How to choose an Estate Agent

TBeckett100

Here is how I picked
I went into right move and listed all houses in my area that were listed in the last 14 days. I then counted how many were SSTC and which agents had sold the most of my type of house.

I got three out and then plumped for the new agent that had only three unsold properties. I figured they'd be keener to shift mine to balance the books

But his approach was also different. They prefer to do viewings in blocks so the viewers feel there is demand and if they like it it pushes them to get on with it quickly for fear of missing out. He said that willy nilly viewings puts the power to the buyer whereas this approach takes the power away.

Anyway, 6 viewings and 4 offers on day 1 with best and final by 10am next day was just the ticket

Also he said he will faff taking the pictures and will move stuff about. He said his pet hate was tea towels on the oven. As I hate lazy EA photos we could have been separated at birth

Windsorcastle

I used an online agent, House Network. They were absolutely brilliant, saved me over 3 grand against what the high street agents quoted, and I got to choose and rearrange all the photos etc to my heart's content. I would never use a high street agent again. I am in London though, and would say online agents are best if you are in a high demand area.

Am currently trying to buy and would also much rather be using online agents so that I can just go to the house at the agreed time and speak to the owner, not be accompanied by some limp handshake in a cheap suit and a tufty-duck haircut. But maybe some people like that...

Landofwood

Think "would I buy something from this person?".

If the answer is no, don't trust them to sell your stuff.

gazter

Also, you tend to find estate agents often end up in a niche, doing better in different markets. The people we used to sell our house at £104K were perfect, they sold loads of properties in that price bracket, their offices had the necessary passing trade. The house we bought at 250K however, wouldnt be best dealt with by them. Another local firm that tends to specialise in properties above 200k (£200k is higher end of market in my area of the country) would be best.

The more types of properties similar to yours they sell, the more people that are wanting to buy your kind of property will be looking there.

Remember, the best place for a KFC to open, is next to a Burger King. They dont canabilise each other, the two of them together result in more people visiting the area as a destination to get that type of food.

Lifes_Grand_Plan

Thanks for all the help so far guys.

Another quick question - with working 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday it is difficult to have EA's around in the week. Would they normally be able to come out in evenings / weekends to do valuations?

Out,_Vile_Jelly

Lifes_Grand_Plan wrote: »

Another quick question - with working 9am - 5pm Monday to Friday it is difficult to have EA's around in the week. Would they normally be able to come out in evenings / weekends to do valuations?

Well, most people work 9-5 so if they can't accommodate you it's not going to be helpful for potential buyers! I think long hours and weekends are in an agent's job description.

I would second the suggestion of looking how they market properties online. The standard of photography and general literacy of descriptions is shocking for the fees charged.

Also, from personal experience, I've found older agents to be more professional, sensible and knowledgable. I would choose a firm that has at least one middle aged or above, rather than full of excitable youngsters who fit all the cliches about hair gel, cheap suits and wearing sunglasses indoors.

LJS2014

Windsorcastle wrote: »

I used an online agent, House Network. They were absolutely brilliant, saved me over 3 grand against what the high street agents quoted, and I got to choose and rearrange all the photos etc to my heart's content. I would never use a high street agent again. I am in London though, and would say online agents are best if you are in a high demand area.

Am currently trying to buy and would also much rather be using online agents so that I can just go to the house at the agreed time and speak to the owner, not be accompanied by some limp handshake in a cheap suit and a tufty-duck haircut. But maybe some people like that...

I would second this about using an online estate agent. I used Housesimple. Total cost to sell including VAT was £290. The cheapest traditional estate agent quote I got was £1,150 + VAT.

I liked the ease of using an online agent - I could just log in to the site and get any info I wanted and viewing alerts came through via text.

This was the first time I had sold a property so I can't compare against using a traditional estate agent but I was really happy I went the online route given how much money I saved.

:beer:

Lifes_Grand_Plan

LJS2014 wrote: »

I would second this about using an online estate agent. I used Housesimple. Total cost to sell including VAT was £290. The cheapest traditional estate agent quote I got was £1,150 + VAT.

I liked the ease of using an online agent - I could just log in to the site and get any info I wanted and viewing alerts came through via text.

This was the first time I had sold a property so I can't compare against using a traditional estate agent but I was really happy I went the online route given how much money I saved.

:beer:

Thats interesting LJS2014, I have not heard of Housesimple but they do seem very cheap - probably the cheapest way I have seen to be featured on RightMove and Prime Location.... they even include professional photos.

Where they fall down against Purple Bricks / Tepilo etc is presumably you are on your own from viewing onwards, negotiating a price and pushing the sale forward.... was that the case for you?

Once someone made an offer on your property and you accepted, what happened then?

Cheers

LJS2014

Hi Lifes Grand Plan,

I chose Housesimple as they were the cheapest – I also considered Tepilo (hadn’t heard of Purple Bricks at the time.) I decided to go this route because I thought it was a small outlay/risk to take if it didn’t produce a sale. I had met with 5 estate agents prior to this and just didn’t see what they were offering that an online agent couldn’t and given the fees to me were extreme in comparison I felt it was worth a try at least.

I look at Housesimple as the Ikea of estate agents, if you want them to do the viewings, handle offers and sales progression to completion, these are services they offer at a set rate so you basically build your own package. You choose how long you are marketed on Rightmove for etc. I chose the very basic one with 6 months on Rightmove, Zoopla and so on, it included professional photographs (which I was really impressed with,) but I opted to do my own sales progression.

From accepting the offer I liaised directly with the buyer and we swapped our contact details and our solicitors details. We keep in touch with a weekly call/email to see where we’re at with solicitors etc and I have to say that part of it has been hassle free. We are now just waiting for a date on the house we are buying – the chain is small so we’re lucky.

Having done things this way I don’t really know what extra I would have got if I’d have paid £1,150 and more to an agent. There may be people out there who don’t look on online agents fondly but I can only comment on my experience which has been very positive.

:beer:

devin01

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