Sellers: What Happens Once Your Home Is Listed
Your home goes live on a Thursday afternoon. By the following Tuesday, there are three letters on the mat, two of them handwritten, and somebody has knocked on the door to say they were just valuing a property round the corner.
If nobody warned you this was coming, it is unsettling. It can feel like the market knows something you do not. It does not, and once you understand what has actually happened, none of it will throw you.
Why does this happen the moment you list?
Because listing your home makes you visible to every agent in the area on the same afternoon.
Before you listed, nobody knew you were thinking about moving. The day the portals publish, you become the most valuable thing in local estate agencies. Not a maybe. A proven seller, at a known address.
Finding people who want to sell is the hardest part of our industry. A live listing removes all of that guesswork for anybody willing to put a letter through your door. That is the whole explanation.
What should you expect to receive?
Broadly, four things, and they are all normal.
Letters, often designed to look personal or handwritten, saying an agent has a buyer looking in your street.
A knock at the door, usually framed as a coincidence. They were just nearby, just valued something similar, just thought they would say hello.
Phone calls, sometimes from agents you have never contacted, occasionally from companies offering to buy the property outright.
Leaflets and cards suggesting your home is worth more than you have it on for.
None of this means your agent is failing. It arrives whether your marketing is going brilliantly or not, and it arrives in week one, before anybody could know how it is going.
How do you read the letter that says they have a buyer?
With one question. Who?
A genuine buyer can be named to your agent, has usually seen the details, and is in a position to proceed. If somebody really does have a motivated buyer for a house like yours, the straightforward thing to do is ring the agent who is marketing it and arrange a viewing. That happens, and it is welcome.
Much more common is a general enquiry dressed up as a specific one. There may well be somebody on a mailing list who once said they liked the area. That is not the same as a buyer for your house.
So ask. Pass it to us, and we will ask on your behalf. A real buyer survives that question comfortably. The other sort tends to evaporate.
What about the one saying it is worth more?
This is the one that unsettles sellers most, so it is worth being blunt about.
Nobody can pay you a valuation. A figure on a leaflet is an opinion offered by somebody who has not been inside your home, has not seen the condition of the kitchen, and has no obligation to find anybody willing to pay it.
The market decides what your home is worth, and it does that through offers. A higher suggested price with no buyer attached is not more money. It is a longer wait, and often a lower final figure once the reductions start.
That is not a reason to distrust everyone who contacts you. It is a reason to compare like with like. Ask what they have actually sold nearby, at what price, and how long it took.
Is switching agents ever the right call?
Yes, sometimes, and we would rather say so plainly than pretend otherwise.
If weeks have gone by with no viewings and nobody has explained why, if you cannot get hold of anyone, if feedback never arrives, if the photographs are poor and nothing has been done about it, those are real problems. An agent who is not communicating will not sell your house.
But be honest about what the actual problem is. Very often the issue is not who is marketing the property. It is the price, and a new agent starting again at the same price will get the same result, six weeks later, with a fresh set of fees.
Before you move, check the tie-in period and the notice period in your agreement. Also ask whether you could end up owing a fee to two agents if a buyer introduced by the first one eventually buys it. That one catches people out.
So what should you actually do with it all?
Keep it in one place. A drawer or a folder. Do not respond in the moment, and do not bin it either.
Send anything that claims to have a buyer straight to us. We will chase it, because if it is real, we want that viewing.
Ignore price suggestions from anyone who has not been inside the property.
Do not let anybody in on the doorstep to look round. You are under no obligation, and a valuation is not something that needs doing on the spot.
If you are genuinely unhappy with how it is going, tell us before you tell anybody else. Most of what goes wrong in a marketing campaign is fixable, and quickly.
Thinking of selling this autumn?
We would rather tell you about the letters before they arrive than explain them afterwards. If you are planning to come to the market, get in touch and we will talk you through what the first month actually looks like, the awkward parts included.
Frequently asked questions
Why do other estate agents contact you when your house is on the market?
Because a live listing identifies you as a genuine seller at a known address, which is the hardest thing in estate agency to find. It happens to almost every seller, in the first week, regardless of how well the marketing is going.
Should I trust a letter saying an agent has a buyer for my home?
Ask who. A genuine buyer can be named, has usually seen the details and is in a position to proceed, and the natural next step is simply to book a viewing through the agent already marketing the property. A general enquiry presented as a specific buyer does not survive that question.
Another agent says my house is worth more. Should I switch?
A valuation is not an offer, and nobody can pay you one. Compare what each agent has actually sold nearby, at what price and in what timeframe, rather than comparing suggested figures.
When is it right to change estate agents?
When there is a service problem rather than a price problem. No viewings with no explanation, no feedback, poor marketing that does not get fixed, or an agent you cannot reach. If the real issue is the asking price, changing agent rarely changes the outcome.
What should I check before instructing a new agent?
Your existing tie-in period and notice period, and whether you could become liable for fees to two agents if a buyer introduced by the first one goes on to purchase. Ask that question explicitly before signing.
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