Mum needs estate agent help....

Benny24

My Mum, 62, is about to sell the mortgage free family home. She has never sold a house before, and neither have I; and this is going to be a big thing for her to do as she is on her own. I'm some 300 miles away and can't be there for her all the time, but want to give the best help and support I can.

I have suggested she get three estate agents in and ask for a valuation, and ask for their written terms to compare. BUT from there on in i'm at a loss!

Please, I would be most gratefull if you could could help me with some pointers on what to look out for, which options would be best to go with or those to avoid!

She will not be buying another house, she will be chain free. We just need to get the best price for a 'tired' house.

Looking forward to your hints and tips....:j

spunkeyrich

3 agents are good get the price they suggest and compare. dont tell the agents what the others say. dont sign anything dont agree to a one off viewing, in fact dont agree to anything at valuation stage. ask what is the cheapest fee, bear in mind you needd to be able to get along with your agent so the 'frosty pompus' one should be avoided.

then let us know on here whats what and take from there.

choose an agent that has sold homes in your location. not necessarily the largest ones, may be good to choose the ones that are in national assciation of estate agents and omnismun scheme (both voluntary)

rich

djm1972

Hi Benny,

If there is a significant value at stake here, and if you consider it a possibility that your mother may be taken advantage of by estate agents undervaluing for a quick sale, my advice would be to first pay for a valuation from a Chartered Surveyor - as they will have no vested interest.

It will cost around £300, but could turn out to be money well spent. They will view the property; study actual sold prices for similar properties nearby, calculate local house price inflation and come to a real market valuation for you. In general, an estate agent's valuation should be around 10% above that to allow for negotiation etc.

Nenen

The other thing to do is for your Mum to ask local friends and neighbours for their advice/experience of local agents. We initially went for the cheapest and ended up regretting it as their service was so poor and unprofessional! If your Mum wants the least stress possible cheapest is not necessarily best!

Having said that, depending upon where your Mum lives, she could try an internet EA e.g. housenetwork.co.uk as they are considerably cheaper than most EAs with posh town centre offices etc.

She should make sure she doesn't agree to longer than 6-8 weeks of sole selling rights too.

There is a brilliant sticky (at the top of the house buying/selling/renting forum) on money saving ideas for selling and it includes many tips for choosing EA etc.
HTH :beer:

Richard_Webster

Have a look at my site about this:

http://www.choosing-estate-agent.info/

Some tips there on what to look for.

Benny24

Thank you for your suggestions. I will let you know what they have to say once evaluation is done.