Selling your home can be a stressful experience indeed, and often takes many months to complete. This means that you’re going to be dealing with your estate agent quite a lot, and there is a lot of money at stake; they need to be up to your standards. Having said that, it’s not always straightforward picking one; there are usually several to choose from in your local area – how do you work out which one is right for you?
Narrowing it Down
Narrow your search down to two or three agents to begin with, so that you don’t have too much to deal with.
Firstly, local is a good idea. There are many online estate agents these days, but while they may advertise low prices, they’re unlikely to know your particular area like a local agent. Time is money, and if they don’t market your property well, you could be waiting a long time. Featherstone Leigh for instance, have a guide to the local area they’re selling in – this is an indicator that they understand that particular market.
Personal recommendations are a great thing in this industry, so if you know someone who has had a good experience, then look into their agent. Similarly, avoid companies you’ve heard bad things about.
It’s always a good idea to meet the people that are going to be selling your home before choosing. After all, if you’re not impressed by the way they conduct themselves, will potential buyers be interested?
Specifics
Once you’re past face value, it’s time to dig a little deeper to find out how good they are.
Talk to the estate agents about the specifics of how they are going to market your property, and more importantly, why they’re going to do it like that. Really good agents will immediately be able to give you examples of other similar properties that they’ve sold, and how they went about marketing them.
Marketing might include everything from traditional newspaper ads, to in-depth interactive online tours of your property. Again, they are the experts and should be able to explain how these methods will benefit you.
If you really want to test them, then you should find out what they’d do if there were issues selling – can they change their tactics? Do they have a plan B? This is a good way of separating companies if you’re down to just a couple of options.
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