What questions to ask estate agents?

Goldust

Hi,


I'm selling my house and will be living with friends while i save up a few quid and wait for a new build property to become available.


I live in a cheapish area in the North of England (I'd expect £180k max) so the savings presented by Purple Bricks and co don't really add up assuming I can get a decent sales commission rate (or whatever it's called) from a high street agent.


There's plenty of agents around so I had a mooch round a few and approached the one who sold me this house and 2 others who are all coming at different times this week to give a valuation and talk about next steps.


However, apart from the % they want to charge me I don't really know what other questions to ask. I can play them off against each other and try to get the rate down at the agent I prefer ideally but I'm sure there are other questions that should be in my mind for when they turn up.


Please help! Or point me to a guide I can go through step-by-step

Crashy_Time

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-78622592.html


Ask them not to put "OFFERING UNBELIEVEABLE VALUE ! £100,000 - IT MUST SELL AT THIS PRICE" in the ad, especially when it has already been reduced by 5k

tacpot12

In my experience, the most important part of any contract is the Termination clause - how can you get out of the contract if you no longer want to be bound by it?

Ask them to explain their contracts, and take notes. If the contract doesn't have an "Entire Agreement" clause, you could each ask the EA to sign and date your notes and affirm that they are a correct record of what they said. The means your notes would become part of the contract.

You can certainly try to negotiate their rate, but I would worry that this would lead them to put less effort into marketing your property. I would only haggle if you know that the person you are agreeing the rate with won't be representing your property to potential buyers. Instead of haggling on the rate, you could see what extra they will do for their standard fee.

lisyloo

1. Is it sole agent or sole selling. The first means you can't get another agent but you could arrange a private sale. The second means you have to pay them if you find someone yourself.
2. Whats the %, is it negotiable?
3. What the notice clause.
4. What methods do they use e.g. on-line portals, newspapers, high st presence etc.

5. Do they know the area, in particular your street well?
6. Are they willing to do viewings?
7. Why would they suggest you should choose them?


You want the best agent not the best price.
A better agent might get you a better price on the property and therefore be worth a higher fee.
I'm due to exchange soon. I chose the more expensive agent but they got a sale before we went to market for full asking price, so worth the 0.1% extra.

badger09

This is a list of prompt I drew up regarding our (non bog standard) home some time ago (in addition to T&Cs, viewings etc mentioned above)


What do you think is the best price achievable?
What do you think is a realistic price for a quick sale?
Have you sold anything similar recently? (answer was always going to be 'no', but useful to gauge their capacity for b****sh*t)
What is the level of demand for similar properties? (again difficult to find similar)
Anything we must do to make more saleable?
Anything you would recommend we do to make more saleable?

Crashy_Time

"What is the lowest price the seller will accept?"

colloq

I think it boils down to are you looking to move out of the house fast @Goldust or is it just a case of leaving it sat on the market for half a year to achieve the price you want?

The Northern housing market isnt as bad as it seems. I live near Middlesbrough and the market is flooded with sub 50k properties

So as long as you dont fall into that bracket should be good

lisyloo

Crashy_Time wrote: »

"What is the lowest price the seller will accept?"

The OP is a seller looking for an EA so this question is out of context.

Crashy_Time

lisyloo wrote: »

The OP is a seller looking for an EA so this question is out of context.

OK. "What is the lowest price I can expect?"


(The EA won`t know the answer)

Goldust

As we have been generously offered the chance to move in rent free with family for 6-9 months while we wait for the new build property we would like (or one of our backups) to become available I would ideally like to sell as soon as possible after my fixed rate ends on the mortgage so I no longer have to pay the early repayment charge.


The longer I leave it after that, the more interest I will pay and also I will be saving the monthly mortgage payment plus any other overheads in the meantime.

StumpyPumpy

Crashy_Time wrote: »

OK. "What is the lowest price I can expect?"

(The EA won`t know the answer)

Of course the EA will know the answer to that one, everyone does. The answer is 0, zero, nothing, nada, zilch or possibly even less if you include upfront charges. That is what everyone gets when their house fails to sell. A better question would be: if I market it at the price you suggest, how long will it take to get a buyer? (And if the response is very short the follow up would be: Why is your contract x months in length, then?)

One thing to watch when you are comparing commission rates is whether or not they are quoting inclusive of VAT or not (some do, some don't) And the best advice is to look at their other listings on Rightmove etc... Check for professional photographs, properly written; not cookie cutter details and generally whether or not you as a buyer would be tempted by their general presentation or not.

SP