Selling or buying a property is a big financial move. Once you have decided, to move ahead with your decision, the next step would be to hire a good estate agent for your property. We specialise in luxury properties in Fulham and estate agents in Fulham will ensure you receive the best of our creative marketing and customer services.
It would be prudent to invite a few selected estate agencies to visit your property and give their evaluation of your property’s worth. But before hiring any agent how do you conclude that this is the best choice for you?
Let us go through some checklists to get the best agent available.
Signs of a good agent
He will have a good list of prospective buyers and some good recommendations to make as soon as he views your property. A firm with extensive experience in selling properties like your own can be a vital choice. Although an agent might be having an impressive list of buyers, it would be fruitless if he is not enterprising enough to market your estate to these buyers or if he has too many estates to sell then he cannot give you adequate time.
Interviewing agents can help you understand their experience and knowledge of the market. It would be great to ask for recommendations from your family and friends. Another useful tip is that you can pose as a potential buyer to analyse the agent’s capability and sincerity to undertake a job and do it well.
Refining the choices
Often times property sellers are afraid that their estate would not stand out amongst the plethora of properties in the same locale within the same price range. So, take help from-
- Personal recommendations
- Customer reviews and ratings
- Sales data
Select a few agents for interviewing. Keep your questions ready. Ask them about the strategy they would use to highlight your property, how many similar properties they have sold recently, how will they advertise, do they have potential buyers on their list, do their brochures and pictures look professional.
Not relying on a single evaluation
Never bank on the assessments given by one agent. Ask multiple agents to evaluate your property, although it is advisable to not go with the highest valuation placed, as an over-quoted property does not sell quickly in the market, and then later if you cut down the prices, it will raise red flags for many potential buyers. Same way, an undervalued price, might see your property sell faster, but you will lose out on higher prices.
Fees
Your payment of fees will depend on two things, namely, are you hiring multiple agents or going with a sole agency for the sale of your property? A sole agency will be responsible for doing all your promotions, whereas where multiple agents are concerned, the agent who is successful, will be paid the fees. So, the competition amongst the agents will ensure the best possible deal for your property.
Always ask upfront what is included in the services provided by the agency or agent. However, these are some of the general services offered by any agent in lieu of the fees charged by the client-
- Evaluation of estate, based on local market survey, sales data comparisons and recent trends.
- Putting up a FOR SALE sign
- Soliciting interest from a personal list of prospective buyers.
- Promoting the property through traditional channels like newspapers, agency windows, and advertisements. And, through marketing the estate on property sites like Zoopla and Rightmove.
- Arrange and oversee, property viewings.
- Sale price negotiations
- Agents’ operational costs
- Taking photographs of your property for adverts and
- Writing a charming piece describing your property
Online Agents
Online shopping has been on the rise, especially after the COVID restrictions, but hiring online agents for buying and selling our biggest assets is still not preferred. It would be prudent to know that for inexpensive properties (below 1 million) online agents can be a good option. After online payment to an online firm, the chances of people withdrawing from the listing are less as compared to paying fees after the sale is completed.
Contact our estate agents in Fulham for any property-related queries!