There are lots of estate agents out there, but choosing the right one is often a difficult task. With plenty of smooth talkers offering quick sales and low fees, it’s best to do your research before you choose an estate agent to sell your house.
In this guide, we’ll help you understand how to choose an estate agent in the UK. We’ll also examine some of the best qualities to look out for, what to avoid, and some tips on how to make the decision a simple one.
Qualities to Look for When Choosing an Estate Agent
The first thing to remember is that estate agents work for you and should be doing their job with your best interests in mind. Because of this, initial conversations should make you feel confident that they’re trustworthy and capable of selling your home. If you come away feeling negative or unconvinced, then they probably aren’t the right fit.
Some of the core qualities estate agents should have include the following:
- An understanding of the local housing market.
- Experience selling similar properties to yours.
- A large contact list of potential buyers.
- Knowledge of the wider housing market and how to sell a house.
- Honesty.
- If you feel your agent doesn’t have any of the above, it could be a sign to look elsewhere.
How to Choose an Estate Agents – Top Tips
Here are our top tips on how to find the best estate agents to sell your property.
Read Reviews
The internet is a treasure trove of reviews and it’s fairly easy to identify a bad estate agent if you do some research. Trustpilot is a reliable source of information for reviewing estate agents and you can hear first-hand from previous customers about the service they received.
Google Reviews are also trustworthy when researching estate agents, but since reviews aren’t verified, watch out for discrepancies between Google and other review platforms.
Ask Around
The internet can be misleading, so as well as seeking digital reviews, ask people who’ve previously sold a house with your prospective estate agent. If you’re using a local estate agent, chances are you’ll know somebody who has experience with them in some form. If not, somebody you know will likely know someone who’s sold a house or tried to in the past.
Finding out how they’ve dealt with house sales before yours can give you an idea about their capabilities.
Ask Them Lots of Questions
Selling a property can be incredibly complex so don’t be afraid to ask lots of questions to your potential estate agent.
Examples of questions to ask include:
- How will the property be advertised?
- What is your commission charge?
- Are there any other costs?
- Have you recently sold other properties in the area?
- Do you have a tie-in period?
- Who will be conducting house viewings?
- Will the viewings take place on evenings and weekends?
You can also use the above list of questions as a base for any further queries that relate specifically to your property. Remember, estate agents work for you and are there to do a professional job, so don’t be shy when asking questions.
Shop Around to Find the Best Fit
Before you commit, invite various estate agents to your property to conduct a valuation. Not only will this help you arrive at a realistic asking price, but it’ll help you understand how each estate agent behaves and who seems to be the most honest.
If one estate agent offers a wildly high or low valuation, for example, this can be a huge red flag, but we’ll explore this later in the guide.
Make Sure the Estate Agent Has Sold Similar Properties
Estate agents who have sold thousands of homes may sound great on paper, but this isn’t always the case. For example, they might only have experience selling properties that are nothing like yours, whether they’re much smaller or much larger, which can be problematic.
If you’ve found that they don’t have a track record of selling properties like the one you’re trying to sell, they probably aren’t the right fit for the job at hand. So, don’t go off their stories of previous successes and instead, ask about their history and examples of similar sales to the one you’re trying to achieve.
Ensure Their Property Valuation is Accurate
Of course, if an estate agent puts your property up for a much lower price than you hoped for, without a basis for doing so, alarm bells should be ringing.
However, according to Which, overvaluing properties can be incredibly damaging to the speed of your sale and on average, properties that have been valued too highly take an extra 64 days to sell.
Valuations are a crucial area of selling any property and as you can see, overvaluing can be just as detrimental as undervaluing a house.
The Services a Good Estate Agent Should Offer
A trustworthy estate agent should offer a range of services to suit your selling requirements.
At Chancellors, we provide everything from bespoke valuations to ads on the major portals and 40+ additional websites. We also have access to a massive in-house database of buyers, as well as social media marketing tools, and 24/7 bookings with live viewings available.
Throw in weekly marketing updates, viewing feedback provided within 24 hours, and a specialist sales progression team that guides you from offer to completion, and you have a recipe for a reliable service when you sell your home with Chancellors.
Red Flags to Look out for From Your Estate Agent
Selling a property can be difficult for many reasons and having an estate agent who isn’t up to the task is one of the most common. Here are some of the most common issues to look out for when choosing an estate agent:
Disinterested Agents
The first red flag to look out for from your estate agent is if they don’t seem interested in your home and don’t have any enthusiasm about selling it.
This can become apparent within the first few minutes of a conversation from the way they talk about the property, but it can also be clear if it isn’t selling as quickly as you’d hoped or if you aren’t receiving any updates.
Both of these should be cause for concern because they can lead to delays when selling your house. Don’t overreact and accuse your estate agent of neglecting your sale, however, and give them a chance to prove themselves before seeking alternatives.
Incorrect or Not Updated Property Details
Your online listings should never be out of date on any portal, and if they are, it should raise alarm bells. Failure to update listings will confuse and deter potential buyers so make sure your estate agent is on top of these things, and if they fail to act, it could be time to look elsewhere.
Not Having a Designated Staff Member
Have you found yourself constantly calling the general office phone number or getting replies from different people? This is a common problem with difficult estate agents and frustrating if you’re trying to sell a property.
Of course, different stages of the property selling process require different skill sets and people, but you should have a specific member of staff who’s available to answer your questions. A single point of contact gives you peace of mind and it also makes your agent more accountable, which increases the chances of achieving a sale you’re happy with.
Poor Communication
Having phone calls or emails ignored makes most sellers feel uneasy and could be a sign of something wrong with the estate agent you’re dealing with. So, if communication begins to break down and you receive fewer updates than you’d like, then it could be time to find another estate agent.
Don’t go all guns blazing with demands about replies, though, but set out your expectations early. If you’re reasonable in your requests and they continue to ignore you or don’t communicate effectively, reconsider your position.
Is it Better to Have More Than One Estate Agents?
Some people choose to hire more than one estate agent to sell their property, which divides the workload and means that multiple companies are doing the marketing. However, while this might sound appealing to some, you’ll often pay more fees than using a single agency.
It also complicates the house-selling process and makes things difficult to keep track of. Not only can this give you more of a headache than you need from an already stressful process, but it can slow down the sale of your home because you’re dealing with so many different people.
Because of these reasons, choosing one trusted estate agent is the most popular option for sellers and most of the time, the most successful.
Should I Consider Online Estate Agents?
When you’re researching the perfect estate agent, you might find that online agents are cheaper than high street alternatives.
However, unlike your conventional, local estate agent, online agency fees are usually fixed and non-negotiable whether the property sells, or it doesn’t. This gives these agents less of an incentive to sell your property and could mean you struggle to receive any offers.
Unlike a reputable estate agent in your area, online estate agents also won’t know your local property market, which again doesn’t bode well for your house sale. They’re likely to have more clients on their books, too, which means they can’t give you the support you need. Communication can be unpredictable and time-consuming, too.
Online estate agents might also charge more for services local estate agents include as standard, such as hosted viewings, marketing materials, and photos. That’s why it’s generally advised to use a local estate agent with a strong reputation for selling similar properties to yours.
Final Thoughts on How to Choose an Estate Agent
Selling a property doesn’t have to be a complicated, drawn-out process. By doing your research and finding an estate agent who understands the local market and how to sell similar properties, as well as an enthusiasm to sell yours, you can achieve a house sale you’re happy with.
At Chancellors, we have a team of highly trusted and professional estate agents providing a range of quality selling services. On top of achieving 98% of the agreed asking price at the time of offer in 2023, we also have 150,000 potential buyers on our site, access to industry-leading sales and marketing teams, and the tools and expertise to sell your property.
Offering house-selling services in Berkshire, Surrey, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire, London, Herefordshire/Mid Wales, Wiltshire, Hampshire, and Worcestershire, get in touch with Chancellors, one of the UK’s largest independent estate agents, today.
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Why is My House Not Selling?
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What Brings Down the Value of a House?
The value of your house can be affected by many factors. Some are out of your control, but you can tackle most of them yourself and achieve a property sale you’re happy with. In this guide, we’ll provide helpful information around what brings down the value of a house. We’ll also explain how to solve some of the most common issues so you can move on to the next stage of your life in a home you’re happier with.
How to Prepare Your House for Selling
If you’re preparing a house for sale, there are lots of ways to attract interest from buyers and ultimately, command a higher asking price. Find out our top tips to help you prepare a house for sale, to help you boost the appeal of your home and achieve the best price possible.