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What to look for when choosing estate agent

BabyBoots
Posts: 544 Forumite
Does anyone have a checklist of what to ask estate agents before choosing one?
I've asked a couple of agents to value my house next week - what would make you choose one estate agent over another? (I've never sold before.)
I did a quick search for a similar thread here but didn't find anything, so if this is old ground, please do point me to where this has all been discussed before!
I've asked a couple of agents to value my house next week - what would make you choose one estate agent over another? (I've never sold before.)
I did a quick search for a similar thread here but didn't find anything, so if this is old ground, please do point me to where this has all been discussed before!
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Comments
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I've never bought or sold a house, but I do like staring at online listings (dreaming...) and I would say that the quality varies dramatically.
If I were choosing an agent, I would look them up on rightmove and check out their other listings. Look at the quality of their photos and whether they've taken the time to document the whole house. I'm shocked at the number of houses I look at where there are no pictures of half the rooms in the house or the photos look awful because they haven't opened curtains or similar.Sealed Pot Challenge #239
Virtual Sealed Pot #131
Save 12k in 2014 #98 £3690/£60000 -
Just my opinion, but I've just put my house on the market. In preparation for this I did the following:
Looked on the Estate Agent Ombudsman website, and spent some time looking through the code of conduct. Pay particular attention to the part about contracts.
Make sure the EA belongs to the Ombudsman scheme, I'm not sure if all of them do. Check on their website for the logo, and if it's not there ask them.
I would not sign anything except a 'Sole Agency' contract. One agent tried to get me to sign a contract without letting me look at it. I insisted he leave it with me while I read it, and it said 'Sole Selling Rights'. I refused to sign it, and indeed refused to continue with that agent. If he thinks a SSR contract is OK, what other stunt is he going to pull later on? The exception to this would be if I lived in a rural area I would consider a joint or multiple agency contract, so the property could be advertised in towns where people may be looking.
Do they use a professional photographer?
Don't listen to any nonsense they may want to tell you about their database. It is rubbish!
Don't listen to any nonsense they may tell you about other properties they have sold. The only one you are interested in is yours, and just because they have sold another property does not mean they will be successful at selling yours.
Ask them who will be conducting the viewings (I prefer it if there are a small number of people, and with and EA who belongs to a large chain you could have a different person each time).
Make sure you read through all the small print on their contract before you sign it. If necessary, ask them to let you have a blank one in advance so you can peruse it at your leisure. I found that the small local EAs had much shorter contracts, and the national chains had very long contracts with lots of small print.
Do not let them tie you in to a long contract. 4-6 weeks with 2 weeks notice is long enough for you to tell whether they are able to sell your property. They will probably negotiate on this if their standard contract is longer.
Make sure there is no 'lock-in', so that if you decide to give them notice you will be able to sign up with another agent straight away.
Negotiate on the fee. It depends what area you are in, but around here there is no need to pay more than 0.75% + VAT. Or, maybe offer them a sliding scale, so they get a higher percentage if it sells for more than the asking price.
Ask whether they do an open day or individual viewings. This will probably depend on how hot your area is.
If you get three valuations and one is much higher than the other two, do not go with the high one. They know very well they are over-pricing. They will want to get your signature, and after a few weeks they will start pressing you to reduce the price.
There is another thread on this forum somewhere about W H Brown and others who are part of the Sequence group. Probably better not to use this company. They use very aggressive tactics. Do a search on this forum.
Make sure you keep a professional, arm's-length relationship with them, e.g. don't let them call you by your first name. You are looking for a business transaction, not a friend! They are trained in sales and will try all sorts of the usual sales techniques to try to get friendly with you, they all seem to work from the same script, very similar to used-car salesmen.
I tried to sell my house last year, unsuccessfully, so have arrived at these suggestions by trial and error. I'm sure others will have further advice for you.
Good luck!0 -
I agree that a good starting point is to look at their listings on Rightmove, Zoopla and their own website.
I immediately crossed off my list any agencies which didn't provide floor plans, and where the quality of the photos was poor.
Consider what other advertising they have. A lot of us would start with rightmove but people do still look at local papers, agents shop fronts etc.
Consider sending enquiries via rightmove / calling the agency about properties they have on their books - how quickly do they get back to you? How easy it it to set up a viewing (you could get a friend to do this for you)
When they come out to view the property, ask them for feedback about your property. If there are issues you are aware of, see whether they pick up on these when asked for honest feed back (to get an idea of how realistic they are - are they telling you what they think you want to hear?)
If you get one valuation which is much higher than the others, ignore it - as Annie says, they are trying to get you to sign up, and they are being dishonest in order to do it, by giving you an unrealistic valuation.
Look at what type of properties the agents sell - if they mainly sell 5 bed detached homes in the stockbroker belt, they are unlikely to be the best agency to sell a 2-bed mid terrace starter home, for instance.
Check when they are open, and who does their viewings. When I was looking, I found that the staff of one local agency don't work at weekends, so if you view a house though them on a Saturday the person doing the viewing is a part time, Saturday only worker who knows nothing about the property, or the sellers position.
read their terms and conditions very carefully, and make sure that any changes are included. Lock in periods should be very short - 4-6 weeks max.All posts are my personal opinion, not formal advice Always get proper, professional advice (particularly about anything legal!)0 -
From personal experience I would go for a small independent local agent. That's who iv'e used to sell and have no complaints.
Looking for somewhere to buy I have found a lot of the corporate agents, unprofessional, rude and dishonest. If there was a block button on Rightmove a lot of these agents would be blocked. Fortunately I have now found a property to purchase through another independent agent and so far so good.0
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