how do you choose an estate agent?

[carlajean]

Just that really. We're putting our house on the market and are wondering which agent to use and would be grateful for people's thoughts. After all, now that most properties are on Rightmove or Zoopla does it matter?

I think it matters a bit - you have to feel comfortable with the person/firm that you are dealing with, make sure that their contract isn't too restrictive (look out for ridiculously long exclusivity tie-ins and long written notice periods). You have to believe that their valuation, while not an exact science, is ball-park achievable and not given either to sell quickly at a low price or at such a high price that it won't sell but greed gets the better of you. You have to feel that the negotiator is just that - someone who can deal with both you and the buyer during a stressful time and strike a deal if things seem to go awry.

I always ask what they would say about my property to potential buyers if they got the instruction; whether I am going to have one person who is my point of contact and whether that person will be doing all the viewings (if not, are they going to bring all their viewings people to visit the property so they know exactly what it is that they are selling); how often I should expect them to get in touch regarding feedback etc. I would want to see comparables to back up their valuation and it's useful to know opening hours - I do up flats for first-time buyers - the estate agency needs to be open in the evenings so that they can take people around after work.

Floorplans are absolutely essential - don't even consider an agency that doesn't provide a floorplan and look at the quality of the photography etc on the website. Finally, choose an agency that deals with lots of similar properties - there wouldn't be much use going with a firm that has cornered the market in another part of town or deals mainly in family homes if you are selling a one-bed.

HTH

I went purely on price, ours we went with offered a fixed rate so were considerably cheaper than others. And they're all on right move anyway, well most. Sold our house in 9 days after about 5 viewings in initial 5 days.

Flipping this question on its head, the one thing that impressed me about the estate agents that we bought from was that they had a dedicated team who stepped in once an offer had been accepted, whose role was to see the purchase through to conclusion. They liaised with solicitors, vendors, buyers and other estate agents in the chain regularly, and helped to make the purchase process run more smoothly. I thought it was an excellent approach. All too often, it seems that estate agents focus on getting to the 'offer accepted' point, and then take a more passive role in the whole process. Therefore, I would be quizzing any potential estate agents about how they manage the process once offers have been accepted, as this is where things can so easily go wrong.

indeed - when I had a difficult sale the fact that anyone at the agency could update me, and that they worked hard to progress it, was worth every penny of their fee. Which was still only 1% + VAT.

and yes, they did the viewings, and they sent the whole team round so they had seen the property before showing buyers round.

I think you can usually negotiate a price and percentage with most agents. I'd go for a proactive agent who followed up viewers and rang round to drum up viewings/interest in your property.

Definately get lots of valuations done and pick one thats midrange and an agent that you like as you may have to be 'friends' for quite a while.

I really hated 1 estate agent despite that everyone I had spoken to recommended her. I really did not like her and it was made worse by the fact that she valued my property £45,000 less than the next lowest. When I spoke to her about her valuation being so different, she got a bit miffed I had got other valuations and she also said her business was selling houses not getting the highest offer. Obviously I didnt use her and I never would despite her reputation in the town.

Use common sense when picking one. Are they professional, has your Solicitor had contact with them before (this may also help you make your choice), do they insist that they show clients round your house (I hate this and would always show clients round myself and never the agent due to them 'stretching the truth') do they get back to you promptly, have they explained the process fully to you ? If you have any doubts about them, even if you just dont like their personality then pick someone else. You need to be able to trust them as they are involved in probably the biggest amount of money you will ever spend.

Thank you all for taking the time to respond, the feed back has been very useful

I was just going to echo don't just think about the actual selling its the part after that where I noticed the biggest difference. We went with our estate agent because the house we wanted was with them and thought that would be easier (we didn't end up able to buy that house but still). they were great at presale, very friendly when showing people round, good feedback etc all was well...then we sold. The difference between our solicitor and our vendors was huge. Ours were rubbish whilst they were really on it. They kept in touch regularly made sure they knew where things were at were a go between for vendors, solicitors and ourselves. They basically made it all happen! Ours were awful at one point I rang them to let them know where they were at and they didn't even write it down. On the day of our sale we were in touch with the other solicitors to arrange time to collect keys etc no problems ours I rang to let them know I would be able to give them the keys by 4 and to let our buyer know and they didn't! I dropped them off, didn't even sign anything was just done...luckily my buyer and I were in touch as otherwise might still not have moved!

All of the above but also look at how they treat buyers (who they arent working for or getting any money from). We've just sold our house using the same estate agents we bought with 7 years ago - they were lovely and so helpful to us as buyers which definitely influenced our decision to use them as sellers.

As a recent buyer, don't use Barnard Marcus, they don't treat potential buyers very well.

Don't worry too much about the valuation, you can instruct them to market at a price of your choice.

Do you like the agents? If you think they're slimy creeps, sexist etc then buyers will and they'll be put off.

Are other houses they have on the books in the same ball park valuation as yours? Whilst people use right move they also register with agents and are going to register with the ones who sell houses in the price range they are looking for.

Hopefully not relevant, but if you want them to do viewings will they do them on bank holidays? Are they open, at least for phone calls on a Sunday? How late is their latest weekday viewing?

Experience of using them as a buyer has been a fairly key factor.

The latest time there was only 1 agency in the village and they were only yards from my house so it was an easy choice - but I still only used them because they were professional (not pushy sales types but small agency who go on their personal reputation), knew more than anyone about the market in the village and had been good when I'd dealt with them when buying.

I could have negotiated on commission but I didn't because of personal circumstances and wanting to get the deal done. In the end it didn't happen and they didn't get any money - but when I eventually do try again it will be through them.

To answer the question a different way "what should i do to sell my house?"

1. The first step is to get all of the agents to come and value the property. Then you have a ball-park figure of what it might be worth.

1. Use rightmove and zoopla and look at sold prices for similar properties in the area (remember EA's are trying to win your business, they are selling you a magic number)

1. Decide if you want to market the property yourself. For example there are many companies that offer posting to RightMove and Zoopla for a fraction of the cost e.g. thelittlehousecompany.com/page/Sell-Your-Own-Home-Privately-Online-Homes-Flats-Pr/384

If you're up for doing the viewings yourself this is a great route to go down. And you'll meet the buyers, if you have the choice between two similar offers you'll have a really good idea which buyer is more reliable.

If you don't want to go down that route then I'd recommend following the advice found on moneysavingexpert. thelittlehousecompany.com/page/Sell-Your-Own-Home-Privately-Online-Homes-Flats-Pr/384

Let us know how you get on!