Changing estate agents

[ganesh]

We have had our house up for sale for 4 months and having put the price down a fair bit as advised by the agents we have only had one offer which fell through and now it's gone quiet again.
I know the market is static at the moment,but we were thinking of either taking it off or using a cheaper online agency ( I think most people find places via rightmove now anyway).

Looking at the small print on our contract there seems no time restrictions but it says that if we sell within 6 months of disinstruction they can still charge us the fee (several thousand pounds).Is this normal?I thought it was only if they could prove that they found the buyers,and I am worried we'll end up paying 2 lots of fees if we sell.
The main reason is that we feel we were persuaded to reduce the asking price and we've now priced ourselves out of finding anything better than we already have as not everyone is putting their prices down.
Not sure what to do,any ideas or experience in this?

[bednobs]

are you sure it doesn't say if you sell (to someone theyve introduced) they'll still charge? TBH i think most people out there have an overinflated view of what their house is worth. Even if the agents "persuaded" you to reduce the asking price against your better judgement, it obv still isn't a "bargain" otherwise it would have sold, so if you put it on with a new agent with a higher price, it probably still isn't going to sell.
other people might not be putting their prices down, but they probably aren't selling either?
We had this problem this time last year when we put our houseon the market. In the end we ended up not moving.

[ganesh]

I agree,I only went with the price they suggested in the first place and then again when it didn't sell in 2 months.I'm not at all greedy,if all the prices go down I'll be happy and you're right it probably is over-inflated.It's just that there is nothing else out there I feel is even marginally better in our price range now.
As far as the wording is concerned I can't see that it mentions introductions,that's what I was expecting.
May well just take it off the market for 6 months or so,shame,I'd really like to move!

[The Builder]

It is possible to "get lucky" when changing agents, Ganesh. Of course, some agents are better than others, but they're all chasing the same market.
It's rather like going to auction. You can't just "force" a sale. There is still a large pool of potential buyers out there, but they're unable to raise the cash, or not prepared to under current lending restrictions/fees etc.

If the 6 months is the case, then take it off now. Forget about it, and start again sometime next Spring. In the interim, do your research until you come up with an agent you fancy.
Good luck

[ganesh]

Thanks,
I just thought changing to one of these online agents who charge around £800 would be a damn site cheaper and would,as you say, get the same results in this luck based situation.I also feel that the reason it isn't selling is not the price,which is now very competitive,it is the economic situation.If we drop the price even more it would be a ridiculous bargain and it would probably be more likely to sell but then we wouldn't be able to buy anything of even equivalent standard and we'd be in a stupid position.
I think I'll give it one more month,then take it off for 6 months,then see what is happening to the market next year/

[bednobs]

ho0w much notice do you have to give? In my (fairly limited) experience, if you give notice, they suddenly work harder for the sale

[ganesh]

I assumed you didn't have to give any notice to take a house off the market but I 'm not sure 'working harder' makes any difference.They have sent out the brochures to their mailing list clients and stuck it in the local paper a few times.As the builder says you can't force a sale.Worth a try though I suppose.I could tell them I'm taking it off in a month if I don't get anybody interested and maybe they'd put it out again.

[ganesh]

I suppose,also,I'm a bit cross with them for telling us what to sell it for in the first place,then advising us to put it down after 2 months,(which I always think makes you look desperate and encourages lower offers) in order to sell quickly and it hasn't.Most people think it's because nothing is moving rather than our house being over-priced.The thought of paying them thousands as well if it did sell annoys me as this is going to reduce our funds further wheras an online agency charges so much less!

[bednobs]

you usually do have to give notice - check the contract

[ganesh]

Just checked,nothing in the contract about how long at all.Had a feeling she said at the beginning it would be on for 3 months but we have passed that.Definitely no notice period.

[Kelvinbase]

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