Who should I use to sell my house?

fcmisc

Should I use a well known estate agent? Or a small independent?

I don't know much about them, but am currently considering...

- Foxtons
- Atkinson McLeod
- Hamptons

My friend said that larger estate agents with many branches are better at bringing in buyers who are also looking at other more expensive areas down the road.

I am based in Wandsworth.

Building_Surveyor

You need to factor in what return they want on the sale price too...

Yorkie1

Foxtons have a terrible reputation for a number of things. I don't know how they are for sellers, but as a matter of principle I'd never touch them with the proverbial bargepole.

CWSmith

I am using Greenfields - a local estate agent (Kingston/Surbiton based - not a million miles from Wandsworth).

They have been brilliant. At a slightly ripe old age, I am a house selling virgin, and they have talked me through every stage, given spot-on advice as to what to do with the house and have phoned me almost daily to update me on viewings, all of which they have organised.

The upshot is, after less than 2 weeks on the market, I have accepted an offer on the (somewhat tatty) house that I am selling and fingers crossed, (and as the buyers are not in a chain and have finances in place) this should be done and dusted fairly quickly.

hazyjo

How are things selling in the area? Slowly? Or flying off the shelves, often at asking price/bidding wars? If a good market, also consider selling via an online agent.

I too would avoid Foxtons if possible. Am sure some are great, but from my experience they overprice things, are extremely pushy with viewers/sellers, and very persistent.

Go view a property with each agent. You'll see how your viewers will be treated. Use that as a guide too. It certainly put me off using one or two to sell as they were next to useless when it came to viewers.

Remember to try to negotiate on fees. One like Foxtons may not, but others you should be able to get for 1% (common in London).

Jx

Mojisola

Before choosing an EA, I looked at properties similar to mine on their websites - quality of photos, description, etc. and eliminated several on that basis.

Our first EA only advertised on Rightmove. We had a lot more interest after moving to one who put the property on Rightmove and Zoopla.

Both offered a "no sale, no fee" contract - also 1% fee, 12 weeks tie-in with a rolling renewal, one week cancellation.

I stayed too long with the first agent. I should have moved from them much earlier when I had trouble getting them to answer emails and phone calls and never being able to talk to the same person twice (lots of part-timers, it seemed).

I like the idea of trying out several as a buyer.

PompeyPete

Make sure the commission you are contracted to pay the EA is based on the eventual selling price and NOT on the initial asking price.

lavalamp

I am not in your area, but we used an independent estate agent as they were based 10 minutes walk from our house and they knew the area well. We did get valuations from larger firms, but I just didn't like the pushy salesmen! I would go independent every time if they were in the right area.

Dunroamin

awpvicki wrote: »

I am not in your area, but we used an independent estate agent as they were based 10 minutes walk from our house and they knew the area well. We did get valuations from larger firms, but I just didn't like the pushy salesmen! I would go independent every time if they were in the right area.

Pushy salespeople, if good at their job, are what you want when selling a house.

hazyjo

Dunroamin wrote: »

Pushy salespeople, if good at their job, are what you want when selling a house.

Disagree. What you want is someone competent, who chases things up, who asks for feedback, can accommodate viewers with times suitable for them, who doesn't lie about 'other offers on the table' or that the vendor has rejected an offer when they haven't... competent is very different to pushy. Pushy EAs always have me running for the hills!

I think an EA can spell out the pros of something you'd not considered, or can help you make a compromise, but you don't want them ringing up every five mins asking if your requirements are still the same and if you fancy seeing some house which meets around 25% of your essential criteria (yes, I have encountered one like that who I ended up blocking!).

Jx

googler

hazyjo wrote: »

Disagree. What you want is someone competent, who chases things up, who asks for feedback, can accommodate viewers with times suitable for them, who doesn't lie about 'other offers on the table' or that the vendor has rejected an offer when they haven't... competent is very different to pushy. Pushy EAs always have me running for the hills!

I think an EA can spell out the pros of something you'd not considered, or can help you make a compromise, but you don't want them ringing up every five mins asking if your requirements are still the same and if you fancy seeing some house which meets around 25% of your essential criteria (yes, I have encountered one like that who I ended up blocking!).

That's from the perspective of a buyer. Would you really want a non-pushy EA when you're selling?