How To Choose The Right Estate Agent For Your House Sale
When it comes to selling your home, you need to make sure that you have the right estate agent. There are many different companies around all competing for your business, so it is important to make sure you are comfortable with who you have representing you. Our tips and tricks will help you pick the perfect agent for you.
1. Ask for recommendations
Of course, the most obvious trick is to ask everyone you know who they would recommend. You want to know which friends have moved recently and who they used. Make sure you find out if there were any issues. The other thing you can do is have a look around the area or online and see which estate agents are getting a lot of business. Online reviews from real customers can be a big help in swaying your decision.
2. Check industry credentials
All estate agents are required to be members of the Property Ombudsman so make sure that yours is. Many will also be members of various trade bodies. Memberships of these will mean that the estate agent has to follow a code of conduct. This likely implies that they will have higher standard of professionalism and diligence and therefore are going to be better for you.
3. Go undercover
One trick you can use is to go into an estate agency and pretend to be looking to buy a property like yours. You can then evaluate how they treat you. Are they showing the property in the best light? Would you buy your property from them? This will give you a realistic idea of whether they are going to be able to sell your house easily.
4. Have a list of questions
You want to make sure that you ask the estate agents certain questions- things like, if you go for a sole-agency contract what is the tie in period and how much do they charge? How will they advertise your property? Who will handle the viewings? How long has the estate agent been established and what is their level of experience.
5. How does the Estate Agent protect you as a seller?
When selling your property- an unfortunate part of the process in England is that a buyer is within their legal right to withdraw from a transaction at anytime up until the point of exchange of contracts. Not only can this be financially damaging to you as a seller, but it can also in many cases cause you to lose your onward purchase should you be buying on. How does the agent prevent this from happening? Do they protect you as a seller in anyway from financial risk? How well do they vet their purchasers and what is their process? Does the estate agent take holding deposits? All of this information is vital to help you make a decision on instructing an estate agent to handle your move.
Feel free to contact me on 01582 280818 should you wish to discuss any of the above in further detail or if you would like me to visit you to provide a valuation of your home.