Estate agents are a necessary part of the property market and there are a lot of them out there. It is important that you choose the right one when selling or letting out your property. Anyone can set themselves up as an estate agent, so even if an agency appears to have all the trappings – flashy offices, headed notepaper, website – they may not have the track record to go with it.
Good Estate Agents
There is a choice of several organisations which a reputable estate agent should belong to and they are:
- NAEA. the National Association of Estate Agents
- ARLA, the Association of Residential Letting Agents
- NALS, the National Approved Letting Scheme
- RICS, the Royal Institute Of Chartered Surveyors.
Membership of these organisations does not necessarily mean that they are ‘perfect’ estate agents, but it does mean that there are certain standards they must adhere to, in order to be members of any of these professional bodies. I have to admit to using an estate agent once, for letting purposes, who was not registered with any of these professional bodies, but who was personally recommended, and it was not a success. I will go into what happened in the section on ugly estate agents.
Selling Your Property
The first step on the roller coaster of selling your property will be to employ an estate agent. Or, if you decide to sell your property privately, you will need to decide on the price you want and take out the necessary advertising in the newspapers or on the Internet. If you appoint an estate agent it will be their job to value your property and my advice is to get at least three valuations.
Valuations
Do not necessarily choose the agent who gives the highest valuation, as it is important to remember that they want to lure you into an exclusive ‘sole agency’ agreement. They may well give you a high valuation in order to secure the contract, and it is common for estate agents who give high valuations to lower the asking price after a couple of weeks, or come in with offers well below the asking price. It is important that you research the market yourself, to get an idea of what is an appropriate price for your property.
- Get three valuations.
- Ask to see terms and conditions.
- Ask what advertising methods the agent employs.
- Check what their commission rate is.
- Choose a local estate agent (they will know the local market).
- After agreeing which agent you are choosing, enter a ‘sole agency agreement’, as this will save on commission.
Commission
The commission rate can vary from agency to agency and from area to area. It can be anything between 1% and 4%. If the commission rate is high, negotiate it down. I have always negotiated on commission charges and although the reduction may only be 0.5% it is worth having, as the commission charges can stack up on an expensive property. Even if the property is not expensive, it’s still worth negotiating on the commission. Make sure any reductions are put in writing!
Property Description
Once you have instructed the agent, they will draw up the property details. Ask to see a copy of this before the property is marketed and if you think you can add any useful suggestions to the description, or the property is not being accurately described, don’t be afraid to put your ideas forward. Remember, however,
that an agent’s description may not always be perfect but generally, they will know how to describe a property better than you can and highlight the selling points. They will also know the limitations of their advertising space. Remember, it is an estate agent’s job to sell your property and they are likely to describe your property in the most flattering terms. I remember a property being described as having a paved garden area, only to discover it had only a small slab of concrete outside the back door!