Which estate agent for big house in cheap area?

[tryingtomoveout]

We live in "the big house" in the local area - there aren't many nearby with the size of ours or with its features/spec. Most houses sell for £450-650k round here, but having looked at the competition over the last 6 months, we think £750k is reasonable (I'd be so happy and grateful at that number, but it does seem about right).

2 miles up the road in either way, you'd have to add £700k or even £1m to get this kind of house, so the estate agents might be able to push people with more money our way.

Any tips on choosing an estate agent in this scenario? Is it better to use a local estate agent or go to the posher ones?

I’d say the posher one but you might find that buyers don’t agree with your estimate of the house’s value. Start by getting three EAs round and see what they give as an asking price.

Is it likely to sell to locals or people who may view the area and the house differently? When we moved from London to rural Scotland, we were the people buying the “big house” in the village, but we didn’t consider ourselves posh or buying something very fancy, we just had money from selling an ordinary London flat worth the same, even if the sellers might have thought of their house as a cut above the rest. We found the local estate agent who could give us information about the area and knew the market well more helpful than I imagine we would have an agent trying to market a wealthy lifestyle.

450-650k is a cheap area? 😄

@hoomans Outer bit of London - everyone's mortgaged to the hilt!

@ComtesseDeSpair - similar position to us. We had a flat in a more expensive area and feel very lucky. I think potential buyers might be like us - started looking up the road then found this gem which gave us so much space.

Get 3-5 estate agents round to value yours. Have a mix of local and posher ones. They normally bring with them examples of similar properties they have sold recently and at what price. And they'll talk you through their approach.

Have three to five estate agents value the house. A mix is best. They usually have examples of recent properties that were sold at different prices. And they can give you information on their selling approach and so on.

In these days of rightmove does it make much difference?

I suppose maybe there could be buyers registered with the ‘posh’ agents who have limited their search area so might not see it on rightmove but could be nudged towards it… So maybe by that logic a posh agent. But I would just get a few round and see who has a good rep/who charges lowest commission and who you get a good feel about.

"The big house" selling on my new road is being marketed by a local one branch EA, rather than one of the chains. This EA seems to secure the mandate for a lot of the local big houses, although they sell a range of properties. Interestingly, the big house is being marketed at around £1m more than the one I'm buying, so it really is a big house (mine is 3 bed and 1,200sqft).

But you're not in a cheap area.