Estate Agent Advise?

[Tink06]

Buying and selling a bit unexpectedly and could do with some advice?
Is it better to go with seperate agents for both? I, maybe naively, thought it would be easier to go with 1 agent as just seem to remember endless phone calls and hassle from the last time we did this.

We have seen a house we love which has been for sale ages. I told the agent we were definitely interested and arranged to see their mortgage adviser so we could put an offer in (below the asking price as its the top end of our budget but didn't discuss this). They rang me a couple of days later and said someone else has put am offer in - well below the asking price which had been rejected. I stuck to my guns - we can't play with figures until we have had advice (appt tomorrow). I was really annoyed as am 99% sure its just a ploy. Even if it isn't we can't get into a bidding war.

Also arranged for them to value the house we are selling. Have looked at 3 local agents and the fees seem to be roughly 1% plus vat.
Now am thinking how can we negotiate when they are trying to get the best price and the highest commission for both of us? Have loads of other stuff going off so can't think straight. Have had no time to research it. Mother in law is coming to live with us so we are selling hers and getting somewhere bigger. Any advice would be appreciated.

I would go with the agent you think is more likely to sell your house. I don't like the idea of them getting commission based on what two houses in a linked deal go for. Call my cynical but I'd be concerned about conflicts of interest where they end up doing what is good for them.

Go to an independent mortgage broker and cut the estate agent out of this part of the equation - you can show the EA your mortgage in principle document once you have it. Until you can show you have the funds in place and make an offer they will continue to conduct viewings and they may get a higher offer on the same house. At least they have told you of other interest in the place.

You need to get yours on the market though. Normal order of things would be market your house and keep an eye on local market while sorting out MiP. When you get an offer you accept on yours then you can seriously offer on somewhere yourselves unless you are going to move into rented to make sale of your place chain free.

Hi. The house we are selling is empty and am sure will sell well (all 3 EA's we have spoken to agree). All said what i thought. It just seemed odd that the other house has been for sale months (well over 6 ) and suddenly has another offer 2 days after we express an interest.
Hard to decide between the agents which is my dilemma. All say they have buyers waiting and all 3 are well established.

The advantage of selling with the same agency that you are buying from is that they have a vested interest in making sure both deals complete so they will be very keen to keep the chain together and will work hard, for example if your original buyer drops out to find a replacement and mollify your seller.