When it comes to moving home, if you need to sell or let your existing home first, nothing affects your chances of moving more than your choice of agent. So, how to choose the right estate agent for you?
What agents do is time-consuming, complicated, and difficult. Most of all, they can only do their job well if you work with them.
That’s why every failed move starts with the wrong choice of agent. Don’t make that mistake.
Follow our 4 golden rules on how to choose an estate agent and use our free tool ‘Find your agent’ to shortlist local agents and you’ll be off to a much better start.
Find your agent
Rule 1: Consider every available agent, don’t just ‘pick 3’.
It’s essential to comb through all the agencies so that you don’t miss out on that one outstanding individual, who could be working at any agency, large or small. It’s this person you need to find, because they are the one that will get you a great price in a short time, meaning you are free to move on to your next home, with more money in your pocket than you expected, before someone else gets it. That’s life changing.
Rule 2: Choose the person, not the brand.
Things usually get difficult in a property transaction. With so many different parties and factors involved, the best way to avoid your sale collapsing is by finding someone you trust. This person genuinely cares about your move, and has the skills, experience and professionalism to juggle all the people involved. They will hold it together to get your move over the line. Just when it looks like it’s all going to fall through the best agent will save it. Agents that can do that are literally heroes, but they will need to have a close working relationship with you. Always remember that’s something that only a person can do; not a computer, a brand, a brochure or a market data report. Those things don’t move people, people do.
Rule 3: Always trust your gut feel, follow your instincts.
Many agencies, especially corporates with large marketing departments, can present dazzling sales pitches. These include glossy brochures, iPad presentations, local market data reports and sparkling marketing gimmicks. These are impressive and may well be a factor in your decision. However, remember that none of these things will help you when the going gets tough. If you choose an agent, it should only be because you trust the human being sitting in front of you, no matter how impressive the sales pitch.
Rule 4: Motivate the person you choose, pay the fee they ask.
Don’t haggle on fee, it’s demoralising. The last thing you want to do at the beginning of the most important relationship in your move is to demotivate your agent. They have a truly difficult job. Find the person you trust who gives you confidence that they really know their stuff. Then you are in with a great chance of getting a better price for your property in a shorter time than if you chose the wrong agent. In this scenario, haggling on the fee is a counter-productive false economy. They will make you far more money if they are properly motivated. Then their fee will become irrelevant. Anything under 2% plus vat is a bargain if you find the agent who gets you a great price and moved into your new home, when other agents might not.
Nobody wants to have to trawl through dozens of agents one at a time, which is why we built Find Your Agent. If you like the sound of the advice above and would like to get video introductions from all the local agents who want your business. register with Find Your Agent and let us do the rest.
Find your agent