How to choose an estate agent?

dllive

Hi,
Im thinking of selling a house. Id like to get it valued and put the wheels in motion.
Its a small terrace 2 bed cottage, Im guessing its worth about £190k.
Is it worth me going for one of the 'high class' EAs? Or will just a local one do? What increased service does a 'high class' EA offer that a budget one doesnt?
Whats the average price to pay for an EA?
Do all EAs offer a 'no sell no fee' service? If so, whats stopping people from putting a property on the market to 'test the waters' and then withdrawing?
Apologies for all the questions. Ive never done this before.
Thanks

eidand

dllive said:

Hi,
Im thinking of selling a house. Id like to get it valued and put the wheels in motion.
Its a small terrace 2 bed cottage, Im guessing its worth about £190k.
Is it worth me going for one of the 'high class' EAs? Or will just a local one do? What increased service does a 'high class' EA offer that a budget one doesnt?
Whats the average price to pay for an EA?
Do all EAs offer a 'no sell no fee' service? If so, whats stopping people from putting a property on the market to 'test the waters' and then withdrawing?
Apologies for all the questions. Ive never done this before.
Thanks

Putting a house on the market is an involved process. You've got to prepare the property, which takes a lot of work and sometimes expense as well, think painting, fixing odd bits which can drag it down if left as they are.
Then you will have to pay for a marketing package, more than likely and if you withdraw, that money is gone, You also need to prepare an EPC certificate, which is another cost. 

Step 1. Invite 3, 4 different EAs for an evaluation, but do research the prices in the area yourself. Guessing means nothing, research and prepare. In terms of fees, it's pretty normal to get one for 1% + VAT, let's say.
Choose the one which is closer to your own research I would say, but also research them before hand :

do they have many properties on the market?
do they achieve close to asking prices?
check their process, how does it work, how do they veto the buyers, stuff like that.
how much do you pay, when, under what terms can you cancel their contract and what costs will that incur.
How long are you locked in with one and what's the earliest date you can give them notice. How long is the notice.
How much you pay should you change your mind about selling.

It really is an interview where you asses their capability and process.
Always read what you are signing and if you do not understand something ask. A lot of people just sign whatever is put in front of them without thinking and then they discover issues when its to late.

gwynlas

People generally look at EAs in the area that they wish to live despite majority posting on Rightmove. Look at your local agents and see who appears to be selling simlar houses to yourself. Go and talk to them telling them you are thinking about selling but want to discuss terms and conditions, including how do they see the local market and how long they take to sell properties, They might tell you that they have just sold one just like yours and have potential buyers lined up. Do they complete accompanied viewings or do they expect you to show viewers around.. Dependent on where you are in the country and how much competition there is they will all charge a similar percentage for sole agency with a tie in period. Looking at current sales they have how do the photographs look, do they use professional photographer and give guidance on preparation? Arrange valuations with three of them, discuss key points that are important such as proximity to transport and shopping and then decide who you are most comfortable with. Do not let them rush you into deciding to use them as opposed to competitor.
Insist that they send you emails prior to placing descriptions on any websites checking spelling and accuracy igh end EAs have better furnished offices and offer viewers refreshments as well as professionally produced brochures, they tend not to be interested in low value properties

ka7e

I used the Getagent website to help select a local agent - they report on number of sales, length of time until offer received and % of original sale price achieved. I asked the 3 top firms to come and do a valuation and choose the one that had young, enthusiastic staff that were engaging and helpful.Their sales photos and floorplans were very professional and the photographer actually moved furniture around and removed things from shots to get the best results. One of the other firms offered a lower commission (they had the highest volume of sales), but I knew they were slow to market online and were quite old-fashioned - I suspect they had a list of interested buyers, but were very quick to reduce prices to keep the volume of sales up. The third firm just didn't click with me.

greatcrested

When signing up

* understand the difference between 'multi agent', 'sole agent' and 'sole selling' contracts. The fee will drop accordingly. Choose the appropriate option.

* minimise the 'contract period'. This is the period of time you are locked in. Agents want you locked into their contract for as long as possible (15, 20 weeks?) to maximise their chance to sell and earn their fee. But if they are useless, you want to be able to switch, so insist on 6 weeks (8 at a push). Often they'll tell you 'We have lots of people looking for properties like yours" in order to pursuade you to sign up. So you respond "In that case you'll only need 6 weeks to find me a buyer".

* minimise the notice period. If you are going to switch agent, you have to give notice, and waiting 4 weeks is a pain. Maximum 2 week notice period.

* obviously the lower the fee (or %) the better, but a cheap fee is worthless if you are locked into a rubbish agent for 18 weeks and then have to give 6 weeks notice

* beware 'free' EPCs etc. The small print usually says it's free provided the agent gets their fee from a sale. If you switch agnt, or change your mind about selling, you'll suddenly get a bill for the 'free' EPC. And it may be for double the £45 or so you can get these for.

* look carefully at the agent's other adverts. Are the pictures decent? Enough of them? And does the contract guarantee you similar advertising or, for example, are extra pictures added at extra cost?

Davesnave

Apart from all the legal matters greatcrested lists above, which are very important, study the agents' ads. Ask yourself how helpfully and attractively the properties are presented and note if the agent fails to provide room sizes and  floor plans. Failing to do either is laziness. For a sub £200k property a pro photographer might be OTT, but be aware of photos that are badly composed or lit, or which distort the walls by over-use of wide angle settings. Finally, has the agent used so much verbal diarrhoea the facts are obscured? You have 11 seconds on average to get a Rightmove viewer to click on your house!

Where I live its rural and most people use the local agent who's poorly skilled. Every property ad of theirs starts in the same way, describing the town, which pushes the actual details down the page. There's never any room sizes and a floor plan is extra.The pictures aren't much better and I know of two people who had someone else's garden in their ad! It's very odd when there are two multi-office agencies nearby, both of which seem to price property accurately and shift it without several reductions, but I'd guess most people don't study the local market as closely as I do.

nnewtoarea

If you let your area known, may be someone could list agents with good feedback for the area.

dllive

Thanks for all your comments guys - very useful. I shall do my homework and ask the relevant questions!

dllive

nnewtoarea said:

If you let your area known, may be someone could list agents with good feedback for the area.

Mid/north Dartmoor.

Davesnave

To the north of you, Helmores seem to be one of the better ones. Stags are a larger outfit, so there will be branch differences, but they also shift property well near me.

I'm Mid Devon....well, middle of nowhere really!

bob_the_dinosaur

I used Getagent because I had no idea, they gave my number to 3 local places so I made appointments with all of them.
The agent I went with was a fairly new business, but their photos and listings were absolutely spot on.  They sold my house in a few weeks and did all the viewings for us, we were never expected to do them.
An agent is a potential buyer's first impression of your house and of you as a seller, getting it right is vastly important.  When I found my house I had visited about 20 houses, my agent was vastly better than the one we bought from