I'm an Estate Agent. What do you expect from me.

melanie_frontage

Bring the keys with you when you have arranged to do a viewing !

Jay1b

Heres another one:
"priced to sell" - usually overpriced, so certainly not priced to buy....

Jay1b

After seeing 10 properties on Saturday....

Dont overprice properties, its pointless, its waste of everyones time. I was most disappointed seeing a property which was £10K over priced. Then be told that the vendor would pay stamp duty if it fetched the full asking price. I mean really, £10K or £1.2K stamp duty.... let me think.

If the customer asks you which out of 2 of their properties they would go for, be honest. I hate it when agents say, 'i think they are equal in different ways' - when clearly he would opt for one over another.

Be polite, one guy was extremely polite and i thought a lot of that.

Dont try selling a view of a graveyard as a good thing.... my name isnt Buffy!

Dont belittle another agents property for the sake of it, after one property in a dodgy part of a village i had the agent say 'this area is quite nice, its down Thistle Walk way which is rough' - knowing i had been looking at a property from a different vendor in the next road. Obviously he couldnt make it obvious by stating the actual road i was looking in. (Which isnt nowhere near as rough).

Put the name of the road on the pamplet at least, ideally the house number as well.

Offer me a drink when i'm in your shop

Be honest, if its a dump then give me prior warning, whats the point in wasting everyones time?

ToilAndTrouble

stockmarket-diva wrote:

I have been an Estate Agent for a long time now but now starting up on my own.
...

I'd say dispense with the lofty intentions and devise a strategy for the area you'll work in. Where I live there are six agents and things are very competitive. From what I've seen 3 are in the game because they have a strategy and the experience to follow it through:
- Agent one produces booklet brochures with floor-plans and takes the best photos. He values slightly over, aiming to be in the middle of the valuations and win the business by convincing the vendor that he will market their property best.
- Agent two mostly values high. But, he's a master at talking the market down to vendors already on his books. He gets them to reduce prices and accept lower offers.
- Agent three is an old hand, and can read a vendor straight away. If he senses the vendor will go with the highest valuation he'll value slightly high, but is happy to lose the business. If he senses a realist or somebody who needs a quick sale, he'll be open and honest with his valuation. He oozes experience and vendors trust him.

The other agents fail because they don't differentiate themselves enough to get instructions or value highly but fail to reduce vendor expectations. They don't have a strategy that wins business and gets sales.

All the agents charge between 0.75 and 1% commission.

T&T

td

Oh and put on postcodes - it saves the buyer loads of time when they are searching for local schools etc and also for searching for council tax bands which most estate agents don't bother to put on either.

Also although it may take slightly longer when geting details together - a measurement for the garden would be fab - or a decent picture.

td

Frugal_Fox

The most important one of all...

Whatever you say you will do - DO IT....