Gah... Which agent. Honest opinions

[PastaBeeandCheese]

I was keen on using Housenetwork, an online agent. The fees are really attractive and I'm happy to do my own viewings.

Just had a local agent round to give a view and now I'm confused. I warmed to her and she thinks she can get a higher price than I thought I'd have to take.

She was very enthusiastic about the house and wanted to bring all the branch staff over to ensure they could see the standard of finish and convey that to prospective purchasers. She also thought she had clients on her list already who'd be interested. She thought we'd likely end up in a chain and explained how she would keep this moving for us.

I managed to squeeze her a bit on fees so we'd be looking at £2k with her if we sold against £600 upfront with the Internet agent.

Is it all just sales patter or do you think we'd stand a better chance of getting a decent price with a real agent.

I think I'd go with the real agent.

If you're not in a rush to sell I would try the Housenetwork, my friend used them and he thinks they are great.

You will get lots of people on here telling you not to trust Estate Agents (thats what they said on my thread!) and although I am more optimistic, at the end of the day, they are sales people.

I went through the same process. Went with the real agent who priced the house at 20% more than we would have put it on housenetwork.

And got it, and managed the tricky chain to make it happen. And did send all the branch staff round before they did viewings.

try the real agent on a short contract. You've nothing to lose.

Sigh, sigh. I was happy with our agent last time too. They got two people interested within a week and that got us full asking price.

It's just such a vast price difference but if I get any more for the house as a result then they are worth their fees.

that's it! No sale, no fee -so give it a go if you think the price is achievable.

I think it depends on where you live really. A friend recently sold her place very quickly through housenetwork and got very close to the asking price. But she's in London and the market's still very buoyant here. She knew she'd sell it easily and didn't need an estate agent. If things are a bit slower near you, it's probably worth giving the agent a try - if she can get you a better price then it'll be worth it.