If you decide to sell your home, you are most likely daunted by the prospect of what to do next and what Estate Agent you should be instructing. This blog post gives you a guide on what to look out for when instructing an Estate Agent to ensure you are informed and make the best decision possible of choosing your agent.
Before hiring an estate agent, do your due diligence and find out who is the best fit, you’ll notice agreeing on a fee is the last step. Follow these five simple steps:
1) Consider the Estate Agent experience and how do they rank against their competitors in the area
Ask the agent how they rank against other agents on the number of sales and instructions over the past 3-6 months. The majority of Estate Agents have access to sales and instruction data of their competitors from Rightmove, this comparison will help you understand who is hot and who is not in terms of selling homes they have on the market – this is not ‘public’ information but it’s information you can ask the agent to provide before making a decision to instruct them.
Realistically, Estate Agents are businesses and can go through peaks and troughs like any business. Therefore when instructing an agent to sell your home, you want to ensure that agent is performing against its competitors on numbers of sales and most importantly completions.
If an agent is performing they’ll be very quick to highlight they are the best performing agent in the area.
2) Compare the agents services
Before instructing the agent check out how they plan to manage potential buyers and what additional services can they offer to help streamline your sales process.
- Viewings – are these attended by the estate agent or are you showing potential buyers round yourself?
- Third party services – do they support sales progression? Ie. managing the sales process for you and chasing solicitors etc. Do they have their own recommended solicitors that know the area? This can ensure the sale is connected between Estate Agent and Solicitors all aiming for the same goal
- Managing potential buyers – are the offers financially vetted? Ie. do they ensure the customer has been financially qualified by a Mortgage Adviser is taking a mortgage. This is important as most customers can obtain an Agreement in Principle (AIP) but putting income etc. into a lender basic system but has had a plausibility check that this won’t fall down when a Full Mortgage Application is submitted.
3) Where is the property being marketed
Often Estate Agents have access to a variety of marketing:
- Online Sites such as: RightMove, OnTheMarket, Zoopla etc.
- Local Advertising: Local newspaper, shop window front, Exhibitions in the local town etc.
- Marketing Database: potential buyers for your property type already looking for a property fo your type
Make sure you check what exposure your property has, the more exposure you have means more people interested in your property and the better chance of securing the highest price for your home.
4) What are the terms and small print
Understand their terms and conditions before you sign anything. This includes how long the contract is for, what is the exclusivity and whether there is any penalty for ending it early.
5) Compare the agent selling Fees
Lastly, once you have established the Steps 1 to 4 and have a shortlist of the potential agents – at this point and only at this point it’s time to negotiate the fee. There is no point creating a race to the bottom for the lowest fee, remember selling a house has to be in everyone’s benefit (yes the estate agent) therefore a price and fee that is competitive for both buyer and estate agent means they have a vested interest in selling your property at the highest price. Without establishing steps 1-4 prior to agreeing a fee, you could end up with the cheapest estate agent but an agent that doesn’t provide the service you want or expect.
In addition to the above, working with an agent you can trust especially when they are entering your home and qualifying potential buyers – it’s not all about the race to the bottom for the lowest estate agent fee, don’t miss the chance of securing the highest price for your home – you’ll kick yourself!
Follow these simple steps and you’ll secure the right agent that is suitable for you.