Why do estate agents list their sold houses?

Question

If you look on their websites for a house you have to page though lists of 'sold' or 'under offer' houses when really you just want to see the ones that are available. Why do they do that?

Answer 1

To think in a positive way.When listings is listed Sold means they had sold it,maybe some buyers are looking at that area,may need more information.As a buyer point of view they wish to know how much the property is sold at,buyers will call the said agent for more info,in this case this agent will try to get the buyer another property that is similar to the one that is sold.Or perhaps Owners that lives in the neighborhood may have ideas to sell their own property may also call this agent to help them sell their property.Isn't it a good way to get listing and buyers too!!!!
As for Under Offer is to let buyers to know that this said property is under negotiating and let others buyers know thats the last chance to make and offer if they are interested in the property.For eg.Certain buyers may love the property but refuse to pay the price which the owner wants(they want best buy).they tried to play hard,but this "under offer" may let them know thats their last chance to make another offer.
Highlight to you,NOT ALL Estate Agents are well verse in their Trades,this is also a form of Advertisement for themselves.Would you list with an agent which is new in the market that hasnt much exp in selling house,or you would rather list with agent that has sold tons of houses.Of course you will list with the exp ones,cause they can get you a better price.

Answer 2

They list these houses as well so you can see what fabulous estate agents they are by the amount that they have sold. There really is little point putting sold houses on a website other than to give a rough idea of how much the house went for.

I suppose the answer is until the contracts have been exchanged and completion takes place, all houses are in theory still for sale. There is nothing to stop a house which has previously been 'sold' coming back on to the market time and time again. The ones which are 'under offer' are exactly that - if you came along with a better offer, they would be obliged to tell the vendors and let them make the decision about which one to accept.

Answer 3

Some Listing Services require us to keep "Solds" on the site for a certain length of time. It also makes sense when you consider "solds" are the basis for "comping" for agents, appraisers, bankers, etc.
"Pendings" are on so that if someone is interested they can still inquire about it and know about it if the deal falls through.
There should be a place on the site for you to go directly to "availables". Look for it. We don't want people to page through stuff they don't want or is not available. An irritated customer doesn't do anyone any good at all.

Answer 4

A house is only sold subject to conditions, it only means the seller has accepted the offer, alot of things can go wrong after that so you could find that a house listed as sold which you liked may be available again.
Also there is normally a box to click so your search excludes houses sold or under offer,
the best home finder on the net i think is www.rightmove.com

Answer 5

It depends on the estate agent. Normally, you can untick the box which says "include properties which are SSTC". If you're having to scroll through SSTC properties, then the estate agent hasn't invested much into their website.

The estate agent may like to show SSTCs as this advertises the fact that they are shifting properties. Also, you could make an offer on a property which is SSTC and the estate agent is required by law to put it in writing to the vendor. The estate agent may be hoping someone does this - especially if the fees are based upon a percentage of the sale price.

Answer 6

Real Estate agents list their houses for six months to a year. Some of these houses are sold within one to four months. These houses are left on the list until the agree time is expired.

Answer 7

It is good advertising for the agent to have a SOLD sign on an web advert and outside a property. Makes the agent look competent. If you choose to advertise your property for sale yourself, and use your own For Sale board, then you can choose when to remove your advertisement. In any case, a For Sale board must be removed from outside a property within 14 days of being sold. There is no rule to state how long a web advert can run. You may be better looking at private sale web sites.

Answer 8

The reason they do that is to show anyone who might have been interested in the house that it has been sold. Also they have to mark them as " under offer " so again anyone interested can be aware that it could be sold soon. This allows prospective buyers to rethink an offer incase that one doesn`t go through.

Answer 9

To make them look good. Show how many listings they've sold to get more business. Same with why they keep a sign that says sold on a property after it closes, so people see their name with the sold listing.

That, or if they don't have many active listings to advertise, to make themselves look like they h ave more then they really currently have.

Answer 10

Most agents who have websites manage them on their own, and have a limited number of listings. It would be a lot more maintenance, as well as a sparser site if they deleted the listings each time they got pending offers or sales.

In a way it also helps the public see that they are 'legitimate' agents who have handled closings and sales and can be trustworthy...in theory.