PDA

View Full Version : local estate agents now in 21st century!



dragonfly
10-May-08, 18:36
after looking through the local rags it dawned on me that the local estate agents adverts are now in colour and at long last they are starting to show prices of houses too - well nearly all of them, noticed that Young Robertson still don't and they are the only ones not to have a website (other than CSPC) showing the properties on their books.

Think Drever & Heddle's takeover has knocked a few firms complacency

badger
10-May-08, 19:42
Don't think D&H would be a challenge for anyone - they've never bothered to take down the old MacPhersons site and their new one is awful, very user unfriendly. Apart from the CSPC, they're the only ones that expect you to download .pdf files and they have a Log In but nowhere to register ! The others are definitely improving. Think Young Robertson have given up.

Tilter
10-May-08, 22:39
after looking through the local rags it dawned on me that the local estate agents adverts are now in colour and at long last they are starting to show prices of houses too - well nearly all of them, noticed that Young Robertson still don't and they are the only ones not to have a website (other than CSPC) showing the properties on their books.

Think Drever & Heddle's takeover has knocked a few firms complacency
They are charging 20% more for colour advertising. Agree with Badger - D&H website is useless. Pollards is a good example. The selling market is terrible - in my book that means estate agents need to work harder - or just work full stop. (e.g. even make a register of interested buyers and what they're interested in - and follow up with them). I don't think the ones in Caithness have quite taken present climate on board yet.

bekisman
10-May-08, 22:45
We get a lot of folk visiting from 'the south' and they always find it amusing and not a little quaint that the estate agents up here don't show the prices of properties, presume the agents think any interested person will contact them and ask? how archaic!

Angel
10-May-08, 22:57
We came to look at a 4 bedroom house up here several years ago... yes there were 4 beds... one single bed in each of the only 4 rooms and that includes the kitchen....
On another occasion we went to look at a property described as "with potential to convert to cottage" whereas we found it was a cottage but had hay in one room and chickens in the kitchen...

I just love this part of the world....

Angel

Moi x
11-May-08, 01:50
My erstwhile OH and I came up last summer with the intention of buying a second house in Caithness. He gave up in disgust almost immediately due to the obfuscational practices of every estate agent in Caithness we dealt with. The concept of trying to sell anything without quoting a price was alien to both of us, but the ones that did quote prices weren't any better. Initiallly, I thought their indifference was due to his Bearsden accent and his over-confident manner but nothing changed when I did the talking. Perhaps I overdid the Caithness accent thing but my impression was that they thought they were doing us a favour just by talking to us. [disgust]

Moi x

cazmanian_minx
11-May-08, 07:52
We had the opposite experience - we spent just over a year looking for a house in Caithness and everyone we've spoken to at the various estate agent branches in Thurso and Wick has been friendly and helpful from the outset, even when presented with two English accents. I think it probably helped, further down the line, that OH was born and brought up in Thurso though.

(And we're moving up in three weeks - hooray!)

percy toboggan
11-May-08, 08:11
The selling market is terrible - in my book that means estate agents need to work harder - .

Do you speak from instinct Tilter, or are you clued up on this?
Has the stuttering, stalling housing market reached that far north yet?

One wonders if its time to start looking seriously again....or wait a little longer...giving the credit crunch time to bite deeper. It's been a sellers market for such a long time.

Minx: from which part of England (ish) are you making your escape?I envy your imminent de-camp to the far north. edited** Ahh...I see, Croydon...explains a lot..I remember it well...twenty years ago it was bad enough ...I'd find living there today completely unbearable.

cazmanian_minx
11-May-08, 08:27
Minx: from which part of England (ish) are you making your escape?I envy your imminent de-camp to the far north. edited** Ahh...I see, Croydon...explains a lot..I remember it well...twenty years ago it was bad enough ...I'd find living there today completely unbearable.

LOL! I've finally had enough after nine years here - I'm self-employed now and can work from anywhere with an internet connection and a post office, so when Mick (Skimeister on here) got offered a job at Dounreay, we jumped at the chance - we'd been thinking of moving up anyway, to be closer to his Mum in Thurso.

The housing market here in South London is certainly stuttering and stalling, not for a lack of buyers, but for lack of money in the mortgage market. My flat went up for sale in February, sold within 48 hours, buyers pulled out a week later due to inability to get a mortgage. Sold again within 4 days, last Friday, after 8 weeks of the buyers providing more and more documentation to their lenders, they were turned down for their mortgage and have pulled out :roll:. I've dropped the price and am hoping for a cash-rich investor to swoop in - the agents are confident they'll get me a sale in the next two weeks for cash or near-cash, but if they don't, I'm sending it to auction. Quite fitting for someone who makes a living off eBay really!

Armadale here we come, I can't wait!

bluewickers
11-May-08, 14:51
I would just like to add that one of the estate agents named earlier currently have our property on their books. While I know that the market is not great just now I still dont think that the estate agent is doing enough to promote our property. I have myself put our property on a couple of different websites where advertising is free for a lenght of time. The agent had not even heard of them. Surely they would be going out of their way to promote to get is sold so they can get their fees quicker. Or maybe I'm just expecting miracles.

Anne x
11-May-08, 15:02
I would just like to add that one of the estate agents named earlier currently have our property on their books. While I know that the market is not great just now I still dont think that the estate agent is doing enough to promote our property. I have myself put our property on a couple of different websites where advertising is free for a lenght of time. The agent had not even heard of them. Surely they would be going out of their way to promote to get is sold so they can get their fees quicker. Or maybe I'm just expecting miracles.


A replica of my experience I sold my house 18 months ago in Caithness I felt they had originally overpriced the property which proved to be the case granted it was a difficult property to do a valuation on as it was 2 houses knocked into one but in the end had to ask for a independant valuation which the estate agent picked up the bill for also I had to keep asking them why it was not in the local papers for sale on a permanent basis
As things turned out the People who bought the house saw it in the For Sale section of Cathness Org

northener
11-May-08, 15:34
Overall, I'm not impressed with the estate agents around here. Having said that, we've always dealt with Georgesons, who have been great.

I can't think of any excuse for not opening on a Saturday for potential buyers to pop in and discuss business. Mind boggling.

A friend of mine went into a certain estate agents in Wick to discuss an offer she'd put in on a house. The airhead behind the desk completely blanked her and contiued to gossip with her chum on the phone. After about five minutes of sitting there, my friend turned round and walked out absolutely disgusted with their unprofessionalism.

bluewickers
11-May-08, 15:49
I can't think of any excuse for not opening on a Saturday for potential buyers to pop in and discuss business.


I totally agree. A lot of people have the weekend off, so to me opening on a Saturday would be far better possibly more people going in enquiring.

When we finally sell I certainly wont be recommending them to anybody, well, have done so already to a few.

Kevin Milkins
11-May-08, 16:15
My wife and I went to Noth Wales to look around at propertys for sale,(pre Internet Days) .It was a Sunday and had a look around for estate agents and were supprised to find more than one open. The lady in the agents told us that their business had increased a great deal since they started Sunday opening because its a day when most people are out and about looking and its a handy day for veiwings.As a result of them opening other agents had to follow or loose trade.

Tony
11-May-08, 17:46
Maybe the Council will follow suit and display planning applications with detailed plans for all to see instead of having to visit an office that closes early so most people wouldn't have a chance.:roll: