Which estate agent?

[herebehippos]

Wise mumsnetters, help me choose an estate agent!
House is a 4 bed detached in a village outside bristol.
Two estate agents

1. Market for 450k and expect to sell in less than a month for that price. Could go on at 470k but would take longer and end up at 450k anyway. Has sold 2 houses nearby, (one on same street) in last 3 months for similar prices.
2. Market for 469950 and expect to sell for 465. Thinks 450 is very under valued even for a quick sale. Has sold one house on same street in last 3 months for 475, marketed at 485.

Both are zero week tie in and 1% fee agencies. Both familiar with the house as they marketed it when we brought it. They are the 1 and 2 agencies for sales locally.

2

On the face of it, 2, but….

How long does 2 expect it to take?

Are you in a mad rush to sell?

Have you looked at the houses on your street that recently sold to see which price point looks right for your house?

Agent 1.

In my opinion saying £465k is right and £450 is 'very undervalued' is pretending that valuation is a fine art when it really is a finger in the air job. Bit of an amber flag for me.

But zero week tie in is a good sign for both.

There’s no easy answer without seeing details of all the houses.

I would be looking at the houses most similar to mine and what they actually sold for.

The one that sold for 475k ( marketed at 485k) is presumably better than yours in some way or the EA would have suggested you market it at 485k too?

Go for the second one if they think they can get you more money for it.

Remember you can always reduce the price, but not increase it.

The one that's on at 485 and sold for 475 has a double garage and bigger bedrooms, but a worse garden and ground floor and is at the less nice end of the road- estate agent was honest that they hadn't thought it would achieve 475 and that the local market has dropped slightly since

None of the houses are that similar to ours- there are a lot of similar but different houses on the street and local area.

The double garage is pretty unusual locally so is probably why.

Are you able to negotiate on the fee with either agency? Tell them you'll pay 1% if they sell within 4 weeks, then it drops to 0.9% if they sell between 1-3 months, etc.

It doesn't sound like your house is likely to sell for 475 or even 470k based on that information. On the same road, houses will normally sell for a bit more or a bit less based on their square footage. It sounds like that house is bigger than yours.

I would list with EA 1 as I think they are being more honest about what you are likely to achieve. If you are worried they are under valuing it you could always ask to list it at 460k. But listing at 450k would attract more interest due to Rightmove bandings. And if you get more than one interested person, the price could go higher than 450k anyway.

No it's actually smaller than ours- the bedrooms are only very slightly bigger but the ground floor is much smaller. We are probably going with 2 as they are selling the house we would like to buy (just viewed this morning)

I'd pick the agent you like most (pleasant manner, efficient, recommended by neighbours etc) and tell them what price you want the house put on at. They can only make suggestions, they don't 'know' what it will sell for.

Ah! In that case I would go with 2 in case it helps slightly that they are selling the house you want to buy.

By way of an update we went with agent 2 and sold within 7 days for 460. Had our offer accepted on the onward purchase same day!

Congratulations @herebehippos

Further update- we exchanged today! 10 weeks from when we sold and less than 11 from when we went on the market!