How to choose an estate agent to sell my property?

Hi all,

My question is really quite simple I am considering putting a property up for sale in the not too distant future and I'm wondering how best to decide on which estate agent to use?

What questions to ask them and is it worth haggling on the prices they charge etc.. in the current economic climate ??

I have a realistic expection as to the price the property should achieve but I still of course want to obtain the best possible price for the property.

Thanks in advance

do they take pics, some ea's don't seem to bother.

What questions to ask them

Click to expand...

Before they come to you, you should go to their offic and see how the place is kept, are properties well advertised etc, are the staff well mannered etc. then ask them some of the following questions when they come to your house.
1. What have you sold in the last 6 months?
2. What experience do you have with sales in your area/locality?
3. What service do you provide for the fee charged, look for examples of sales brochure, newspaper ads, and what signage is used.

Once you enquire about the fee, feel free to haggle, but be aware of what the going rate in your area is and I wouldn't use the current climate as a reason for a lower fee, if anything its a reason for a higher fee.

Ask for forthright opinions on your property and what it should sell at. Your gut feeling as to whether you are dealing with someone that is good at their job should kick in. They should be well presented, personable and (appear) honest.

don't let the fee be your guide to choosing an agent.

MrMan makes a lot of good points. Also ask friends/Colleagues for recommendations. Like all professions there are both good and bad agents out there. I saw a house on daft recently which i am interested in viewing - I emailed the agent earlier in the week and received no response. Yesterday I phoned them and was told someone would get back to me with a time to view but nobody has yet. Unbelievable in the current climate!

hi there,

MrMan has covered everything - I would ask the EA apart from internet advertising, what approach do the use to get people through the door in the current climate - are they proactive in this regard. Sticking up a sign and waiting for things to happen is not the norm any more.

There are a few previous threads on this which are worth a read:
Any tips on how to evaluate estate agents
How to choose an auctioneer
Which auctioneer to choose?

And an interesting one where a poster compared a few different agents:
Estate agent etiquette?

Thanks all, thats some great advice.

Another thing which I'd say is make sure that when you do choose one you could agree a time limit - some agents will have it hidden that you are not allowed to advertise your property with multiple agencies, which is fair enough, but you should tell them that if they haven't sold in 2 /3 months then you are not obliged to stick with them etc.

Ask them where will they advertise it for you, myhome.ie charges for advertising which the agent will pass on to you (around 150 I think) so it would be a good idea to make sure that they advertise on as many websites as possible.

Hi there

We have just old our hose in Essex( So maybe slightly different)
I spent ages trying to decide what estate agent to go with. At the end of the day I think they all do more or less the same thing.. Once they advertise on the main websites ie myhome/daft well then that should be sufficient.
In the end we decided to go with the estate agent that charged the least commision, and so glad we did as we got the asking price in the first week, and that was because the couple spotted our for sale sign.. so the state agents didnt have to do much!! We have saved ourselves afew grand as some estate agents fees were almost 3 times the percenage ours was!

Also check to see if they tie you into a contract for a certain length of time, they say avoid any estate agents that tie you in for longer than 8-10 weeks. Ours orginally said we had to stay with them for 12 weeks but I managed to get them down to 8.

Hope this helps

Jules

from an ex-auctioneer....

Yes go into the office as a mystery shopper and ask lots of questions about different properties. In my opinion the auct. dealing with the sale should be the one to give you all the info and deal directly with you. In most offices the receptionist will not have any incentive to sell the property it is merely a page on the wall. One reason for my early retirement it that agents are not proactive, the good times are over and it's hard slog from here on in.

Make sure the person you're dealing with is qualified and that you like them - you'll know in the first 30 seconds...

Good Luck