Advice for what estate agent to use in Fairview area?

Hi,

First post here so hope it's in the right place. Myself and my partner are thinking about putting our apartment on the market. It's situated in the Fairview area and I was wondering whether anyone had any advice as to what estate agent to use in that area or if anyone could recommend an estate agent that they found to be very good and of course vice versa.

Any help much appreciated,

Lappin estates seem very efficient....

Thanks aonfocaleile, I'm trying to build together a list of possibles and will definitely have a look at Lappin. I think the best way of getting an estate agent that you have confidence in is from word of mouth.

Hassled,

Just my tuppence worth - when i was selling my house so were several of my friends, i spoke to each of them and then asked three of the estate agents involved to come and value my house and sell themselves to me.

After that I went on gut instinct, the person I went with wasnt the cheapest to start with but subsequent negotiations lowered the percentage.

I ended up being very happy with my choice as two of my friends who initally had glowing reports about their EA's ended up having dreadful difficulty with them.

Thanks Helan72 definitely seems like a good idea, get the estate agents to audition, it could be like 'you're a star!' I suppose the idea about getting estate agents from word of mouth was so that we weren't going completely blind into it. The best idea would seem to be a mixture of both: use word of mouth and then interview several estate agents. Do you mind me asking, but what kind of problems did your friends encounter?

Sell it yourself and save thousands.

We thought about doing that all right but we decided that we were working too long hours and wouldn't be able to devote enough time to show the house.

I sold an apartment on the Crescent in Fairview around two-three years ago and used Sherry Fitz in Killester. Got me an excellent price and always updated me on how the sale was progressing.

Hassled,

One EA was very hands on for the first two weeks but when the property didnt sell as quickly as he had promised he seemed to loose interest very quickly, would't return calls etc., my friends eventually asked for a different person to deal with the sale and eventually got the house sold but only after a lot hassle on their part.

The other couple were swayed by talk of high prices, exclusive lists of people just dying to by their house and advertising blitzs, and went with the agent who promised them the sun moon and stars, several weeks later and very few viewings they asked the agent to drop the price (to a more realistic one IMO) and eventually they sold.

Both of these agents were recommened very highly to me by both couples and i got both to value my house along with another EA however after interviewing all three EAs and narrowing it down to two (one was a real flash git, ruled out within 5 mins.) was in a bit of a quandry as to who to pick. I went with the one I felt most comfortable with, seemed the most down to earth and truthful and I got lucky.

Good luck with whoever you choose.

Thanks for the advice Helan

The only thing I would say on this hassle is never choose an EA simply because they are cheaper than another one. You probably know this anyway. I know a person who when they moved home sold it with an EA who was around €2500 more than another they could've went with.

The reason they did this was because the impression they got from this EA, an impression they trusted to their advantage, was that he was a real pro, a hardcore negotiator if you like.

The price they ended up getting was far in excess of what they ever thought they would get and well worth the extra 2500. They also told me that they wouldn't like to be buying a house from this man if he was the EA on it!

I'm not an EA myself though i might sound like one but their offices are somewhere over in Tallaght I believe which probably isn't much use to you as they don't sell in your area.

All Im saying is be wary of low cost EA's.

Best of luck

Would have to agree dv8, there is always the temptation to go with the cheaper option but invariably you're goign to end up paying a much bigger price anyway. have taken all the advice on board so thanks very much, very helpful. Any other recommendations very welcome

I know you asked for recommendations and I may not be allowed write this (apologies in advance) but dont use remax. Bad experience with them first hand and second hand. Though it was a southside office I am not sure if they have an office in/near fairview. I have heard great reports about DNG.

Snorkmaiden thanks for the heads up, it's probably more important to know who not to use or who people have had bad experiences with, so cheers

By far the worst agents I've come across are GWD. They were hardly ever available to answer calls and rarely returned them. I'm not sure what the agents actually spend their time doing.

Property Team (Lappin) seemed very professional to me and even advised me not to sell for a year or so as the market was picking up in that area. They ended up being right.

I was house hunting in the Fairview/Marino/Beaumont area for the last 6 months so I have dealt with all the estate agents from a buyers perspective.I found Lappins to be professional,GWD can never be contacted ,you have to leave a message and they will get back to you which is frustrating when you just want an answer.We where in a few bidding wars with Sherry Fitz houses and the whole process was drawn out and very frustrating as well.We noticed SF houses where always dearer than similar houses with other estate agents so we suspect they promise the seller high prices to get the business.They seem to get a high price but I believe they charge a higher rate.
DNG are n't bad either.We ultimatly bought from Gunne and found them to be very professional.They also got a high price for the house we bought.(Another bidding war) which is what all sellers want.We also found them very helpful when we had the usual hassles with solicitors, surveyors , banks etc.
Remember the Estate Agent is the conduit between the buyer and the seller and I believe this is where a good Estate Agent is worth their money.They can help clear up misunderstandings cause 99% of the time you will never meet or know the venor/buyer.

I'll second the recommendations for Lappin Estates (Property Team) - good personal experience with them.

No personal experience of GWD but they surely must have the worst website in the world ( [broken link removed] )- which isn't a great sign

For what it's worth...

We were bidding on a house in Dublin3 which Lappin estate agents were selling. We had put a bid on the house and as far as we were concerned we had the highest bid. Unknown to us, higher bids came in without Lapping EA informing us. In my opinion, they weren't taking all of the bids seriously. Surely not the way to get the best price
.
I have dealt with Gunne in Fairview when we were thinking of selling our present house and I found them very efficient. I also found them the same when viewing houses and bidding on them. They kept us informed at all times, I felt.

One thing to remember, always negotiate a price. Don't just accept the % that they initially give you.

GWD are really bad - very rude and very ineffectual from my experience of trying to buy a house they have listed. If I ever come to sell, I'll not be putting it on with them.