FINDING A BUYER IS THE EASY PART…
When I speak to potential clients about selecting an estate agent, I always say that finding a buyer is the easy part, it’s what comes next which will determine whether they have selected the right estate agent or not. When I ask them ‘why did you chose so and so’, I am always shocked when their reply is ‘because they were the cheapest’. There is an old saying, ‘if it’ sounds to good to be true, it probably is’.
There is only one way an estate agency change cheap (or low cost as some call it), and that’s if they base their business model on high volumes. When you start going down the low fees/high volume route, something has to give, and it’s usually the service standards. Tesco is a volume business, waitrose isn’t. When you ask a tesco worker where something is in store, they say ‘isle number x’, when you ask the same question in waitrose, they take you to the isle.
In this day and age with virtually all buyers searching for a property online, a buyer, sometimes multiple potential buyers, are very easy to come by as long as the property is priced, presented and promoted correctly, and the agent is proactive and tenacious enough to deal with the enquries and not miss any (that’s another blog post!)
Once the buyer, or buyers, are found, this is when a quality estate agent will really start to shine because this is when the work really starts. Here are just a few examples of what has to happen before the property is ‘sold’:
1. The right buyer has to be selected. Sometimes based on price, but sometimes based on their position depending on the clients reason for selling. You may think this would be the easy part but it’s very important you chose a buyer who is likely to actually complete on the purchase and this is where your estate agents’ experience will really shine as they will be constantly gauging the buyers seriousness, intent and motivation. Lot’s of factors play a part at this point, not just the price i.e. the chain if there is one and the buyers financial situation. All this has to be diligently checked
2. The survey has to go ahead and any issues flagged up need to be dealt with. Issues here can range from minor damp to serious structural issues or possibly even being down valued by the bank.
3. The legal process has to go through. There are lots of things that ‘can’ go wrong here but a good experienced estate agent would have probably handled every possible situation over the years.
4. Here’s the one that most estate agents over look… You need to buy a new house! And all the potential problems above are just as relevant when buying a property and so basically doubling the chances of problems arising. Your estate agent should be offering you all his/hers expertise, help and advice here, as well as on your property sale. People seem to forget that we are ‘estate agents’, not ‘selling agents’. Your estate agent should at least be offering to help you on your purchase, including negotiating on your behalf, at the very least.
So, before you select an agent, make sure you look at the ‘full’ picture, not just what it will cost you, and ask the right questions. What is their sale agreed to completion ratio? How and where do they market properties? Are they on any third party review websites? Do they use professional photography? Do they uterlise the premium marketing packages available via rightmove.co.uk and zoopla.co.uk (because that’s where all the buyers are looking)? What are their ‘viewing’ hours? Do they answer their calls 24 hours a day, 365 days a year? Do they have a call overflow service (because 75% of callers hang up before 6 rings) ? A missed enquriy could be a missed buyer.
If you would like advice on anything relating to property, just head over to the contact page here, fill in your details and hit submit, and I will be more than happy to help.
All the best,
p.s. Would you like more impartial advice? Head on over to my FREE eGuides page by clicking here.
