Choosing estate agent

[BucketofDinosaurs]

So a question about choosing an estate agent to help sell a property.
We are in Scotland and selling house for first time. The whole getting house ready for viewing thing each week is going to be rather strenuous since we have a (very sweet) toddler and so our house is usually amiable chaos, so we are interested in getting offers and missives concluded quickly.

We are choosing between two agents in particular . Looked at several but these struck us as best. Looking at the whole fee breakdown (including marketing, VAT, sale fees, purchase fees, etc) agent A is nearly £1,000 more than agent B. But agent A has successfully had an identical property to ours under offer within a week of going to market, in the last month (identical house layout as ours and everything, and it even went to closing dates and competing offers), and beat home report value - and last year sold another property on our street also exceeding home report value. Agent A is really demonstrably good at getting prospective buyers, notes of interest, and rapid sales at great prices.

Putting it like that I suppose it sounds idiotic to hesitate! But £945 sounds like a big difference to me.
Both agents are helpful, available, and I could see us liking to work with either. Both seem to know the market very well. Agent B has a huge number of properties on the market lately - they have the lowest fees of any agent so get a lot of sellers going with them. They do have good testimonials, though I don't know anyone personally who used them.

Any thoughts welcome!

[MoonlightandRoses]

Would Agent A agree to a rising scale? That's what we negotiated with ours - basically between x-y was one percentage, then jumping up, then to the amount they usually charged once the property went over the initial asking. If they are confident in what they do then they may well agree. The £945 difference will really only be a problem if you don't feel you got value for it.

[BucketofDinosaurs]

That is a really interesting idea Moonlight! Both are fixed fee rTher than commission, so might not work, but good to know that is sometimes a possibility. Agent A are very confident and the evidence suggests they can really help achieve things, so it might be worth it....

[MoonlightandRoses]

Well, we were in a similar situation - liked two agents, both percentage based, so went to (the slightly more expensive) one and were blunt about it. Basically said, am happy to pay fee, but...and they said, no problem because we'll prove how good we are (which they did ). They aren't in Scotland though or I'd recommend them.

[MrsJoeHart]

Have you asked Agent A if they'll match Agent B's price? I'm amazed at how many people just take the quoted price, Agents expect you to negotiate,

[BucketofDinosaurs]

Very interesting - I think we should certainly ask about it. Thank you!