What puts you off a property on Rightmove?

Opinions needed! When you’re looking at properties on the internet, what puts you off contacting the agent/requesting more details? We’ve been discussing this issue with our clients over the past month and have already heard some interesting opinions, so we thought it would be a good time to collect together some opinions and see if any patterns develop.

As agents, we know buyers want to see the maximum amount of information on the web. They expect multiple photos, floor plans, plenty of description and local information – if these items aren’t in place, we understand entirely why buyers would be put off. However, we’ve also heard from current clients about some more idiosyncratic “personal triggers”, preconceptions, assumptions or generalizations that turn them off particular homes. As a starter, here’s some thoughts from our canvassing so far;

” If I see photos with the lights on, I assume the house is normally dark so I don’t bother seeing it”

“If the agent only puts three photos on the web, we think those are carefully chosen and the rest of the house is horrible”

“If the main picture is of the inside, I always wonder if the outside is ugly”

“If the agent doesnt make any effort with describing the house, they must think its awful themselves”

“Less is more – if the initial text is more than a line or two, I don’t bother reading further”

“The main picture should always be on the front of the house. Also any outside pictures should reflect the season – I don’t want to pick up details of a house in the spring if the photos show snow in the garden – highlights the facts it’s been up for sale for ages!”

“.. if there is no picture of say a kitchen or a bathroom for a property on Rightmove I’m inclined to think it must be in a state and the agent is trying to hide it so you end up being less inclined to enquire further of that particular one, even if it needs work, I would rather see it all.”

Please do let us know your thoughts by commenting below, contacting us on Twitter or Facebook (Madison_Oakley or www.facebook.com/MadisonOakleyEA) or emailing at carey@madisonoakley.co.uk.

Postscript – following retweets from Rightmove of this post and even a related thread on the housepricecrash forum, the following results are up to date as of 17th May 2012;

27% of respondents suggested quality/number of photos

9% of respondents suggested lack of outside photo

12% of respondents suggested badly written descriptions

24% of respondents suggested the price

12% of respondents suggested price caveats like “Fixed Price”, “Offers Over” or POA

3% of respondents suggested misnaming rooms (size of bedrooms being the most common bugbear)

6% of respondents suggested lack of floorplans

3% of respondents suggested lack of postcode or map software

Nationwide November house price index figures

The November House Price Index from Nationwide reports that house prices fell by 0.3% in the month. Compared with November 2009, house prices are nearly unchanged over the year as a whole, showing an increase of 0.4%. The average price is now £163,398.

Commenting on the figures Martin Gahbauer, Nationwide’s Chief Economist, said: “The recent trend of modestly falling house prices continued during November, with the price of a typical UK property declining by 0.3% on a seasonally adjusted basis between October and November. The three month on three month rate of change – a smoother measure of the recent price trend – rose from -1.5% to -1.3%. This remains well above the deeply negative rates of -5% to -6% that prevailed during the most severe phase of the downturn in 2008. The annual rate of change – which compares house prices to their level 12 months ago – fell from 1.4% to 0.4% and suggests that house prices are essentially unchanged from a year earlier.

There is little evidence to suggest that house price declines are likely to accelerate in the months ahead. Much of the weakness in property values since the Spring has been driven by a return of sellers to the market, following unusually low levels of property for sale in 2009 and early 2010. However, there is little to indicate that these sellers need to achieve a sale urgently for financial or economic reasons, which means that the downward pressure on house prices is only modest. In addition, there are early signs that the flow of new property onto the market may be slowing down again as potential sellers observe the recent weakness in prices and decide against marketing their properties at the current juncture. Similar seller behaviour was observed in late 2008 and early 2009, eventually leading to a decline in the amount of property on the market.”

Latest RICS survey results

So, more than half of the RICS surveyors who also work as estate agents (55% of 258 surveyed) say prices drifted lower in the last three months, reflecting the results from Halifax and Nationwide surveys in October. The small statistical sample does make the results a little academic but, unlike the mortgage lender indexes, this survey is a report “from the coalface” of the industry. However, is this a sign of the market dropping or just a reflection of a normal seasonal trend? Activity in Bath certainly does tail off towards the end of each year and the RICS conclusion (that buyers are waiting till the spring to see what happens) is entirely understandable as the nights draw in and gales batter the nation!

Whilst we don’t doubt for a moment that the overall national trend in prices is slightly downwards (at least until the anticipated tick upwards in January), we have seen a marked increase in activity during the last fortnight. For a small agency, 6 sales agreed in this time is extremely unusual and a reminder that correctly priced property in certain brackets is still very much in demand. Those brackets seem to be 1)family houses between £230,000 and £300,000 and 2)investment/buy to let property for students.

In contrast to the RICS survey results, Agency Express (who put up most of the UK’s for sale boards for corporate agents) have this week highlighted a 4% increase in October sales. Will these successful vendors buy onwards and create a bump in activity before Christmas?

 Madison Oakley are an independent estate agent and letting agent in Bath. We are a small director led firm with over 50 years combined local experience.To find out more about us, do visit our website. We would always be delighted to receive comments via our blog or do feel free to call us on 01225 466525.

October Halifax index

The latest house price index from Halifax revealed the value of a typical home in Britain climbed 1.8 per cent in October to £164,919, up 1.2 per cent on a year ago. It follows a drop in average values of £6,000 in September, the biggest monthly fall since records began.

 

 Madison Oakley are an independent estate agent and letting agent in Bath. We are a small director led firm with over 50 years combined local experience.To find out more about us, do visit our website. We would always be delighted to receive comments via our blog or do feel free to call us on 01225 466525.