Putting a house on the market in Edinburgh... best estate agent?

[AuldReekie2017]

Hi there, we're about to put our Edinburgh house on the market and getting totally confused as to which estate agent to go with.

There are some well known big firms which charge you the fee of 1% + VAT + some additional expenses. Then there are some local agents which may be charge you half of that... And now there are more firms advertising the "flat fee".

My questions is, are more expensive agents worth it? Our house's price is above average, and the ultimate goal is to have an agent that will help realize this price.

My gut feel is that this process has got quite generic, with ESPC/Zoopla etc., and I don't want to pay extra few grand just to have a more prestigious name on "For Sale" sign.

Could you please help alleviate my concerns?
Even better, could you recommend any agents in Edinburgh for selling a family home?

Many thanks in advance

You'll get more responses in Scotsnet.

The main thing when choosing an agent is that your property is advertised on ESPC. So I would avoid any agent which doesn't use it.

I hear consistently good things about Coulter's, Russel & Aitken, Neilson's, Simpson Marwick, VMH, Blair Cadell, Deans, Braemore.

Mixed reviews about Mov8, Boyd, Warner's, McEwan Fraser.

If you live in a sought after area I think you could go with fixed fee like Move8. They advertise on ESPC and Rightmove. Houses in our area sell within 2/3 weeks with very little input from the solicitor so I wouldn’t bother paying £7000 when I could get away with far less.

Heard some nightmare things about Mov8... apparently it can be hit or miss (although can be true for any other agent I guess...)

I don't know the Edinburgh area at all, but having recently purchased a flat on the West Coast I can offer my own thoughts on what might help or hinder a sale.

My flat was on with a local solicitor who, while they knew the local market, did pretty much nothing to make the property appealing to buyers. It is a lovely, well-proportioned, bright flat with great views, and less than 5 minutes walk from the beach. None of this was mentioned in the description. There were only 4 photos - it is a one bed flat - but just 4 is bizarre. The photos weren't good and made the rooms look much smaller than they are.

I had seen the flat on RightMove and only went to see it when I was in the town, had decided not to proceed on another property, and looked in local agents' windows to see if there was anything else I could see while I was in the area anyway. Agents were very pleasant, I was able to view right away, and I knew as soon as I saw it that I wanted to purchase.

Great flat - helpful agents - but abysmal marketing.

If I were you I'd have a look on RightMove and see which agents seem to be best at marketing properties. If you can't get viewings, you won't get a sale.