What DO estate agents do for sellers?

[De88]

Instructed an estate agent, who started marketing our house to people on their list who were searching, but actually accepted an offer from someone who knocked on the door, before it had been advertised anywhere else.

We directed them to go via the agency because we wanted peace of mind and if they were to pull out, the agency would help us remarket and they'd also handle all queries and haggles etc.

But it turns out actually none of that was necessary. The basic communications that we asked them to do with our buyer, and chasing up the chain etc etc they assured us they would do has never been done, neither has informing us of properties coming up that meet our criteria as promised (from the vip list) -first we know about these is when they appear on rightmove as already sold. They're supposedly going to help us find a rental as absolute last resort as they are also few and far between.

So I've been on and told them politely about all the reasons we're not happy with them, and recall they didn't even find our buyer. Our sale is proceeding, very slowly. But it galls me we have to pay them, ugh. We paid extra for photos, video and floorplan and viewings ourselves.

So what are estate agents really supposed to do? Are they actually worth it?

Fuck all, to answer your question.

We're selling/buying at the moment. We had to completely re-write the advertising blurb due to spelling/grammar mistakes. Our agent took some photos when he first came to look at the place but said he'd come back at the end of the week to take proper photos for the advertising. He then didn't come until the Monday. I spent ages cleaning, arranging flowers, removing all traces of the cats, setting garden up etc etc, then the stupid twonk used the first lot of photos he'd taken with coffee mugs all over the kitchen, the cat tower and crappy sofa covers in full view etc....

The agent during initial discussions said they would do all viewings. Turns out by saying they would do all viewings actually means I will do all viewings .

Finally put proper photos on their website, but crap photos were put on Rightmove.

We're looking at a house today. We wanted to look at it on Saturday as it's about 2 hours drive from us but the agent advised as they are doing the viewings it was restricted to business hours only........

And for this stellar service our agents will get about £3.5K. Grrrrrr.

Oh, and there were several inaccuracies with the floor plan. I could go on. And probably will . It's no wonder estate agents have such a bad rep.

DM just bought and sold.
The estate she used for selling came and took photos, put the house on Right Move, did 1 of 5 viewings and failed to pass on a number of messages. They got £6K.
The solicitor addressed a few tricky legal issues, worked their socks off to beat the stamp
duty holiday and arranged for DM to stay in her “old house” until she could get a removals company. They get £2k!

I’m sure it depends on how long it takes to sell and how much help you need to keep the chain moving. As well as how good the estate agent is. I’ve been doing all the legwork for my mum selling and buying. First time (as chain fell through last minute) not only did they have to do a lot of viewings, the estate agents were fantastic at being the middle men pushing the other parties in the chain and the other solicitors. I must have been in the phone to them every other day poor things. They got the sale to exchange then the buyers pulled out, so they’ve had to sell it again for no extra money.

So either it’s the same % for everyone or alternatively they could bill you by the hour… you’ve lost out in terms of value for money, I’ve gained.

For this very reason I only ever use an online estate agent. Flat fee of £800. We sold all our properties really quickly, I think you’re paying for it to go onto rightmove really. Although relatives of ours sold privately (3 potential buyers) and it got hell of awkward talking money with multiple people - so I’m glad the EA takes this bit on. I’d hate it.

I've never paid extra for anything, nor ever done viewings myself.
The estate agents I usually work with (I used to flip properties), always did a fantastic job. Good photos, walk through videos, floor plan, brochure (the last not since covid though when most agents have stopped this), viewings always done at my convenience, always kept informed of feedback, viewers followed up, and happy to chase the chain if needed.
Yours were lucky you got a buyer without any effort, but that's the way it goes. I would think they could refund you some of the 'extras', but a contract is a contract. And unless you've employed them as a buyers agent (or a finders fee for a rental), then they aren't going to do much on that end. I've always found my projects myself, and even when I was a cash buyer actively looking and registered I rarely got a call from an agent. That's just not how it seems to work here.

A good estate agent is worth their weight in gold when buyers and onward sellers etc start getting a bit twitchy. Photos, listings, viewings, dealing with offers etc are only a part of it - keeping a chain together and getting the sale over the line are the real incentive.

There are bad and there are good estate agents, like any other service in life. I'm fairly lucky mine have been really good.

Mine did loads - they did amazing photos, floor plan and video walkthrough at no extra cost, then they found buyers who offered exactly what I wanted before it was even listed. They were involved in smoothing the whole sale process and they even negotiated my onward purchase on my behalf (not one on their books)

I guess there are good and bad agents, I got a good one.

I wasn't happy with my EA during the selling process. The selling agent was clearly disinterested and made no effort to sell my house. In addition, every feedback from 12+ viewers was that the bedrooms were smaller than expected - which I kept pointing out to the EA was clearly an issue with the listing/floorplan. They made me feel like I was being demanding by asking them to confirm to any potential viewers that they knew two of the bedrooms were single bedrooms only!

However, once we sold the house and moved to a different staff member, they've been really good at progressing the move. They've been responsible for liaising between all the various solicitors/buyers/vendors and keeping people happy, and making sure everyone was updated with everything regarding the chain at every stage.

In comparison, my vendors are using Purple Bricks, who have been utterly dreadful. For example, we pointed out to PB that the move had to complete before a certain date because our buyers' mortgage was due to expire - they didn't bother doing anything with that information at all. They didn't tell their client (the vendor), the vendor's solicitor or the vendor's developer (they are buying a new build). They've been a nightmare to deal with, and because of their lack of interest, our chain almost derailed three times and was only saved by my EA, making sure everyone knew what was going on.

From my experience, the EA should communicate more about how they use post-sales support to help ensure that a sale actually happens rather than just facilitating a listing on Rightmove.

@readytosell - yes. If you've ever been in a private sale chain you really realise the value of a good agent. Dealing with buyers/sellers directly can be horrible. Everyone is emotional, some people are borderline unhinged. All the work to hold the chain was on us. We swore we'd never do it again and the agent's fee is well worth it.

@De88 it sounds like your agents are just a bit crap. Ours has been very proactive, shows us everything before it goes online, chases up our buyer's slow solicitor. If your agent is not actually doing the job then there are complaints procedures you can use to get compensation (or a discount from the fee). Whether it's worth antagonising them at this stage is another question...

My agent was amazing when I sold my house a couple of years ago - they were agents for three of the four houses in the chain so maybe easier but certainly went above and beyond what I was expecting. They were able to chase buyers buyers solicitors which we couldn't do and generally kept on top of everything to ensure everything went smoothly.

i do realise we were very lucky with this lady!

Put a board up, do the online ad and book the appointments! That's about it. Sold quite a few houses and never had one come and do a viewing. Mostly they'd ring with an hours notice of someone 'really keen' who then actually turned out to either, not arrive at all, or state that they'd only come because the agent suggested they do as they were viewing another in the area.

Mine have been great. Did all the viewings, didn’t even tell us when we got a lower offer and had negotiated asking price when they eventually told us. They’ve ensured our buyers have been progressing with their side and been a middle man for our solicitors lack of communication. I’ve been doing a lot of things to move it along as we wanted to have it all done quick but they’ve been on hand helping anytime I’ve needed it.

OK now we knew our agents were shite, but reading your replies confirms they're a lot further shite than we thought they were!

I've got mixed feelings towards the ones we used: listing looked great but we told the price was way too high, they told us they're the experts and don't worry. 6 weeks later the price is down to the level we told them to initially list at. Then got an offer, chain is building, ends up with 7 properties. Our buyers drop out and agent has someone to replace them the following day. But when it came to the push to get it all done they were hopeless, we kept having to prompt them to do certain things.

But the agent we were buying through was amazing. If it wasn't for him the chain would never have completed and would have fallen apart on 30th June. He had the whole chain informed, chased everything that needed to be chased, and generally made sure everyone was on the same page. He deserved the 10k fees, not the agent we ended up paying

Not a lot. Anyone can put on a suit and call themselves an EA. They are not even qualified like EAs are in the USA. It really amuses me when EAs talk the talk like they are experts. They have almost 0 technical expertise in any subject. The funniest is when they appear on shows like Homes under the Hammer walking around touching doors and surfaces as though they are building experts. Anyone can look at Rightome sold prices in your area and come up with a guess on valuing a house.
The most valuable thing you get is a rightmove listing by going with an EA. Houses sell themselves as long as they are not overpriced.

Our EA's were rubbish, they lied - told us things like they had a professional photographer to take the photos, he wasn't he was just the guy who measured up and wasn't particularly good at pictures. They tried to get us to sign a contract that said we had to pay if we pulled out at any point even if there hadn't been an offer (we made them change it). Then we agreed on a cover picture as there were two possibilities but one cut off the top of the house and it looked weird. Then we get the brochure and they've put the weird pic on it. They say they'll change it but never send us the changed brochure. Then after two weeks on the market they recommended we drop the price by £25,000. We pulled out of the whole thing (lucky we changed the contract) and the branch closed down a few weeks later.

I think it depends. When we were selling our last house it was super straightforward - no chain, bog-standard 3-bed terrace in reasonable condition, no particular rush to sell etc we used purple bricks and didn’t feel the need for more in-depth estate agenting.

Selling a probate property that was high value but in need of a complete refurb we went with a local estate agent who was great - knew the market really well, advised on how best to present the property, had a list of possible buyers, did all the viewings and generally represented our interests well. But that house took a lot of selling so we were happy to pay someone to take the lead.

Sadly, very similar to our experiences of estate agents. Not just recently either.

It was 25 years ago when we first starting looking to buy our first home together. We trawled all the local estate agents, we got our details put on their so-called "hot" lists as we were first time buyers, mortgage in place, ready to move, etc (in fact desperate to move as our wedding was just a few months away). They all promised to send us leaflets for new houses on their books as they came on. Weeks past, nothing, months past, nothing. We never, ever, got a single leaflet from being on their "hot" lists. We continued to drive round our preferred areas to look for "for sale" signs being put up. Finally found one ourselves, with an EA that we'd pestered for months, but they never contacted us - it was our preferred area, preferred type, preferred price, etc but still they didn't let us know.

In later years, we've had to sell my deceased mother's house and tried to sell our house. Both times, the EAs were completely and utterly useless. Leaflets/listings full of errors, bad grammar, crap photos, etc. We constantly had to chase them for progress reports, updates, feedback etc. I don't think there was a single time that either of the firms proactively contacted us to give us any informations/updates.

Basically, a complete waste of space. When we come to sell our house, we're doing it ourselves. There's nothing an EA can do that we can't.

Most do nothing! Our last ones were much more proactive but I wrote the lines for the advert, paid for professional photos and did most of the viewings.

My most recent move would not have happened without the negotiating skills and sheer tenacity of our vendors’ agent. Our own online agent was missing in action once we’d received one (too low) offer on ours. I will never use an online agent again.

Ours was worth their weight in gold.

He did absolutely everything, and worked free of charge as a buying agent and advisor for bidding. He even offered to come and view some of our prospective properties to help us bid correctly - all free of charge.

He was a gem.

I did spend a long time speaking to agents before we marketed. And he popped out as being amicable, going the extra mile - even as a non proceedable buyer - and so we chose him. Didnt even get another quote.

IMO In a hot market (as it has been recently in most of the country) the estate agent does sweet FA & you should just use any online agent; whoever is cheapest & gets your house listed on Rightmove.

In more normal times it may be more worthwhile employing a specific agent who has knowledge of the area & is willing to put actual effort in to keep the sale on track, but even then considering average fees it's borderline whether it's worth it.

Absolute fuck all in my case. The first EA we had got us viewings and we wouldn’t get feedback. The second EA didn’t get us any viewings until dh complained. They put the house on Rightmove where everyone looks. It’s a shame I can’t put my house on it myself and skip the middleman so to speak.