Thinking of selling our home, looking for advice?

[nikkir3]

Thinking of selling our home, but we haven't sold in years, I was wondering if anyone had sold recently and knew what I should be looking for in an agent? Is it about price? what's the difference between these purple bricks people and normal high street agents? I also had some lady post through my door, who is working from home independently, is that risky or good? Any advice would be hugely appreciated. thank you x

Imo, the best agent is the one achieving sales at or close to asking price in your area, unless the market is red hot near you and sales are often agreed over asking. Look on Rightmove to see which ones have houses sold STC in your area. Is the photography good? Does the marketing have relevant details such as room dimensions and key information rather than EA twaddle in the description? Are the floorplans clear? Lots of people won't view a house that isn't marketed with a floorplan.

Choose three agents and get them to come round and value your house for you - it's free. They need to back their valuation up with evidence. They should have examples of houses they have sold recently which are comparable to yours and will usually tell you the sale price agreed.

Ultimately though you need to go with the agent who you believe will do the best job of selling your house - sometimes that is someone the same age as your target market, sometimes it's just someone who comes across as trustworthy who can close a sale.

I have bought & sold many properties over the years, always using a high street agent, & it started that way this time, way back last March! Cut a long story short, they were TERRIBLE. When our buyer lost their buyer we decided that we couldn't deal with these people any longer, & didn't want to waste 7k on their incompetence, so have cut our losses & gone on with Purplebricks. Its like a breath of fresh air in comparison. Instead of having to vacate the house for an agent who doesn't know the first thing about our property to show viewers around, we decided to save some money & do it ourselves. (It is an option to have them do it for you if required) I can set my diary to stipulate my availability & have viewings booked at any time & answer questions from potential buyers without having to go through an agent & rely on their opening hours.

I do have my lovely local agent, who really is local & happy to answer calls & texts at any time. She was even uploading properties to the website & working on what should of been her week off when she was lying on a sun lounger in Spain on Christmas day. Now thats dedication for you!

Don't underestimate the shitty time it is to sell over Christmas, but despite this we have been on the market just under 6 weeks & had 12 viewings, which has generated 2 offers. Unfortunately the offers are too low, so we continue to wait, but im confident we will find a suitable buyer soon.

One of the best things about going with an agent like this is that the viewers you get are genuinely interested in seeing your house rather than there because the agent has bullied them to go, or they are not even on the market yet & jumping the jun with viewing houses. We had about 25 viewings with our old agent in 3 or 4 months & only 3 or 4 were actually in a position to buy. All but one of our viewers with Purplebricks have been proceedable. Its more quality than quantity for sure!

The best thing over all is the fact that we are saving almost 6k in commission & having a much less stressful time in the process! If I were you id also include your local Purplebricks agent when you get valuations done, to see if you click with them. As with any agent, there are good & bad, but its worth finding out for the amount of money you could save & the greater convenience!