Choosing selling agent/fees

hanfrangipane

G_M wrote: »

1. Don't go by the guy selling this to you. He (probably) won't be the guy you deal with day-to-day once they start marketing/find a buyer (though it's worth asking).You might be swayed by a great salesman and end up with a cr*p negotiator (or vice verse)

2) Negotiate on the fees.

3) check the minimum contract period and negotiate it down. 8 weeks max (less is better). some will tie you in for 16 or more weeks

4) check the notice period. 2 weeks is OK. 4 weeks is a long time if you're unhappy

5) ask where they advertise. How many websites (and which?)

6) look at their websites and compare with the others- which look best?

1. Agree, the rep from EA4 said they are involved once on the market but I guess that's not guaranteed. 3 and 4 got the same feedback as being nice to deal with by my friends who are buying. I've not dealt with EA4 myself but EA3 were decent when I was on the buying end.


2. Will try get both down and see where that gets me!


3 + 4. I don't have all the info with me at the moment but it's definitely on my list to check once I get home. I seem to remember most being 12 weeks off the top of my head.


5. Both advertise in the same local press locations and have their own magazine distributions and are on RM and Zoopla.


6. EA4 has better website, in my opinion, easier to navigate and search but, to be honest, I'd guess most people would use RM/Zoopla rather than EA websites.


Food for thought!

Surrey_EA

ReadingTim wrote: »

the lowest commission

There is an argument that the cheapest isn't always the best.

If a good EA can find a buyer for £5000 more than a bad EA, then maybe they're worth £1000 more on their fees?

Trouble is, it's very difficult to know whether you've made the right decision until it's too late!

G_M

hanfrangipane wrote: »

3 + 4. I don't have all the info with me at the moment but it's definitely on my list to check once I get home. I seem to remember most being 12 weeks off the top of my head.
Then negotiate down. Ask " do you have many potential buyers looking for properties like mine?"
They are almost 100% certain to say: "Yes." (or similar).
"Oh good, then in that case you won't need 12 weeks. How about a 4 week contract and then we'll review?"
Then agree to 8 weeks.

6. EA4 has better website, in my opinion, easier to navigate and search but, to be honest, I'd guess most people would use RM/Zoopla rather than EA websites.

Yes but compare the Rightmove listings too.
* how good are the photos?
* how many photos?
* is it a good write-up?

hanfrangipane

G_M wrote: »

Yes but compare the Rightmove listings too.
* how good are the photos?
* how many photos?
* is it a good write-up?

The write ups are very similar, both have decent floor plans.


EA4 appears to have 12 photos per listing, EA3 ranges from 11-16ish.
Photos definitely seem to be better with EA4 but EA3 have the more properties on the market.


Having more properties on the market will obviously result in a higher number of sales in the area but tells me nothing about proportionately how many sales they achieve and how much they achieve for those sales etc.


It is close between the two, like Surrey_EA says, you often don't know if it's the right decision until it's too late. I'm not averse to paying more for a good agent, but I'm struggling to priorities the elements that makes one better than the other.

DumbMuscle

hanfrangipane wrote: »

Yes, I see what you mean. I've only bought my house (by looking on Rightmove irrespective of agent like you say!) and have never sold before so it's not something I'd really considered. I guess I'm thinking back to when my parents have bought which was done more in person in branch which is clearly out of date!


I'll speak with EA4 and see what they say re. fees and have another chat with EA3 and see if there is much in it preference wise after another round of speaking with them. They (EA3) also gave me RM stats which showed that they were by far the agent with the most sales in the area in the last year (44 in total, with the next best having only half that) so they clearly have a good presence in the area.

Most sales doesn't necessarily mean best! They might be advertising 4 times as many properties but only getting twice the number of sales, meaning their success rate is about half of the competition :P

hanfrangipane

DumbMuscle wrote: »

Most sales doesn't necessarily mean best! They might be advertising 4 times as many properties but only getting twice the number of sales, meaning their success rate is about half of the competition :P

That's what I'm thinking. This is a minefield and I'm a terrible decision maker at the best of times when there aren't solid facts!

Clairabella

Which agent will show prospective buyers around your house? We chose the estate agent who we felt was the most enthusiastic who said she preferred to do the first viewing herself. She proved an excellent saleswoman in fact, when we were looking at a house to buy with the same woman, she almost sold it to us even though we were't very keen on it!