"When you’re selling a home it’s wise to interview a few different estate agents to get a clear idea of your property’s true value, but don’t be tempted to go automatically for the highest valuation"
Inflated valuations by 'Cheerleader' estate agents could see the average time taken to sell a home more than double - rising from within seven weeks for correctly priced properties to 18 weeks for homes that need a price reduction, according to newly released research from Andrews.
So-called ‘Pom-pom pricing’ could add almost three months to a typical sale for sellers who have to make a price reduction, costing the vendor more in the long run and increasing stress.
This rises to more than 27 weeks for those owners unfortunate enough to need two price reductions, increasing to almost 36 weeks for those requiring three price drops, and hitting nearly a year for those requiring six or more.
By contrast, 31% of realistically priced homes sell in the first two weeks, compared with only 7% of those that need one price reduction.
Regional differences
The picture varies across the country, with homes in Greater London taking 17.7 weeks to sell, compared with an average across England and Wales of 14.4 weeks. Properly priced properties sell fastest in the East, taking only 6.6 weeks to find a buyer, while homes in Greater London take more than a week longer on average, at 7.7 weeks.
Carl Howard, Group CEO of Andrews estate agents, comments: “When you’re selling a home it’s wise to interview a few different estate agents to get a clear idea of your property’s true value, but don’t be tempted to go automatically for the highest valuation.
“Some estate agents offer unrealistically high valuations for properties, knowing that owners will see pound signs flashing before their eyes.
“The danger of setting too high an asking price for your home is that it will stagnate on the market, appearing increasingly stale as buyers wait for the inevitable price reduction. As our research shows, pitching too high is a false economy that can leave sellers in limbo and may even lead them to miss out on their next property.
“Andrews estate agents value properties realistically from the start, because this is proven to be the best way to achieve not just a sale, but also the highest price for your home.
“We pride ourselves on being the only UK estate agent owned and run by a charitable trust.”
