How to pick the right estate agent to sell your property & which ones to avoid

 

With such a broad choice of estate agencies out there to choose from, where do you start?

Online or High Street?

I’ll keep this short, DON’T use an online agent or one of those that charge a lower fee which is all upfront.

 

Real experience

I’m not saying that there aren’t some hard working estate agents out there; with good intentions, but most estate agents don’t even own their own home, let alone bought and sold investment properties. It’s very difficult for an estate agent to truly understand the needs and concerns of a homeowner or a landlord if they’ve never been through the process themselves.

 

Operating in sales and lettings

Many sales agents aren’t privy to the massive amounts of legislation surrounding the lettings industry, which makes it a risky business to instruct an agent that doesn’t also operate in lettings. Some firms do both, but you need to make sure that the person you’re dealing with is active and well versed in both sales and lettings on a regular basis.

 

Office location

Selecting the right selling agent for the job is crucial and don’t pick an agent based on their office location. This used to be important, but in this digital era, circa 98% of house sales now come from an online enquiry, via Rightmove or Zoopla for example. Therefore, it is much more important to find the best agent, not where the agent is located.

 

Lower fee upfront or a higher “no sale no fee”?

I suggest that you avoid the new hybrid agent model with their headline cheap fees. This business model has been designed to suit the business and not the customer. Although the sales fee is lower, you have to pay it all upfront, whether they sell your property or not. It has been proven many times over that this option will cost you more overall because of the ubiquitous lower sale price that this type of agent is achieving. They spend most of their time trying to find new people that want to sell instead of trying to sell your property, which is understandable, given the way the business model has been established. There is no financial incentive for them to try and sell your property or to assist the solicitors with the sales progression. Average statistics have proven that selling through this type of agent will not enable you to maximise your sale price, it will take you longer to sell and it will increase the chances of your buyer pulling out.

Here are some recent statistics that show how the average UK estate agent has been performing…

31.6% of property is reduced in price by an average of £25,000 before it’s sold.

The average property takes 91 days to find a buyer.

26%  of sales are falling through because the deals are not progressing forward quick enough.

 

I’m pleased to say that Embarq’s statistics make far better reading than the industry average (above). This is because we have a very broad knowledge on compliance, financial aspects and being market strategists as well as estate agents, we know exactly how to maximise the market place for each individual property.

 

You must not underestimate the importance of finding the right estate agent for the job. Quibbling over the difference in fees could cost you tens of thousands of pounds. Aside from all of the aspects mentioned in this guide, just the negotiation skills of an agent will have a huge bearing on the final price that’s agreed. Without blowing one’s trumpet, I have won numerous awards for negotiation, and other estate agency related topics, which I have taught to my incredible team at EMBARQ. My guys follow a rigid process that enables us to consistently achieve the best possible price for our clients. We more often than not negotiate the asking price and in many instances, even higher.

 

If you require a FREE market appraisal to find out what your property is worth for sale or for let, please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

 

Gina Jo Giles (formally Gina Jo Parry)