It is an important decision choosing the right estate agent to sell your home so to make sure you are instructing the best agent, have a read through some of our tips below.
TRUST Firstly it is very important that you trust the estate agent you instruct, not only will they be holding your house keys and showing people around your home, they will also be acting on your behalf to sell your property for the best price. Make sure you meet with the estate agent face to face and take the time to sit down with them. Make sure you choose someone you can talk openly and honestly to, as you will be embarking on a relationship that will last several months. Sewell & Gardner have a portfolio of testimonials to show that their clients go away happy with the service they received and this is something any good estate agent should be able to provide.
- Kirsty Holt – Branch Manager
PRICE Make sure the estate agent can justify their claims. Ask them to show you similar properties they have sold or currently have for sale and how they got to their valuation price. Instructing an agent just because they gave you the highest valuation is the biggest mistake people make, and a high valuation often comes alongside a long agency tie in period. Unfortunately this generally leads to properties being on the market for long periods of time and ultimately achieving a lower price than they would have done if they priced more realistically at the outset. On every valuation, Sewell & Gardner provide a personalised property report, which shows recent sale and mortgage prices in your locality and comparable properties that have been marketed and sold.
- Emily Walton – New Homes Manager
FEE It is generally the case that you get what you pay for and if the fee is too good to be true, and much less than the other estate agents, you have got to ask yourself why, how are they cutting these costs? It may be a genuine promotion, but make sure service levels and marketing coverage are not cut to make way for lower commission fees. Equally, if they are the most expensive agent ask them what they provide over and above the other agents to justify their higher fee, it may be worth spending that little bit extra, but make sure you are getting what you pay for! Make sure you ask what costs, if any, you have to pay up front. Are the photographs and floorplan included or do they charge extra?
VIEWINGS It is important that the estate agent carries out accompanied viewings, not only for security reasons but also because they are trained to present your home at its best, so they are therefore the best people for the job. This is ultimately also part of what you are paying them for. Sewell & Gardner provide accompanied viewings as standard and offer this service in and outside of office hours to adapt to their clients and those buyers that cannot make 9 – 5 Monday to Friday.
- Accompanied viewings as standard
MARKETING In this day and age it is essential that your chosen agent is on all the main portals; they need to be advertising on Rightmove, Primelocation and Zoopla to insure the best national coverage. Sewell & Gardner contact all their Internet leads the same working day that they are received but not all agents do; check the estate agents are handling all enquiries by sending an internet enquiry through one of the portals and see how quickly and efficiently they deal with your enquiry. It is also worth popping into their high street office to see how well you are greeted.
- Alex Sewell – Managing Director
You want to make sure your chosen agent will present your property at its best, so ask to see an example set of details. Check out their photography, are all their properties showing blue skies or have they not taken the time to rephotograph when the sun is shining? Have the brochures got floorplans? Every buyer wants to see a floorplan and this vastly improves your chances of getting viewers through the door. Does the estate agent do anything extra or different to the other agents,? For example, Sewell & Gardner do SMS text alerts, have QR codes for smart phones, high quality property videos, facebook and twitter pages and Magical Mystery Tours for those new to the area.
- Joseph Rylett – Sales Manager
QUALIFICATIONS Make sure your chosen estate agent is NAEA and ARLA qualified and covered by the Ombudsman for estate agents. Not all sales and lets are smooth running and if the road gets bumpy, you need to know you have got qualified and knowledgeable agents acting on your behalf.
If you are considering selling your home in Chorleywood, Rickmansworth, Croxley Green, Sarratt, Watford or in any of the surrounding villages, do not hesitate to call Sewell & Gardner to book a market appraisal to find out more about what we offer.
Rickmansworth sales office – 01923 776400
Chorleywood sales office – 01923 285886
Lettings office – 01923 721900