Estate agents for selling - what to look out for

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We are hoping to put our house on the market in the next 2/3 weeks and I'm thinking about valuations and what to look out for with estate agents.

I've had a pretty rude bounce back from an agent this morning when asking for some more information and to potentially view a house on right move which has really put me off asking them to value our current house but what else should I look out for?

I've never sold a house so any advise would be super welcome.

For Sale boards in your area - are other people using them?

Interview them - they should show you a range of houses they have recently marketed, be able to give a good explanation as to the price they would market yours at and show why - relevant local properties etc.

They should be able to explain who they think the target market for your property is.

Ask what they think the mood of buyers is at present, what are the challenges in marketing properties like yours atm and how will they address that.

Do you think they have the skills to negotiate and navigate through the chain - will they deal well with your buyers when everything gets tricky? EAs don't just market the property - they are invaluable in keeping the sale together.

EAs are not accepting viewings atm unless your own house is under offer - proceedable buyers only because of COVID and keeping visits to a minimum.

Good photos and quality of their listings on Rightmove.

@RainingBatsAndFrogs I realise that now re-viewings and would have totally understood.

It was more a case that they told me the house was under offer and surveys booked etc so they couldn't do viewings despite it not being listed STC on rightmove.

I pointed this out incase it was an error or oversite so it could be fixed and she was really very short with me.

It was the kind of rubbish minor interaction that would really put me off as a buyer and I would think twice about contacting them about a house listed by them in future

What PPs said, check out their photo/videos and listings on rightmove, good photos are more important than ever these days (so, so many people will not view a house if it has bad pictures even if it has everything they are looking for at a reasonable price), and some even large/well known chains have shockingly bad quality adverts/pictures up... make sure also they have well-written, sufficiently detailed (but not over-detailed or gushy) advert wording, again a lot of people won't even bother to enquire if the ad doesn't mention, say, off-street parking and that's important to them, yes you can check and reword the ad yourself but since that's what you are paying the agent for you really want them to be on the ball with it.

Yes to good knowledge of the local area, state of the market, what sells well in your area, sensible advice on how to 'stage' it for sale.

I avoid like the plague anyone that puffs smoke up your arse about how wonderful, beautiful, incredible your house is and how they will definitely sell it in 2 weeks for £££ more than you were expecting, I far prefer them to be realistic and to give me options, an ambitious price that may take a while to sell, a low price for a quick sale and a middling estimate...

I would want photos to flow. So not moving around all over the house. They should show every room threse days and outside. Decent room info and about the locality. Age and size of house. Also friendly helpful staff and accurate pricing! There might be lots of boards but are any selling?

We overpriced last time. Had to drop. Agent had lots for sale but nothing sold at their prices. Just wastes time.

And I think it's totally sensible to take into account experiences you've had as a buyer with the agent into account, there are some around here I would never ever use as a seller because I know they have appalling customer service or because they will give buyers the hard sell, there's one round here that will stoop to actively lying to get buyers through the door to view, he swore blind to me a certain property was 10 minutes walk from the station, I knew full well (because surprise surprise I live here in the area already) the road was at least 1.5 miles from the station so unless you're Mo Farrah there's no way you're getting there in 10 minutes! They'll lie about things like flats having private garden space when it's communal or the house being fully refurbished when it's just had a slap of magnolia over the damp, stuff like that. So stupid because the lies become immediately obvious when you get there and it just makes them look idiotic but they continue to do it, I guess on the principle that any people through the door is better than none?

Photos! This is number 1 at the moment. We've just sold and good photos are more important now than ever. Also a floor plan and a good description really help potential buyers when it's so difficult to view in person. Have a good look at their other listings on Rightmove.
Ask friends and neighbours for their experiences, both as buyers and sellers. A bad experience as a buyer would definitely put me off using them to sell. After your experience today would you want to ring that agent back again now if another good property came on with them? I wouldn't and neither would your potential buyer.
Once you have a shortlist get a few to give you a valuation and ignore any who are massively over the others. It's too easy for buyers to see its overpriced so it just wastes everyone's time.

make sure you are bugging the agents continuously.

we are currently looking (with nothing to well, mortgage ready). we get ignored by most agents and have to continuously chase them!
which is so annoying. make sure they work for their commission!

that was meant to say nothing to sell

sorry i should add, good quality pictures of the property (including garden and or land) .
a virtual tour is a big plus
a good floorplan

Double check what fees they charge, including Vat, extra photos etc. Don't be afraid to negotiate, so if you think they are blowing smoke with high valuations, then tier the fee percentage so everyone wins if the higher price is found.

Also check how long your contract will be to market with them, if things don't work out you don't want to be twiddling your thumbs because you're tied in.

Basically their job is to sell property. If they do not sell, they do not get
any money. That is the bottom line. We have a large agency nearby
who sell a lot but the prices they achieve are not necessarily that good.