How to choose an Estate Agent

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Hi folks,

My wife and I are looking to sell our house and it will be the first time doing such a thing. We have spent the last month giving it a lick of paint and doing all those little jobs that you never quite get around to, so now we are thinking we should find an estate agent and get it on the market.

My problem is there seems so many estate agents in the town we live that I don't know where to start in choosing, and what I should be asking them to start with.

So:

1. How do I choose which one(s) to use and how many should I shortlist (if thats the done thing)?

and

2. Should I just be asking all of the shortlisted ones for a valuation or should I be asking to see details of their rates and contract terms before they try and tie me into a valuation...?


And any other tips people can provide on what to watch out for please....

TIA

LGP

Red-Squirrel_2

I started by looking at the listings at Rightmove, to see which agents did a good job of promoting other people's houses! The ones I picked had good photos, detailed descriptions without typos or loads of CAPS and !!!!!!!!, and floorplans for every listing.

Then, I invited the best three round to value the place and pitch themselves to me, and picked one that didn't charge an extortionate amount, was realistic about the achievable price and wasn't trying to sell me a load of overpriced extras like professional photos and premium listings.

Also, if you know other people who've bought and sold recently, get some recommendations.

Never use Bridgfords or any in the Countrywide group!

Noctu

If you have a bad gut feeling after meeting an estate agent, don't ignore it! Learned that the hard way...
This was a branch of Your Move.

eddddy

I would do the following: Invite 3+ EAs to look at your property and then ask for copies of their contracts.

Remember that EA contracts are almost always negotiable. I would want the following:

- Sole Agency Contract (not Sole Selling Rights)
- "No Sale, No Fee" (with no clauses about "Ready, Willing and Able Buyers")
- No withdrawal fee
- 8 week tie in period (which you can extend if you want)

and reasonable fees.

Some people will probably suggest that you use an online EA. I probably wouldn't. But that's a much bigger discussion.

Naf

Find one which doesn't create a conflict of interest by charging both buyer and seller in order to get them each the best deal... oh, wait.

AlexMac

Assuming you've looked at the 'sticky' above
https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/5383
and are inclined to follow the advice in the posts above, I would only say, don't over-think it.
- put yourself in the position of a buyer for a house in your area/price-range and see who sells ones like it...
- just ring and invite 'em round; don't speak to much or bombard 'em with Qs... just listen... they know what to say and will automatically offer a valuation, leave their T&C or a draft contract and if they're any good, will confirm this in a day or two with a follow up letter/email.

- only consider sole agency; assuming they're a local firm and post on the websites, multiple agency won't increase exposure; and anyone I know who has used an out of area or obscure agent has regretted it. I have no experience of online only agents but can't see the point to save a few bob on the biggest deal of your life!

- we were amazed by the price- range of valuations (10-15% difference between highest and lowest, admittedly on a one-off 2-bed conversion flat in a popular area) and while the received opinion is to distrust high valuations, we sold ours at the top; in 3 days!

Good luck

WeAreGhosts

I had 3 agents around to value. They all came in with the same figure thereabouts, but one completely peed me off as he spoke like a car salesman, another wasn't very forthcoming and I thought maybe selling wasn't really the job for her as she couldn't even sell herself or her agency. And the one we're going with was personable, had the best brochure and online presence, has an office open on a Sunday, knew the area well, had sold another property down the road and I talked his fee down to 1%.

Really, it often comes down to how you feel about the person who's going to be selling your biggest asset.

pinkshoes

Think who you would like showing other people your house.

Who comes across as genuinely liking your property?

Who produces good detailed outlines without spelling mistakes?

Who answers the phone and actually gets back to you?

Then look at the t&cs

csgohan4

Avoid Your move, pretty awful photos and marketing


I never viewed a house when yourmove was the agent.

moneyistooshorttomention

I picked a small ethical estate agent. I did my research on them and they presented their properties well, charged amongst the lower end of charges.

Also influencing my decision was knowing that they had opened fairly recently (but long enough to have "got their act together") and it was obvious to me that they wanted more "exposure" and mine was one of the areas of my locality they wanted more of a "toehold" in. When my "For Sale" went up - then it was somewhere where they knew very well plenty of watchful eyes would spot it and the neighbours would be evaluating progress.

I was spot on. The neighbours were indeed evaluating progress and, soon after mine had obviously completed and they could see I'd move there started to be a steady rash of other people deciding to use my estate agent too and they've now got quite a strong base in that area.

Watching their webpages since too - and I can duly see they've got about twice as many properties on their books as they had when I chose them. So I was right that they wanted to expand and would be doing so and would be looking to give "good service" to make sure they did so. I'd sussed out the people running it as intelligent and business-minded enough to know just how to push their little business on..

**********

On the other hand THE EA I did not want was the biggest one in the area. They had got very complacent and I could NOT get their commission level out of them in the office and they insisted on not telling me until they came round my house. They weren't going to get the chance to waste my time trying to do a "pushy salesman" act on me.

stator

Avoid Connells group companies (there are many brand names they use)