Over the coming weeks and months I will be delving deeper into the world of estate agency and, due to my anonymity, I will be able to say what the rest of us might think, but aren't able to say publically.
My first foray regards the nature of the phrase the customer is always right' - a well-worn agency clich that evokes the words bane' and life' whenever it is uttered.
I am currently selling a beautiful house worth over £2m. It is a lovely home but sits next to a busy road and has a garden that looks as though it has been designed by Fred Flinstone.
Unfortunately, we cannot move the road, and the garden, which has been their labour of love for 15 years, would require too much work to change. However, I believe there is one thing that would help them.
The house is stuffed full of furniture and as much as I try to encourage the owners to start removing some of it they refuse, citing that all the furniture is needed! The dust on the furniture suggests otherwise.
It has taken me weeks, plenty of visits and plenty of thought to truly appreciate the opportunity contained within this property. Unfortunately, this is simply too much thought for potential buyers who are often busy people with no more than an hour to view the house.
Experience tells me that if they cleared much of their stuff' it would greatly enhance the visual understanding of what could be achieved.
The cantankerous owner loves to tell me that if they cannot see past my furniture then they are f*****g idiots.
The owner is coming under increasing pressure from his wife to sell, so one day he calls me to say let's drop the price by £400,000. My response was: that's one option, but I would rather you pay £5,000 and remove five pieces of furniture and 100's of ornaments instead.
The house still has single glazing and because concern has been raised over road noise, I have suggested they pay for one of the rooms to be double glazed to prove that this can be eliminated.
I reassured the owner that there was no shortage of enquiries at the original price point and expectations were being managed, but once again, they knew better.
Unsurprisingly, the price has been dropped; the furniture remains and the enquiries have subsequently dried up.
The professional in me tells me to sack them as clients. They won't listen, they know better and don't even bother to vacuum up the dead flies in some of the bedrooms (I had to do that).
I know I can't help them to help themselves. However, I have invested time and energy into them and their home and if I walk away, I know they will end up in a worse position.
I suspect many readers can identify with this position and we would love to hear about your stubborn clients who we know are not always right!
*The Secret Agent has been in property for almost 20 years and trained as a Chartered Surveyor. He enjoys nothing more than being involved in property and has invested in, renovated, developed and sold plenty of property for both himself and clients.
(In between selling property this agent loves nothing more than being involved in rugby and whilst slower and heavier, continues to be as involved as possible.)
Comments
Some interesting points here and I agree, vendors' opinions can be extremely frustrating but I think Chris Arnold is right, it is what you are being paid for - supposedly an agent's area of expertise!
I am on the vendors side. Do your job and change the perception of those that view this "lovely house".
On the plus side, at least they have reduced the price rather than let is stick on the market believing their own expertise on the housing market, but I find as equally annoying in these situations is that the vendors are probably bemoaning the agent to anyone who will listen for 'having' to reduce the price and for the house not selling.