which estate agent to choose?

[goodwillhousehunting]

I've had 3 agents round to value, all valued pretty much the same. Which one would you choose?

Agent A - Small franchisee, only two of them but have a head office back room functions. Recently sold a property for a friend. Very proactive, friends buyer was a bit wobbly and agent guided it through expertly. No minimum period contract. Popular agent but worry they won't have time to devote to selling my property if too busy, and I have no desire to do viewings myself.

Agent B - Big chain, agent probably one I had most rapport with on a personal level, sells a lot of properties like mine nearby. Standard contract is really long time (16 weeks!) and highest fees, but could of course be negotiated down. Wanted to charge extra for photos and floorplans but they have "an offer" for these free currently. However, lots of contact already after and feels quite pushy.

Agent C - Local area chain, sells a lot of properties in the area. Agent was professional and relaxed. Lowest fees as I bought this place previously with them as the agent so see it as ongoing relationship. Neighbour up the road sold with them recently and wasn't very impressed however!

So which do you think you would probably go with?

If you look at their listings online, do any of them have significantly better or worse photos?

Without the comment about your neighbour, I was erring towards C - what didn't your neighbour like about them?

Suspect if B feels a bit pushy now, they'll be unbearable fairly soon!

How difficult (do you think) your property will be to sell? Does it have wide appeal or a niche market? Which of the agents has most 'potential buyers' on their books?

Have been 'conned' before by believing the patter of an agent I got on with on a personal level on the limit meeting time pre signing up. Go with the most professional whether you like them or not, lol!

When we got the same agents in to re-sell a property we'd lived in for a few years they were hung up on how much we'd paid for it - didn't believe it could be worth what we eventually sold it for with another agent.

I'd look at their websites and property descriptions/pictures plus who they also advertise with. If your property is easy to sell you want to be sure you're getting the best deal, not just an easy sale. But also you want to know they'll be able to deal with 'problems'.

I'd give Agent A a go, if there's 'no sale no fee' and no contract length then it's up to them to put the effort in. But I don't know how bothered a buyer would be by buying from a small agency - do buyers still get 'mortgage advice' from the agency?

A for me.

C for me. If they sell a lot of properties in the area and sold the house to you then they should be able to sell it to someone else! Lowest fees and professional sounds good. To be honest, if it’s anything like round here at the moment, properties are selling really quickly so if you price it right you shouldn’t have any problems whoever you go with.

Thanks for all the replies.

@GU24Mum I completely agree about agent B, they've called again today ! So I think they are out now.

I'm not sure if my neighbour was just complaning generally about how long things were taking and how much chasing he had to do, but then he could just have been complaining unnecessarily given how crazy things have been. He has never struck me as someone unreasonable, but then you can never know truly what someone tells you is 100 per cent.

The market here is hot, properties like mine get snapped up very quickly - they could both show this, but also I've been keeping a keen eye as well recently.

I should have said Agent C only has minimum contract of 5 weeks as well, which I think is pretty reasonable. Both Agent A and C have decent listings that I've seen in terms of photos and video tour, not much difference.

I think I'm leaning towards Agent C as well, given they are well known and have sold a lot of properties, they have a lot of people already registered looking for suitable properties.

I'd go with C, but maybe chat with your neighbour about what the issue was exactly.

We've just gone with the agent who sold our house to us; house went on the market today, and they've already lined up 10 viewings over the next 2 days! If they could sell to you, they could sell to someone else. I'd go with Agent C.

Thank you all, I am going for Agent C.

Given their contract is only 5 weeks, if they aren't great I then will move to Agent A.