How do you know when it's time to switch agents?
Are things starting to feel uninteresting, even depressing, regarding the sale of your property? If you've been trying to sell for a while, contact with your agent has likely dropped. Could it be time for a change?
After the initial excitement of launching your property on the market, when you're full of hopes, dreams, and plans for the future, it can feel anti-climactic if you don't sell during your initial flurry of viewings.
Fast-forward a month or so, and your viewing appointments have likely all but dried up, and you're probably wondering what is going on.
For most property sellers, the first four weeks of selling your home involve photoshoots, marketing preparation, and then, the big launch to the market. This is when your agent will announce to the world that your home is for sale, and neighbours, family, and friends will see your home on social media and share it on their profiles. You will probably speak to the estate agent daily, sometimes more than once, as you approve the marketing and prepare for the launch.
Then, there will be another few weeks packed with viewing appointments. You will be running the hoover round every day and yelling at everyone to tidy up after themselves because you have another viewing. It is nonstop and can be very exciting.
But if you don't have any offers from those initial viewings, what next? The enquiries will slowly dwindle, and you will be sick of everyone you know asking how the sale is going because, in truth, you know it isn't really going anywhere.
Most sellers will persevere for a few months, hoping things will improve. During this time, the calls with your estate agent will dwindle, too. With less to report, they have less to say, and you might go weeks without hearing from them. You're left in limbo. You don't know where to find more viewings or how to attract more buyers. What should you do to get this house sold?
If you find yourself disillusioned and wondering what is happening with the sale of your property, or if the following sounds like your experience of trying to sell your home, it may be time to consider a new approach.
- Lack of contact - Do you find yourself wondering what is going on? Do you notice weeks have passed without any update from the agents? When you call them, do they call you back, or are you being ghosted because they have nothing to say?
- Lack of guidance - have the agents run out of options or suggestions to try and get your home sold? When you speak to them, do they blame the market or tell you to wait a few more weeks without any plan of action?
- Lack of optimism - When you speak to your agent, do you end the call feeling pessimistic? Do you feel disillusioned and as if you might never get a buyer? Or are you losing hope that you'll ever sell your house?
- Lack of viewings - If there are no viewings on your property, then you won't sell it-typically people don't buy a home without looking at it first. So, you need to do something to generate viewings.
- Lack of ideas - Is your agent able to give any suggestions about how to get more viewings? Or have they exhausted all of their available options? The only choice left for them is to suggest a price reduction. If this is the only idea that your agent has left to help you sell your home, it might be time for a second opinion.
Changing estate agents is a fairly common practice. If an agent is unable to sell your home in the first few months, they may have exhausted all options available to them. They've tried every tool in their toolbox to sell your home and have so far been unsuccessful.
Now, you will have signed a contract when you initially instructed them, so you must double-check the terms before you make a switch. Otherwise, you could find yourself in breach of contract with costly consequences. But if you are free to switch things up and give another agent a go, contact our team to see how we can help you with a new approach to selling your property.