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Finding the right estate agent is vital to the success of moving home, it’s always worth remembering that high street estate agents work on a commission basis. This means you’re in a strong position because if they don’t sell your property, they don’t get paid. This is one of the main reasons why shopping around for an estate agent to sell your property is hugely important.

Your first decision should be how many estate agents do you need to use. Most home sellers will usually have just one estate agent as this can be simpler to manage as well as cheaper as agents will usually charge more for multiple agency arrangements.

When choosing an estate agent try and narrow your options to 3, you can do this by:

• Asking family and friends for their experiences- personal recommendations are worth they weight in gold
• Use social media to conduct a poll
• Read the agents online reviews
• Ask them questions like, how quickly they sell property? how close to the asking price they come?
• Ask about their terms and conditions – most importantly their standard commission rate and a typical tie in period?
• Look at other properties on Zoopla and Rightmove they sell. Are the descriptions appealing? Are the photographs helping to sell the property? Are they selling properties like yours?
• Ask about the agents viewing policy, will they accompany potential buyers on viewings?

Once you have selected 3 agents invite them around to conduct a valuation.

Think of this like an interview process and ask the agent the following questions:

• How quickly do they sell homes?
• What’s their track record with achieving the asking price?
• What is their reasoning behind the value they’re proposing to market your property at?
• Are they members of an accredited independent ombudsman service? They must be either a member of the Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme
• Will details of your property be shared with their colleagues? It’s good if more than one person in the office can talk enthusiastically and with knowledge about your property
• What would they do if your property was not selling as quickly or at the price you expected?
• Are they open at weekends? A surprising number of agents only work during the week, and perhaps do half day on Saturday, which means they are less accessible to potential buyers
• how do they plan to market your property?
• Will they take advantage of premium listings on Rightmove or Zoopla?
• Will they use virtual tours?
• Will your property feature in their shop window displays?
• Will they put your home in local printed advertisers?

Once the valuations are in it can be easy to go for the highest one, but we would always advise to employ the agent who gives you the best feeling. They will often be the agent who will talk about your property enthusiastically to potential buyers and that is the fastest way to sell a house at the price you want.