HOW TO CHOOSE A GOOD ESTATE AGENT

Our Number One Tip - try before you buy!

Book to view a property with the agent before asking for a valuation and see how they perform.  Is it easy to book?  Do they answer the phone?  Were they knowledgeable about the property?  Did they follow up with you a day or so after the viewing? Also, check out their other property listings, how do the photos look?  Is there a video included?  Do they have a social media presence?

Commission Fee - you get what you pay for, going for a cheaper fee can be costly

Top performing agents that achieve the asking price can be well worth their commission fee.  

For example;

• If a property is listed for £1,000,000 and agent 1 achieves 100% of the asking price and the commission is 1.5%, you will pay a commission of approximately £15,000. So you’ll get £985,000 once estate agents fees are deducted.
• But if agent 2 achieves 98% of the asking price (£980,000) and charges a lower commission rate of 1%, you’ll pay less commission at £10,000. But you’ll be left with £970,000 once estate agent fees are taken off. In this instance, you are £15,000 worse off with the cheaper agent.

Sole agency fees in the UK are currently on average 1.42% according to the Home Owners Alliance.

Other Questions to ask:

• What is their contract term or notice period?  Most good agents now don’t have a contract term to hold their clients to - their customer service should speak for itself
• Do they provide you with data-backed evidence for the suggested selling price, along with local comparable sold properties?
• What is their average time to sell a property?
• What is their average sale price agreed?
• How many buyers do they have that match your property?
• What is their marketing strategy for your property?  
• Do they use a professional photographer?
• Ask to see the Terms of Business or copy of their Agency Agreement before agreeing anything and query anything you don’t understand
• Ask for testimonials - can they give past clients’ telephone numbers to speak to?
• What number of properties do they currently have on their books to the number of staff/agents?
• What provision do they have for sales progression?  Is it in-house or outsourced, or just the agent?  Sale fall throughs due to lack of communication and chasing can be extremely costly for all parties.
• What is included with their fee?  Do they charge for ID/Anti-money laundering checks?  Any other fees?

Gut Instinct

We are strong believers in gut instinct - did you get a good feel for the agent?  Were they passionate about your property and interested in you and your plans?  The process of selling and buying can be long, do you wish to have this agent in your life for a while?  Do you trust them?

Things to watch out for......

High valuations and low commissions - the agent is only interested in their market share, rather than selling your individual property

Comparing only with properties on the market but not sold - this doesn’t tell you what buyers are actually paying for houses, you could easily just end up another over-priced property on the market along with the others.  Properties on the market should be used to gauge supply and demand data, not pricing decisions.