To ask you does the following sentence make sense to you?

[MrsMushroom]

"How an estate agent adds value when you are buying a home?"

Does that sentence make sense to you??

Does it cast Estate agents in a positive light?

YABU to ask.

It's not a sentence so doesn't make sense alone.

Nor is it a question so why the question mark?

eh?

Come again? Where is the rest of the sentence or the missing words?

How does an estate agent add value when you are buying a home?

maybe?

Surely that's a title for a 'bullet point'.

OP, which estate agency brochure is that from? It's awful.

Lol. You're on the right lines Flowery and Cookie. But sorry...the question mark shouldn't be there...discount it please.

Is the ? part of the sentence? If so, it should be "How does an estate agent add value when you are buying a home?" like nevergoogle suggests.

Or is it:

How an estate agent adds value when you are buying a home:

• by pointing out that the curtains are nice
• by arriving in a a zippy Mini

It doesn't make logical sense though, even when made to make grammatical sense - to me, an estate agent should add some sort of convenience when you're BUYING, and value when you're SELLING.

You'll note the use of the word 'should' ...

I'm not sure I understand what you're getting at.

It is neither a complete sentence nor a question. But it is out of context so it is difficult to know whether it makes sense or not. To me it loks like a title above a list of points with a question mark inserted incorrectly at the end.

To ask in what sort of light it casts estate agents is a strange question. Is it the illiterate sentence you are considering or sentiment within it?

That;s what I thought Baby. It's terrible isn't it!

An estate agent doesn't add value. The estate agent values the house, and then using the competence/ability that they have, sells it for that value.

It translates into plain English as: "Why it's worth using an estate agent".

I would see 'adds value' as currently fashionable management speak, rather than an attempt to link the concepts of 'estate agent' and 'valuable'.

Hassled - I love your optimism.

Stella...you're right. Is see now...it's a badly worded piece of bollocks though isn't it?

:o Yes, as soon as I clicked "post" I thought "you naive fool - has that really been your experience?"

Added Value is simply something that goes above and beyond normal expectations and can apply to a service. So if that title was followed by

• Providing complimentary transport to and from viewings

for example, it would be quite possible for an estate agent to add value when you are buying a home.

They are simply using the word 'value' outside its narrow economic meaning.

So are they saying an estate agent will cost a buyer more?

Sounds about right to me....

It's a subject heading not a sentence.

DP and I have been looking at Year 9 options booklet tonight. Dear God. Business Studies, Environmental Science and Classical Studies have already been ruled out by him on grounds of grammatical and spelling incompetence.

I think I've concluded they are TRYING to 'use the word "value" outside its narrow economic meaning', but instead producing 'a badly worded piece of bollocks'.

There. Have I added any value?

Once you've re-written it, shouldn't it be in relation to selling a house?

Where does the quote come from?

Can't you just say 'Why you need an estate agent when buying a home' ?

Or 'How an estate agent helps when buying a home'

I agree that "adding value" is being used here in its management-speak sense of "doing something useful". Which still means it's complete rubbish.

(DontCallMeBaby you have made me laugh out loud twice!)