First time seller - advice

nzmegs

We are having a couple of agents coming round next week to value our property and as this is our first time selling we could do with some do's and don'ts.
I am worried the agent will try and pressure us into signing up for their service staight away - but we are only speculating at the moment. Also we have done a lot of work on our property and expect q good price for it - even taking into account the current market. Will the agent be realistic, agree with us, or insist on their own valuation?

Also what is a good percentage in terms of fees. Can we negotiate?

We want to ask advice about any changes which might improve the selling price - is the agent going to be an expert in this or not.

Also last question - should we get a mortgage offer in principle then make offers on other houses or should we make the offer first. It all depends on how much we can sell our place for. Should we wait till we have an offer then get the mortgage so we know how much we need to borrow?

it is very confusing to know the best order of doing things. Thanks to all you experts out there!

MadMonkey

Before we went on the market we went to see the IFA to get a provisional mortgage offer so we had an idea of what we needed to sell ours for.

When EA came round most of them did not actually tell me the valuatio there and then, they wrote the next day so there was no pressure to sign up with them.

IMO EA know nothing about selling houses so do not expect any advice on that front !! They are very good at cashing their cheques but that seems to be their only big strength:p

Also be VERY aware that they will over-value your house to flatter you into signing with them.

We were aware of this yet still signed with the highest valuation - they charmed us and then dropped the charm once the contract was signed:mad:

Do your own research on sold prices and comparable for sale prices and always be realistic.

Magic_Dragon

Hi

We recently put our house on the market for the fist time

We had 4 valuations done on our house and they all varied drastically - £170 - £195,000. We went with the EA that seemed to be most experianced and seemed to know what he was talking about. He didnt give us any sales patter and just put his cards on the table. The others were very pushy and didnt seem to know my area very well

I negotiated the fees and tie in - but if you dont ask you wont get

We are not even going to start viewing houses until we have at least an offer on the table - seems a bit pointless as we dont know how much we will get for ours! (if only the viewers we have had in had the same idea!)

I have went through our finances and calculated what I think the maximum mortage we could get and easily would be. Adding on any possible equity from our current home gives a bit of an idea of what we can afford

We are just keeping an eye on right move and shortlisting some properties. If we get an offer on ours we might go have a look, but wont be making any offers on a new house until we have exchanged on this one

I dont know if any of this is the right way to do things - but it is what we are doing!

CYBERCIDERSAVER

I assume you have your own idea as to what your house is worth. care to share it with us.

Would be interesting to see the difference between your estimate and the EA's and then to see which EA you pick...

sorry. I'm just nosey.

Magic_Dragon

My house is only worth what someone is willing to pay for it!

We were hoping to get £180,000 before the EA's came round going off my own research into house prices in my area

The 4 valuations were - £170 - 175, £180 - 185, £185 - 190, £195

We are marketing it at £189,950 just to see what interest we get (had 4 viewers in 3 weeks) Quite prepared to drop the price, but we will see how it goes for now ......

nzmegs

Thanks everyone for your advice. am hoping for a sale at 210,000 so will see what the EA suggests. The market in our area has been dropping lately so we will have to see if that is realistic. Unfortunately our house has ben extended and so does not compare to others in the street. I think valuing it will be somewhat hit or miss.
As already said it is what someone will pay - I guess.

thanks again.

Mrs_Thrify

Hiya,my advice is to be carefull with Ea and insist on only signing an 8wk contract with 1 wks notice.Most will try and tie you into a18 wk contract and 2/3 weeks notice before you can move to another agent (if you don't like them) :eek:

Doozergirl

Do not ever tell the agent what you think your house is worth. They almost always ask and if you tell them you will just end up with an identical valuation, not an objective one.

1% + VAT is your target. Any EA member of the Countrywide group will laugh and tell you that you get what you pay for - simple fact is, you don't. High Street brands will tell you their strong branding is worth paying for - it isn't. An independent agent who really needs your commission to sell houses to feed their kids is worth 10 salaried agents who can go and work at the agent next door, next week.

And they will always tell you to leave a property as it is for fear of upsetting you or not trusting you to actually improve the property.

Magic_Dragon

I should have added that I chose a small local firm in the end. They are marketing the property just as we wanted and expected, so pleased I chose them. The actaul owner of the firm came round to value our house too

He told me of some small improvements I could make to help sell (fixing small cracks and touching up paint)

Maybe I got caught up with it all, but I preffered him and his matter of fact manner, than the EAs that spend half an hour with me trying to convince me to go with them

I got him down to 1.2% plus VAT