How to pick a good Estate Agent?

timmyt

I am selling my house, truly. So I need an estate agent. (I won't go private as I need Rightmove exposure) And why not bring this up in forum.

Do I go online, try and use a local independent or use a national/chain?

I have a bias to one sort, as some of you posters well know, but to try and be open to changing that, do any of you have any views?

And do any of you have any first hand knowledge of any 'tactics' that the Estate Agents might use to get my business that are perhaps are not savoury and I should avoid where they are revealed. I have heard reports but how about MSE posters?

Thanks in advance for posting a reply....happy for buyers sellers or any person with a first hand view to comment...it matters not

david29dpo

I my experience, local seem better than national for run-of-the-mill houses. Once you get to £500k plus, the posh chains seem better. Having said that, I put friend in-touch with an agent with a good (in my eyes) reputation recently and they where crap. Plus solicitors normally have a good or bad relationship with many agents in there area so its worth asking them too.

calebdylan

Well i recommend you to search for some one locally, trying agent online is not a great idea i think. If possible just try selling it online, I think there is an option to do so. .

But trying agent online won't help much IMO. Thanks

MissMotivation

I don't think you should generalise when it comes to local/national agents. For example....Countrywide haven't got the best reputation in general and yet I know a Bairstow Eves office that is amazing, in fact I have recommended them (they are not in the area where I work).

I would choose an agent based on reputation, costs, service, and, not how many properties they have for sale, but on how many properties they have sold.

googler

timmyt wrote: »

I am selling my house, truly.

And do any of you have any first hand knowledge of any 'tactics' that the Estate Agents might use to get my business .....

Truly?

From your previous posts, you seem to have 'heard' of enough 'tactics' to fill this thread a few times over.....

timmyt

googler wrote: »

Truly?

From your previous posts, you seem to have 'heard' of enough 'tactics' to fill this thread a few times over.....

any advice googler?

adg1

Drive around your local area and see who has the most boards up. They probably have the most stock available. As MissMotivation says stock is great and hopefully they can back it up with sold figures too.

You need to take time to meet with all the agents, from local to national, and see what they can do for you and how they will go about selling your hosue as fast as possible in the shortest possible time. For example, will the agent who drops his proce to get your business actually defend the price they put on your home of just be a wet lettuce in front of buyers?

After meeting a few you will pick up very quickly that not all will offer the same service levels. At the end of the day, its better to pay slightly more to an agent who will actually sell your house!

For example, beware the agent who drops his fees too fast. Ask about achieved prices versus asking prices in the local area. See if they can justify being more expensive than agent b, c or d based on the services they offer to you. If you think the extra half a percent is worth the extra exposure etc then don't be put off.

House_owner

Did you have a good expereince with the estate agent that you brought your house through? When putting our house up for sale, we avoided the estate agent that we brought through, because we had a bad expereince when buying with them

spider31

Ask a few to come to your house.

Ask them how many people they have on there books looking for a house like yours.

Ask them for tips on selling, negotiating, showing people round.

Then... have a think about what they said. Did it make sense etc.

I have just done this and I was very surprised how some seamed VERY poor and other seamed very good.

The VERY poor one had <20 people on the books and did not have a clue as to how to value to house.

Once you have got your short list ask them to come down on the price J

GDB2222

"
Sell your house online

Tesco, meanwhile, is planning to launch an online estate agency business, iSold.com, advertised on Tesco's web site and backed by estate agents Spicerhaart. The service will initially be offered in Bristol, and then extended to a number of other cities across the UK.
Instead of the usual percentage fee, which tend to vary between 1.5% and 2%, iSold will offer a basic service for a flat £999. For higher-priced homes, that fixed fee could save sellers a hefty sum -- even a 1.5% charge on a £500,000 property would rack up £7,500 in fees. Selling via iSold, which will advertise properties on web portals like Rightmove (LSE: RMV) and Zoopla in addition to its own site, sellers will pay £299 up front to set up the deal, and the remaining £700 when the property is sold."


Worth a thought...?

Edit: Just checked - they are not running yet, and they will be starting only in the Bristol area.

spinkles

GDB2222 wrote: »

"
Sell your house online

Tesco, meanwhile, is planning to launch an online estate agency business, iSold.com, advertised on Tesco's web site and backed by estate agents Spicerhaart. The service will initially be offered in Bristol, and then extended to a number of other cities across the UK.
Instead of the usual percentage fee, which tend to vary between 1.5% and 2%, iSold will offer a basic service for a flat £999. QUOTE]

Not posted before but in response to the isold.com stuff, the guy came round to value our house recently. he was very pleasant and I asked him loads of questions (having been an avid reader of posts in this forum). He seemed to speak plain English and didn't try to fox me with jargon.

There is an option to defer payment of fees til the end of the sale if you pay a modest sum up front depending on your level of marketing. The basic level advertised is £999 inc VAT and for an extra £50 you can defer til the end of your sale. No sale, you only lose the £50. There is no tie in period and they work on a multi agency basis (if I understood correctly - I asked if I would have to pay fees if I sold the house myself and he said only the money I had paid up front). It seems to me that the only major thing different is that an estate agent does not accompany viewers using isold although all viewers are vetted somehow before they come as part of the Suzy Lamplugh Trust. Cutting out the high street office seems to be where they are making savings at the moment but it is still really new (4 weeks old) so the levels of service may change when they have more properties on their books.

Hoping to have our house on the market in the next few weeks but have some local estate agents coming round to value our house to make as informed a decision as possible - watch this space!