Choosing your estate agent

iandv

Hi

We are due to put our property on the market next week, and have the first Estate Agent coming to value our home at the end of the week.

What key questions should we ask them, to ensure we get a good deal

i.e.

1. What is your fee - should this be about 1% of the sale price of the property, and haggle with them if it is higher to get it to 1%?

2. What is your lock in period - should we aim for a lock in period for 1 week, after written notice is recieved from us.

3. Where do you advertise your properties?

4. Are they members of NAEA and other regulatory bodies

Any others?

Darth_Marty

NAEA members is a must, personally 1% is too low, seriously, 1.5% even as high as 1.75% is the norm in this market and if you get 1% they simply wont be doing any work or are a shoddy organization.
Lock in period of 1 week?! Hmm....unlikely, and again a bit unfair on the e.a, give them some time eh. 12 weeks is what id be looking for on a sole agent not sole selling rights basis, after which written notice of 1 week will end the contract.
Advertising in branch window, in branch displays, in local papers and their website is a must, preferably rightmove but thats not a given these days as they are expensive and lots of good agentshave pulled out from them, just get a general feel for the valuer, ask for no !!!!!!!! and weekly performance reviews, dont forget that they work for you and as such they should want to do their best to sell your property.

Pretty much covers it I guess.

Oh, a mystery phone call to the local agents is always a good indicator of how they will respond to calls about your property too, phone up each agent and just ask about a property, see how they handle it.

Good luck.

QTPie

Have you sold any similar properties recently? If so, which (so you know they don't make it up...)?

Do they have similar properties on their books (no point going with Knight Frank if you are trying to sell a 2 bed ex-LA terraced house....)?

Have a good ida of the sort of asking price you feel that you should realistically be able to achieve BEFORE they come around. This gives you a basis to question their valuations... (especially if they differ quite a lot).

That is a couple, anyway.

Good luck. With estate agents, it is about trying to see through the lies and get the best out of a bad bunch :rolleyes:

QT

iandv

thanks all

whats the difference between a sole agent and not sole selling rights as shown below

"12 weeks is what id be looking for on a sole agent not sole selling rights basis"

Also does are there any upfront costs of using an EA apart from a HIP? So for example if we decide to remove our home from the market after 12 weeks then do we have to pay them anything?

QTPie

iandv wrote: »

Also does are there any upfront costs of using an EA apart from a HIP? So for example if we decide to remove our home from the market after 12 weeks then do we have to pay them anything?

No, nothing. If you leave the estate agent before your minimum term (i.e. 12 weeks) then you will be liable to cover "marketing costs" (about £550 with our agent), otherwise nothing to pay upfront.

QT

Debt_Free_Chick

How many properties have you sold in the last six months?

What did you do to secure a sale?

How many new buyers have registered with you in the last THREE months?

What sets you apart from other local agents?

What do you recommend I do to present my house better? (At no/minimal cost)?

googler

Don't pick the one with the lowest fee because they're cheapest. You get what you pay for, and you don't get what you don't pay for. Offer an increased fee if your house sells within 4/6/8/12 weeks (take your pick). Give your chosen agent an incentive to work harder for you than for their other clients.

Don't pick the one that gives you the highest valuation because they say "Oh, we can get you £xxx for your house" without some REAL justification of their figure. Ask for detail of how they arrived at their figure.

Don't just ask how many they've sold. Ask how many they've sold similar to yours, and how many in your area. Ask if they've sold more, generally, than other competing agents in your area.

Ask for presentation/homestaging advice. Ask what you should do to present your home in its best light. Ask to see examples of previous brochures to assess how well they photograph the homes they sell.

Form a positive relationship with your agent. If you're on good terms with them, you're likely to get better result from them.

Darth_Marty

sole agent means that for the term of the contract they are the only agent marketing the property and if anyone they introduce or can reasonably say they introduced buys the place then they get their fee. Sole selling rights means that even if they did naff all and your brother jack purchased the property despite being told about your house from you over a beer one night then they would still be entitled to their fee.
Thats the jist of it anyway, it can get complicated.

Costs should be just the HIP but be careful that the agent doesnt charge a withdrawel fee, some can be a few hundred quid even after their contract is up.

ilovecheese

One question you need to ask yourself "would I buy a house from this estate agent?" We sold back in 2007 and had 3 estate agents round to value the house, the agent we choose came in with the middle valuaution, and just came across as honest and knowledgeable (not ofter you hear that about estate agents!!!) I would also ask about how they market the property, the agent we went with arranged a full page advert on our house in the local paper, which as it happened turned out to be a waste of time as we accepted a full asking price offer two days before the paper came out!

IHS88

Hi IandV

When you select your estate agency be sure to check over their terms and conditions carefully before signing.

I've heard of agents wanting to apply their fees to the "valuation" price and not the price that the property eventually sells for.

So, agent values at £200k and you eventually agree a sale at £175k. For some reason, some agents think its fair to pay a fee based on the initial valuation at £200k.

A very cheeky trick that is increasingly being attempted by agents to claw in as much in fees as possible.

Any respectable agent will not do this but if you spot it in within the t's & c's decline to sign until it has been omitted.

Best of luck with your sale.