Are Foxtons actually selling houses in ED?

[MrsP]

We currently have our house on the market. So far not many viewings, I know things are not what they were, but Foxtons do keep ringing me to tell me how many houses they have under offer in ED and would I consider using their services. They informed me today that they have 9 properties under offer in ED, one of which has gone over the asking value. This sounds great, but does this mean Foxtons are selling more properties faster than anyone else? Would all of these under offer be actually getting through to completion? My other issue is their commission, a whopping 2.5%, but if I can get my asking price with Foxtons it might be worth it. Don't know what to do, has anyone had any experience of selling with Foxtons?

[Sue]

You could ask them for details of these properties which are supposedly under offer, and check some of them out?

[Loz]

Looking on their website for SE22, they have 42 properties on there, of which 5 are under offer.

Doesn't sound a brilliant hit rate.

[TonyQuinn]

Forget Foxton's, just price your property honestly, that's the answer. Read my thread on Dulwich housing market lessons for some of my observations. Good luck TQ

[Pearson]

Foxtons were proven to be con-artistes of the highest order on a documentary a good while back.

I'm sure that's not the case with our friendly chums on Lordship lane these days.

[womanofdulwich]

why dont you ask your current agent why you should not put it with Foxtons?? and ask Foxtons about the houses being under offer being what percentage of their ( ie Foxtons) ORIGINAL asking price? Ask Foxtons what they will do to sell your house and then ask your current agent what they will do/ are doing.

I suspect you will need to check what sales terms you have signed up to with your current agent though. YOu might end up having to apy them commission if you sell elsewhere.

[Jeremy]

I don't think it makes any difference which agent you use, as long as it gets on the major property search websites (which plenty of photos and a floorplan).

Maybe it's priced too high?

[ClareC]

What is the going commission rate for Estate Agents?

[peterstorm1985]

Really important to find out what type of houses Foxtons has under offer (and where they are). Are they similar to yours? If you've got a three bed Victorian semi in a good street but all their houses under offer are new builds squeezed into an old builders yard, then there isn't much chance that they can be of any more help than your current agent.

[caz]

My experience of Foxtons as a buyer are awful.I am registered with them but never hear from them even though i ring continually and am told someone will get back to me.They never have,I've given up on them.

[karter]

ClareC Wrote:

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> What is the going commission rate for Estate

> Agents?

Ranging from 1% to 2.5%...

[indiepanda]

Foxtons took forever to get back to me about a flat I'd requested a viewing on - I'd offered on another house before they got back to me.

Speaking as a recent buyer, the estate agent that was most inclined to get back to me with details of new properties coming on the market that matched my requirements were Property Inn. As it happened the place I bought was via Haart, who were also pretty helpful in getting the purchase through.

[new mother]

You need to assess whether your property is tricky to sell - area, distance from station, massive crack in drawing room wall whatever - and if so, it may be worth paying Foxtons the extra. The advice certainly used to be " buy through anyone, sell through Foxtons".

[new mother]

the trick for an agent used to be to over value the property, get it on the books then slowly acquaint the vendor with the fact it isn't selling, the market has moved, it might be best to reduce it etc. they then sell it at a reduced level for higher commission than the competing agents.

check any agnet's contract carefully especially how to get rid of them and whether there is a minumum period for them to havea go? A month is reasonable. you can judge how many second viewings etc are happening.

also, remember fees attract VAT at 20% which is another chunk of cash at an expensive time....

[fishneed]

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

[jrthomas_uk]

I've bought and sold several houses in ED, and would recommend Property In too.

They're a small, local agent (both good points in my opinion when you're looking for a good service) who know the area well and are better priced commission-wise than Foxtons. Think we paid 1.25% upon selling, but I believe it is slightly higher now.

Steve Smith is the head guy. Having a chat with him is free ;-)

[fishneed]

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.

[fishneed]

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.

[sb]

.

[womanofdulwich]

hometrack is not worth paying for. If you really want to know, you need to pay a valuer to survey the property carry out detailed analysis and report to you with their findings including detailed analysis of their comparables. This takes skill and costs money. A buyer will spend the money to do this but vendors usually do some research of their own and ask agents round and then put the property on the market to " let the market decide".

[benmorg]

sb Wrote:

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> You can value it via hometrack for approx ?25.

> Very good detail.

Zoopla is just as good and completely free. Still no substitute for a competent independent surveyor who comes to visit and sees the property's condition, etc.

[dubluke]

benmorg Wrote:

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> sb Wrote:

> --------------------------------------------------

> -----

> > You can value it via hometrack for approx ?25.

> > Very good detail.

>

>

> Zoopla is just as good and completely free. Still

> no substitute for a competent independent surveyor

> who comes to visit and sees the property's

> condition, etc.

Personally I wouldn't trust the zoopla valuation, it's mostly calculated by computers rather than people with local market knowledge, I've seen it estimate the value of property I have sold by as much as ?200,000 less than the price achieved in the end!

[ClareC]

I tried Zoopla too and it didn't seem at all accurate in comparison to what was on the Market and sold prices. Wasn't a small sum out either!!

[fishneed]

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

[nikthegreek]

I have found Zoopla to be a reasonable guide if the property last sold fairly recently but as it cannot take into account the condition of the property today and when it last sold in some instances it can be way off.

As other posters have pointed out it is only applying a formula to sales data which will never be as accurate as a valuation by a surveyor. Zoopla will assume a wreck bought ten years ago is still a wreck today even if it has been lovingly restored.