Guest mandy1970 Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 We have had our house up for sale for 4 months and had a lot of viewers at the beginning, none for the last 10 weeks but got a phone call from EA today to say we have one on Sat 10.30am. There is about 12 houses for sale just now in our village and viewers tend to go to everybody as all the houses are different. When we all chat they seem to know lots about the people coming to look than me. Is that good/bad? I cant seem to bring myself to be that nosey and ask them lots of questions. Should I? When I have looked at houses I dont mind being asked but I think that things have changed. What do or have you done and did it help? Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo&Rich Posted August 5, 2008 Share Posted August 5, 2008 Hi Mandy, I used to ask questions like do you have any kids (if none with them!), then I could mention location to schools/parks etc. Do you live locally was another one; then if they said no, I could tell them about pub/post office/shop location, and if they said yes, i could steer it around to what a lovely area it was, but then they'd know that! Not quite as blatant as it sounds, just casually dropping it into conversation! Don't know whether it helped, but it sold eventually. Good luck with your sale, Jo x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sykestykes Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Hi Mandy I agree with Jo's advice. If you can, try to find out a bit about them from your EA in advance, such as whether they are from out of the area and if they have kids, etc. That way, you can research local stuff that you think will be of interest to them (we used a local school with an "outstanding" OFSTED report as one of our talking points, along with the local leisure centre and the really good motorway links and a lovely nearby park to walk the dog in...) Chat as much as you can, it can't hurt to give them too much information! Good luck! Mrs Tyke xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
T-bone Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Hi Mandy I agree with Jo's advice. If you can, try to find out a bit about them from your EA in advance, such as whether they are from out of the area and if they have kids, etc. That way, you can research local stuff that you think will be of interest to them (we used a local school with an "outstanding" OFSTED report as one of our talking points, along with the local leisure centre and the really good motorway links and a lovely nearby park to walk the dog in...) Chat as much as you can, it can't hurt to give them too much information! Good luck! Mrs Tyke xx I agree with Mrs Tyke...You need to find out as much information as possible about your viewer, so that you can sell the "features" of your house and location, as a "benefit" to your potential buyer. You also want to make your viewer feel comfortable and at home, so therefore, the more conversation you create the more they well feel at ease, and the more likely they will feel your property has that "X-Factor". It's that point where the buyer says "As soon as I walked into the house, I knew I wanted to live here". T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest beermeister Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Agree with all the other advice - although you don't want to put buyers off, you shouldn't be shy about asking questions of them; ideally the EA's should be asking these questions in advance so that you can tailor your presentation to the buyers. I've had this out with our EA, but all I get back from them is vacant looks, so I've gotten over beating my head against a brick wall and now do it on the fly. I think the best tactic is to slow things down and break the ice with a few leading questions and try to get to know them more before showing them anything - once you know a bit about them, you know what to emphasise or not to highlight to them. BUT, I think one of the most important things to investigate in this particular economic climate is whether they actually have the money to buy your house or not. There are loads of tyre kickers around at the moment and, unfortunately, there's such a shortage of viewers that the EA's will send anyone that looks remotely like a buyer. I've had several viewers who just seem to be on a different planet with their expectations of where they'll get the money from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest mandy1970 Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 Thanks for the replies. We have been lucky that are viewers have been genuine buyers and some have bought places. I ask the usual questions like are you going to live here (there are a lot of holiday houses here) kids, etc, general chit chat - I like talking lol. There is not much to say about local amenities as there is about 1000 people, primary school(70 kids) 1 shop, a post office, bakers, and The only petrol station within about 8 miles. I asked the EA what they knew of them but said didnt know anything about them apart from where they were coming from/lived. Should I really go for it and ask Have you sold? Do you have the money/motgage in place? (although most of them have been cash buyers - retired and loaded.) Are you serious or wasting my time lol? Mandy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo&Rich Posted August 6, 2008 Share Posted August 6, 2008 I'd ask; if they are serious, they won't mind, if not, who cares what they think! Seriously though, as you say it's how you word it. I always asked if they had a house to sell, then I didn't get my hopes up unneccesarily. Jo x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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