How to recognise a good Estate Agent (relatively)

shockingmoment

House going on the market. 3 agents coming round next week to value, sell their services.

How to choose between them (the lesser of the three evils, so to speak)?

chops05

All agents are usually very much the same except the fee. You do get what you pay for.

Just listen to how each agent sells their company to you. One may offer a service that the other two don't ie text messaging prospective buyers.

Ask how ofthen your property will be advertised and in what papers. Some agents may advertise your house each week but in a rubbish paper that doesn't get seen by many people!

Will your property be advertised on the internet, what sites will it appear on and how quickly will it be on there. Some agents will be linked to several sites eg rightmove, fish4homes and some will only have their own website - you want your property to have a much advertising as possible for the money that you are paying.

Ask as many questions as you can and try and build a rapport with the agent. If your questions are not being anserwed then that agent is not the one to go with!

hth and good luck in finding the right agent.:D

RoCas

They'll be the ones without horns

shockingmoment

they've all got horns, just some are slightly shorter, and perhaps not as pointy.....

chops05

lol

Steer clear of the ones with the red beady eyes!! :eek:

MJMum

All agents are usually very much the same except the fee. You do get what you pay for.

Not sure that I'd agree with this. I know some really crap expensive agents.


Anyway, personally, I would not make a decision just based on their visit; I would also "mystery shop" their offices. OK, you can argue that most people use the internet these days, but still an awful lot of buyers do do the high street trawl, at least when they are initially registering, so I think it's quite important that your agent has a prominent, well-staffed office.

As has been said, ask about what you will get for your money: how often will your property be advertised, in which papers; which websites will it be on (I'd say rightmove is becoming pretty omnipresent and therefore essential). I like an agent that does floorplans, as I think it cuts down on wasted viewings, but there is an alternative viewpoint that you still might have sold to someone who didn't think that they would like a particular layout. You might also consider whether you have a preference for lots of photos (particularly if your property is something out-of-the-ordinary) \ a glossy brochure \ "virtual tours" \ different ways of selling eg open days \ editorial coverage. I also think an agent who can email details to people is pretty essential (and have been amazed by the number of agents who can't do this!)

Also, when making your decision, don't get tied in for too long a period - if they claim they can sell your house in no time at all, then why the 12 week tie-in? Personally, I think a 6-8 week period is fair.

MJMum

PS I'm thinking of going back to work as an agent :rotfl:

liames

To be honest the Estate Agents have'nt been too bad. The house was under offer before Christmas and that took 10 weeks before the lady then decided not to proceed with the sale a few days before exchange of contracts. The problem with the house is it was built about 1910 and the kitchen is so small. Other rooms large.

safesound

Make sure that if the EA is to do the viewings that they use the same person for each viewing or at least use someone who has been to the property before showing people around.
When I was buying my current house the amount of EA who didnt have a clue and were like "ooh, whats in here" was amazing. How they expected to sell to me when they didnt know anything about the property they were showing I dont know.

Daisies

Which agent did you use when you bought the house? Or is it a long time ago? Also, ask around friends/family in the local area who may have heard some good experiences or horror stories.

What sort of "vibe" did you get when they came round to value the house, and how efficiently did they deal with you? I was buying, but I had an awful time at a couple of local agents who didn't seem interested in registering me (despite being a FTB with finance in place, and, yes, I'd told them this!). In the end I didn't bother looking at the properties they had on offer, so those sellers potentially missed out for having a lousy estate agent.

Also, depending on your location and the type of house, what times does the EA offer viewings? I had a awful job getting viewings on houses outside the hours of 10am-4.30pm, and working full time a long distance away meant I couldn't see several houses I liked the sound of. Some EA also didn't offer weekend viewings and didn't open on a bank holiday - which to me seems crazy as that's when many people are free to go and view a property!

MJMum

[Some EA also didn't offer weekend viewings and didn't open on a bank holiday - which to me seems crazy as that's when many people are free to go and view a property!/QUOTE]

Good point. The agency that I used to work for opened on a Sunday, and was one of the few in town who actually did so.