Frustrated seller turned off by agents

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    • #52262
      Anonymous
      Participant

      I have a two bedroom apartment on the edge of Torrevieja town which I am unable to sell, even though it is reasonably price. I have found the agents absolutely unreliable, cavalier and uninterested. It has been on the market for a year now.
      In six months one agent did not find anyone to view the property. When we complained about the lack of proactivity, the woman said that we shouldn’t worry as they had some properties on their books that hadn’t sold for THREE YEARS!.
      I then sought out another agent in Torrevieja. He looked and spoke like Bernard Manning. He demanded that we changed our Spanish solicitor, telling us that he did not like him because they had had a disagreement in the past. We refused and did not pursue the matter with as we felt the agent was unprofessional and gave the impression (to us anyway) of being a spiv.
      I then went to a very well known English agent who fly out ‘thousands to Spain on inspection trips’. The rep took my details and keys (from our keyholder in Spain) and said he would immediately send me paperwork to the UK (where I am domiciled). I heard nothing for nearly three weeks. I chased up the company (numerous phone calls) to be told the rep had left the company four days after speaking to me and they had not assigned the file to another rep yet! I was speechless. To get on their books I had to cancel other contracts because they demanded exclusivity. I have no confidence in agents at all and I no longer know who to trust. There is one agency we have noticed who are telling buyers that they can make 35% profit on their homes in a couple of years. I would say this was clearly misleading with the current slow market conditions.
      The only people to have viewed the apartment have been attracted by myself via word of mouth.
      I have the property on a website called Vender Direct and this has generated 150 hits in 4 months but only one interested person. I arranged for her to view the apartment and she failed to turn up.
      The frustrating thing is that I am not trying to rip anyone off nor am I asking silly money. The way things are at the moment I would consider any reasonable offer under the asking price of 115,000 Euros.
      Do I keep trying to sell or do I rent it out?

    • #65892
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Unless you decide to find a buyer yourself, you have two choices.

      Option one. Decide that all agents are crooks or fools, and resign yourself to accepting a dismal level of service.

      Option two. Decide that some local agents must be honest and competent, and then invest some of your time in finding them.

      I suggest you ask your friends and neighbours for recommendations. Try to deal with partner or owner in a small established firm.

      After finding an agent you can trust, invest a little more time in building a relationship with him or her. In short, what you get usually depends on how much you put.

    • #65893
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Hi there Pablo

      The problem is most agents just dont want to work for their money, they merely want to sit in their offices and wait. The best thing to do is to send an email to them telling them brif details about your property and that you would like them to sell it for you.

      See how many respond and in what time. It amazes me that when I did this I got a response form 3 agents and sent an email to over 150 of them – – incredible.

      At least this way you know they will repsond to emails from customers. (You could do a quick check by sending an email as a buyer and see which ones respond) Ideally if they respond within 48 hours or less then that is pretty on the mark. If it is within a week then think yourself lucky they responded at all – most wont bother to respond.

      If you want to know how to sell it yourself including where to advertise the property online for free then drop me a line or PM me and I iwll send you a report I did for a lcoal paper which explains what an agent should do for you, and how to go about it yourself. I can also let you know where to advertise it yourself

      Regards

      Vince

    • #65894
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Hi Pablo

      one other point – why would you want to go exclusively with one agent. If they are any good then they will sell your house or at least make an effort. As you have already seen the competition dont do an awful lot so the chances of them selling it before a decent agent is slight.

      However putting your eggs into one basket is not a wise move UNLESS they will give you a guarantee of some sort. There are agents here who will guarantee a sale within 6 motnhs or buy it themselves, or they pay a deposit of 3,000 to hold it off for 6 months – if they dont sell it you keep the money. Then they really are putting their nuts on the line.

      But in general an exclusive contract isnt worth it unless you get something in return. It may be guaranteed advertising placement, a featured property spot, a feature in their newsletter or a star listing on some flyers, an open house or whatever but you should get something out of it that you wouldnt as a normal lisitng.

      Good luck

      Vince

    • #65923
      marios
      Participant

      Pablo

      Have you tried http://www.direct-auctions.com.

    • #65929
      Anonymous
      Participant

      Very grateful to everyone for all the advice. Today, I think I have now found a decent agent, one of the biggest companies in terms of taking people out to Spain on inspection trips. They want exclusivity for three months. As I have no success whatsoever with non-exclusivity I am hoping this company is more committed and, so far, I have been impressed with their attitude. This company advertises widely in the UK media and I believe that they are consciouis opf their reputation. They cannot be any worse than the other agents I have used. I am a bit more optimistic than I was at the start of the week.
      This is a great forum and if I don’t get a sale you have given me some good pointers to try next. Thanks.

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