Foxtons? (real estate market, how much, house)

[Barbaro]

Roselvr ...... Great "agents question" list, I appreciate you sharing

[Roselvr]

Originally Posted by Barbaro

Roselvr ...... Great "agents question" list, I appreciate you sharing

Your welcome. I posted it at another place I go to, it went over really well so I decided to post it here but it isn't doing as well

[nj2nc-2005]

I can only suggest that you stay away from Foxtons. I had them list my condo in Clinton Twp 3 years ago, and it took quite a while to sell. The problem with the 3% commission is that no other realtors want to even be bothered showing it. Not enough $$$ in it for them by the time it is split up between the listing/selling realtors and broker. If I were to do it again, it would be a regular 6% agency. Trust me.

[ep4property]

I believe they went out of business this week. I know the local realtor market was receiving emails and newspaper articles about it. I'd check into the feasibility of any still operating offices and confirm that they will be able to meet the fiduciary responsibilities of taking a listing. Good luck!

[Roselvr]

Foxtons - Gone baby gone

Foxtons news @ Google

[ching1698]

Originally Posted by Shanlynn1012

Hello Does anyone have exp with foxtons? I am jsut wondering since it looks like i am going to have to sell for what i basically owe I would like to maybe cut some of the realtor fees. If anyone has any input please let me know.
Will other agents not show my home because of the reduced commission (they are hardly showing it now anyway)?
Thanks

The best bet is use "Foxtons" togehter with free craigslist why? Foxtons will make your home look much nice over multiple photos and their network, and of course price it fair or lower than other units. Craigslist will give you a chance to fsbo buyers or discount buyers who live in the area and do not need the help of full service realtors. Foxtons will NOT post your address so even if many prospective buyers love it as soon as see it over the web, they could not reach you especially having to gone thru rigorous process of Foxtons. But, when you place the link and your address at Craigslist, or just your email and cell, the buyers can by pass Foxtons to reach you.

Then why not just sell at craigslist? well, the buyer will NOT trust your listing price, it needs to have a "reference" price to start negotiate. But, in any case, you got no extra cost and be able to sell your home very fast.

The only thing bad is that Foxtons may be gone, but I believe it will be back very quickly as an acquizition of some realty such as C21, CBS, Remax, Weichert ...etc just like any realty merger before. It's service will continue, and keep in mind, take advantage of it, but use it with free craigslist.

It is true that realtors will not show yours since you only give 3% to Foxtons, and Foxtons pass 1% to selling agent. So, it is NOT Foxton's fault, you can't use "discount broker" to get "full service" in stock, why should you expect to do it in real estate?

[VictorKaminski]

I am a real estate agent and I keep up on real estate blogs, not always commenting but observing what others are saying. I take the psychological approach to figure out what is going on in sellers minds because things quite often get scrambled up there... At least with many of them I've seen or read blog postings from.

First off... It is official, this company will not help you at all.. They went bankrupt and sold all their listings for around $30 a piece to a builder who had some sort of agreement on the side to hand them over to Century 21 Atlantic Realtors, some say it is politics at work, the broker has a lot of political connections in the democratic party, he also helped get the last two governors of nj elected but we wont go there! L

Foxtons Bankruptcy: Foxtons chapter 11 bankruptcy proceeding

See what others are saying: PLAINFIELD TODAY: Foxton's Plainfield listings going to politically juiced Realtor?
Foxtons Reality -BEWARE - WARNING - Home Discussion Forums

Foxtons: they are out of business now so I guess it would be legal for me to comment now. I am not bashing anyone for the way they do business, more of bashing sellers who used them.. lol... jusk kidding and adding my 2 cents.

Foxtons took most of their listings at 4% unlike the advertised 2% which changed to 3% when they changed their color scheme and name from YHD to Foxtons which was still not paying their overhead which eventually led to their demise! It's also not a good idea to have salespeople on salary with a commission bonus incentive and provide them with cell phones, cars and laptops, way too much overhead. This google business model mentality only works if the salespeople are, AND the products are actually flying off the shelves...

Foxtons primary focus as I saw it was getting potential buyers to use their mortgage company and pre-qualify all prospects no matter who they eventually bought from, this way they at least got money from the mortgage. I know because they tried taking clients from our agents by actually trying to "require" our clients to be pre-approved by their mortgage reps!!! Ain't that illegal... When I heard of this and made a stink about it, they tried complaining that our real estate agent was soliciting their client... Kinda hard to believe, the agent and the buyer are future in-laws, so what do you think?

Anyway, it's not a good practice or very ethical but who am I and that is just my opinion.

I guess all in all they did not do a very good job. I took many listings that "used" to be foxtons and after their experiences were glad to pay a full service commission fee. Full service can be a play on the words if your not careful or know what to look for. (Note: I wonder how and why foxtons were able to get away with advertising on their vehicles 2% or 3% when that is illegal because that would mean price fixing, commissions are negotiable in New Jersey!) Anyway as in most of the news articles about a single century 21 office getting all the old foxtons listings says, most of the listings were at 4%, why was foxtons only offering 2% or less to other brokerages for bringing in buyers???? Hmmm....

I was told by many former foxton clients that if they wanted an open house they were given the signs to do it themselves or at extra cost $$$ a salesperson can host it for them. These are nickel and dime tactics many discount brokers take. The fancy brochures foxtons was known for had a limited distribution, used mainly to get more listings. All the listings were not published in these magazines either.

By the way a call center should be a big fat red flag to any seller shopping for a real estate agency, first the people in that center answering the calls need to be licensed agents, at first foxtons did not have licensed agents working the call center until they got caught. You should be speaking to a trusted advisor who will meet with you in person and go over every single detail or question you may have or special issue that may arise, in this market that would be owing more on your house than it is worth!!!

To see how much they cared about their clients you would not have to look any further then asking anyone who was listed with them toward the end when they were not given an option and told you need to work with this other company we just sold your listing to via bankruptcy court. Our office tried to close several listings with them however their agents were not helpful at all whatever their reasons causing us to do all the work on deals which ended up dying and never closing!!! Major frustration...

I find that dealing with the straight fee and discount brokerages usually is more of a hindrance because most of them sign on as "transaction" agency brokers which means they do not represent the sellers best interest, only their own, why would a seller agree to such an arrangement is beyond me.

I'm rambling so I'll stop, all in all you can no longer use this company because they are no longer in business. A true full service brokerage usually does cost more however you will find that their clients will have a better skilled negotiator working on their behalf, not just a "Realtor".

In my office we like to be judged by our results and therefore we are considered trusted advisers, skilled negotiators and expert facilitators which is the way it should be. Our agency gets graded by its clients, every single one gets a survey from an independent 3rd party and the results are the best in the industry. We are Quality Certified, Top Ranked by J.D. Power Associates and the NYC based Luxury Institute for our various programs without getting into too much detail here, for that call us.


MORE COMMENTS ON OTHER POSTINGS ON THIS ARTICLE

Craigslist advertising - another must place to advertise, its the new fad however rarely will you get a sale from a craigslist ad. It's just another place that a full service real estate company will advertise your listing in addition to other paid media outlets to market your home. A full service realtor will not charge a penny until your home is sold unlike many discount brokers who have "plans" they try to fit you in. Basically if I'm a realtor and dont think I can sell your home should I charge you a straight fee? Probably so who can blame them. Most sellers have unreal price expectations but part of the agents job is to help educate their customer and hopefully convert them to a client.

Originally Posted by riverroader

I'm sure you're looking for someone that has actually listed a house with foxtons, but let me just tell you my humble opinion...



positives (not related to reduced commission):
-great web site with blueprints, map, lots of pics (usually quality) and almost always a map - something that is often left out on purpose by other agencies.
-nice free marketing pieced that go out each season at newstands, plus they have a large targeting mailing lists
-good presence in certain counties like middlesex and monmouth
-good agents, they really hustle
-usually full or half page ads with their houses in newspapers

problems with foxtons,
-very few open houses
-other agents talk bad about foxtons and are really hoping that the whole reduced commission things fails
-reluctance by agents to work hard to get you into see those homes. I have personally experienced both of these last two
-if you call foxtons, you can't get any information from whoever answers the phone (e.g. is the home available?) they make you leave your number so an agent can get back to you.

all of that being said, I think you'll be happy with foxtons, but it could sit on the market longer.

[Hillsidelover]

Unfortunately I'm a seller that listed with foxtons and got burned, you do get what you pay for. they must have known they were going out of business when they listed my property, 2 weeks later they sent a letter that they were contemplating bankruptcy next 2 months I was in court with them where out of the 4000+ homes only 3 homeonwners bothered to show up for the hearing I was one of those 3. They turned our listings in NJ over to greedy, unethical century 21 atlantic. they make promises that they can't deliver on. they send their realtor with his own rinky dinky camera instead of a professional to take pictures of your home at least foxtons sent photographers who did a great job of visually advertising one's home. Foxtons other than that was a horror, you could never get in touch with the realtor. Only God knows who wanted to see my house and what opportunities were missed. My house finally is on the MLS after 3 months tied up with foxtons.

[deeds]

I personally wouldn't go with Foxton. We signed up with them and our contract ran out in August. We only had other agencies show the house. No one from Foxton every showed it to anyone. Was disappointed with the whole presentation from the listing agent. Whenever we called them they never called back, etc. I read in a Jersey paper that Foxton was going bankrupt? I would look into that. By the way we're trying to sell our 3400 sq ft. colonial home with in-law apt ourselves (house 4-5bdrms, walk up attic, 3 full tiled baths, central air, gas fireplace, 20x40 pool, sprinklers, in ground hot tub. Apt has bedroom , it's own eat in kitchen, living room, bedroom, full bath, central air. Great home, asking 412k negotiable taxes @ 5400 100x250 sized lot.......have pics if interested.......good luck!

[c21joanne]

Yes, a low fee doesn't help other realtors. But, the market is not moving for prices are way too high now. They must come down or they won't sell..

Originally Posted by Shanlynn1012

Hello Does anyone have exp with foxtons? I am jsut wondering since it looks like i am going to have to sell for what i basically owe I would like to maybe cut some of the realtor fees. If anyone has any input please let me know.
Will other agents not show my home because of the reduced commission (they are hardly showing it now anyway)?
Thanks