How important is NAEA membership?

Greymarl

Morning. I've never sold a house before so been doing some research. One of the things recommended on here is that an estate agent ought to be a member of the National Association of Estate Agents.

However, there are none in my immediate area, and those who might be close enough just don't have good photos/text on their websites/Rightmove or that local presence, and so I had discounted them.

How important is NAEA membership, and is there another body that is just as good, or is it pretty much the only regulatory body? When my partner sold his house we had huge ( :mad:) issues with the estate agency, so I am a little nervous about this whole process!

Any advice would be greatly appreciated, many thanks! Greymarl

sunshinetours

I would say any personal recommendations you can get may be best and also if you are looking for places see how you are dealt with as a buyer as that is how your potential viewrs will be dealt with

NAEA is a regulatory body but I wouldn't say they are an essential part of an agent beauty parade as I know how limited their powers are in reality. They do provide a code of conduct effectively but it is not particularly well policed. I guess what I am saying is don't think of estate agents as professionals in the same way as lawyers or accountants who are heavily regulated and who are very actively "policed"

Greymarl

Thanks SST, that is pretty much what we were thinking too. We're not looking locally anymore so it may be a case of doing some mystery shopping (any volunteers? LOL) as we've not had any recommendations. Although one estate agent we have got coming out we had used previously to view a house and we put an offer on - no-one had got back to us within a week, not a great sign....but they do have local knowledge so at least worth a valuation from them.

It's actually been surprisingly difficult, I have been underwhelmed by the quality of the literature/websites in general.