself as > Dulwich's very own Sarah Beeny, but as I said on > another thread, what's important is that you price > your property reasonably. Forget all the hogwash > certain estate agents, such as Foxton's, throw at > you. In my experience the others are more or less > the same...if the property is priced properly, > there's little the agents actually do. As far as > your leasehold comment, you're absolutely right. > If you are selling a property, with say less than > 90 years on the lease, don't go anywhere near one > of those cheap as chips outfits outside the smoke. > Best TQ. > > new mother Wrote: > -------------------------------------------------- > ----- > > Forget solicitors out of London, especially for > > leases. it is a false economy. > > > > Tony, thanks for this. what is your view on > > agents? Couldn't agree more with Tony. Agents are fantastic sales people when it comes to getting you on their books - their valuation managers usually some of the most experienced they have. Not so great at selling. Forgot everything you hear. Market a property really well, get the price right and they always sell. So why pay ?10,000 for that? Madness. Regards Solicitors - PJH Pritchard, Joyce & Hinds in Beckenahm excellent - though not the cheapest Agreed RE: Low cost conveyancers. Too many indians, not enough chiefs so advice gets a little lost in process.

Dorothy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Unless you have a really unusual property, its > pretty easy to value it diy. Just be honest with > yourself. > > Best way to sell a property is 1. value it > realistically 2. get as many items as you > possibly can off the floor (think bins, baskets of > toys, bathroom scales, pot plants), just get as > much floor visible as possible 3. clean and tidy > thoroughly. Add to that Dorothy, freshen any tired looking walls, cover ANY cracks, even if hairline (and make good) and get grimy carpets cleaned or replace if really old fashioned with something plain and neutral (subject to affordability, obviously). Get those things and what Dorothy says above (de-cluttering) and already your house is much more appealing to a buyer...

Benmorg - I think email may have been incorrect. I'm sure there's a contact us option when you refine and update your property details. I regularly use Zoopla as an aid to help give guide prices for sellers who contact us, and I'd say Zoopla is much more useful than ineffective for conventional properties.

Aletha - I understand your feelings with regards to big fees. I once had an enormous fee quote by an agent. I simply couldn't justify the expense. Selling a property is difficult if you attempt yourself as you need to get noticed on Rightmove, as this is where all the traffic is. However there are agents nowadays that do almost everything a high street agent does, for a fraction of the price. Some of these agents 'without offices' are experienced agents and adept at negotiating. Some are even fully fledged members of the NAEA - a sign they are pretty compliant and aim to provide a good quality service. You don't have to use a high street agent and pay a huge fee. That's a choice you make. There are other ways. We're in a pretty technological era now.

Birdy I understand all your points, which are completely valid. My point is this however, that if you are using a mortgage to fund your property purchase, even though the buyer may be prepared to pay an amount for a property, the bank may issue instructions to the surveyor who then disagrees. In this type of scenario - the property is worth for this buyer what the bank's surveyor values the property at. The sellers can disagree and hold on for another banks surveyor. They have the choice. With regards to your analogy about negotiating a fee, I disagree with this. The valuation manager who agrees with the sellers is not usually the staff member who negotiates with a buyer. I sold a property a few years back using a (so called reputable agent). I agreed a typical fee. At the point the agent tried to convince me I had a good offer after I had given clear instructions to negotiate a few thousand more, I quite the contract. I got my few thousand more using a different agent. They talked the talk, getting me signing, but when it came to getting me the price, they were utterly hopeless. I'm glad you didn't make any assertions (or assumptions) about my business as it would be foolish. With regards to getting the right people in. That's pretty simple stuff really. Quality marketing and pricing the property will create enough leads. The job of the agent is then to question buyers to make sure that only those that fit the sellers requirements are sent. We are just instructing a property that has been on the market with an ED reputable agent for three months doing exactly the opposite if what you just said. Their fee was ?10,000. That's proof enough for me that negotiating a high fee with a sales person of a 'reputable' agent is no indication of the service - or lack of it - that you will get one a contract is signed. We will have to agree to disagree on this. Some businesses trading style means they actually don't have to charge as much - much lower overheads being a key factor Agents using the 'no sale no fee' method are also effectively charging their clients for the properties they have marketed but haven't managed to sell. You cannot instruct a solicitor without making a small payment on account. Best James

Birdy - Also, if you pay a low commision, expect a low level of service - pay peanuts, get monkeys That is so old fashioned, and a sweeping statement to make. There is such a thing as value. I'm not sure that paying the most means getting the best service, either. Also, if a property is worth what a person is prepare to pay - can you let me know why RICS surveyors 'frequently' upon instruction from a lender produce a lower valuation than the buyer is prepared to pay. I'm intrigued Best James

Shaw 74. That's exactly what my company offers. I'm quite sure that although estate agents without office (online agents) won't take over the industry yet - in 10 or 20 years (who knows) they will be far more influential. An agent - takes photos, lists on the big portals - takes calls - maybe runs a paper ad or two (*purely branding as these no longer really influence sales too much) - does a few viewings - and charges fees in London of ?10,000 plus. Once the public eventually see they are being fleeced and the service doesn't warrant that kind of fee. They will realise that there are genuine alternatives that are much better value. We do all that and more including RICS valuation / Professional photos (by a real photographer) / RICS floor-plans / Rightmove - everything except the viewings - much like you mentioned, for much less than a ?1000. My opinion is agents are great sales people - they have the public thinking the really earn what they charge . Good property priced correctly sells itself. Any agent saying otherwise is talking b.s!!

Nikthegreek - How does Zoopla know anything about a property's condition? Zoopla uses various algorithms to work an estimate. It doesn't assume property condition, unless the uses fills in the aditional forms which can help Zoopla adjust its estimated value. It relies on information being told to it. For example: The house next door but one to mine sold a few years back at a low price. When I used Zoopla it valued mine similarly. It didn't know that house was lived in by an elderly man who died and his son sold to a property developer for a bargain price. I entered some information and emailed them telling this. They then adjusted my value to something far more realistic. Best James

Much like an agent Zoopla is either very good - if there are a reasonable number of similar sales or useless when there aren't any. Of anyone read the which magazine report recently you would have read that Connells and Bairstow eves valued the same London property at a difference of ?150,000! They can't both be right. I'd bet every penny I own that Zoopla did a better job than both on this property. And these ironically ARE the local experts. Proves it's a guess and the value is actually dictated by the surveyor who based on sales data either agrees or submits his own estimation. Best James

High street agents charge between 1.25%-2.5% for the aforementioned Company. The OFT recently reported the UK average is 1.8%. A quality online agent - meaning they dont have an office - will charge much less than ?1000. 89% of buyers use the internet to find the properties they want to view. 6% of people find property using an estate agents window. These are statistics that were published on the web. I cannot remember who, but I have it documented somewhere.

PS Mrs P. I have a good contact who is a RICS chartered surveyor. He will do for me (or clients whom I introduce) a valuation report for a much lower fee than they normally charge (about 40% of the standard cost). If you REALLY want to know what your property might be valued at by a mortgage surveyor, I can put you in contact. Doing this might indicate that the current agent is pricing your property far to speculatively. Then you could change to a much more reasonably priced agent and ask them to sell at the correct price. I'm sure that way you'd see a lot more interest. Just a thought.

Tony Quinn is correct in my opinion. Price property correctly and it will sell. Overprice and it will sit on the market. Its no coincidence that the property that comes on priced attractively moves far more quickly. I run an online agency (though Im not here to plug in any way). I can't quite understand the logic of those who think Foxtons can achieve a higher sale price than any other agent. We're not experiencing a rising market, its declined just slightly. Sale prices are artificially high due to the lack of stock. The land registry - the information that matters, has confirmed falling prices. Even if Foxtons managed to coax a high offer from a buyer, in all likelihood a RICs surveyor carrying out the survey for the buyers lender would disagree if he cannot find any suitable sales comparables at this 'high price', and reduce its value on the report. Not too many buyers are prepared to pay more than it says on the valuation report. Every agent advertises in the very same places and the power is now with the portals. Those agents that price correctly (and with understanding sellers) will sell. Those agents that price speculatively or with sellers that still think property prices are up there in 2007 land - will wait quite a while or remain unsold. Even RICS recent periodic report supports this notion. 2.5%. You could find a MUCH cheaper agent and lower the price by the difference! You'd get far better results. Just make sure the cheaper agent gets professional photos and a floor-plan as these really are a must for any decent quality property. To put things in perspective. I recently valued a 3 bed house in SE13 at ?310,000-?315,000. The high street agents (two of them) valued at ?335,000 and ?339,995 respectively). I had the property under offer pretty quickly. However the valuer valued it lower at ?305,000 based on a lack of comparable stock and the fact another 3 bed in the same road and of very similar quality sold in October 2010 at you guessed it, ?305,000. That means the worst offending agent valued at 11% too high. It wouldn't have sold in a million years wither it was Foxtons or Harrods selling! The UK national average asking price is ?226,000. The UK national average selling price is ?163,000. Surely that says it all. The poster that mentioned agents pricing to whet your appetite is sooo correct. With a 3-6 month contract they have all the time in the world to get your price down. At the end of the contract they often pull a few low offers out the bag and my then you are frustrated and exhausted, and more likely to listen. And still pay their fee! I regularly blog about agent tactics, and my rule to any seller is don't go with the agent who quotes the highest price. If you do, get some evidence to vindicate the reasoning behind their valuation. If its weak, then its bull. I hope this can help you find your buyer a little more quickly. Best James