How do you choose an estate agent?

I have always had to go by how much they charge. Some of the larger companies have very high fees. I usually start the conversation with how much I'm prepared to pay them not with them telling me how much they would like to charge me - its always worked so far.

Take a walk down your local high street. Walk into three or four of them. Arrange visits. Wait for their results to arrive on paper. Choose the one you like best.

Sorry if that seems blunt, but how else would one do it?

If I were selling right now I would know which agents to approach as it's obvious who the active and successful ones are in my area.

I wouldn't settle for the cheapest just the one that's likely to sell at the highest price.

I prefer a small family firm rather than a large company covering the entire country. Also drive around and look at the "sold" signs and see if one company sticks out re the number sold. Fees are negotiable but more so with a smaller firm.

And look online and see which have the clearest, user-friendly websites.

Test out a few websites for yourself, as if you were a buyer, by entering your own house details and seeing what similar houses are fetching in your area. You can also find out what other houses down your street have sold for in the past few years as a guide.

I'd check out whose window displays are the most appealing, whose newspaper layouts appeal to me and who seems to take the best photos for Rightmove etc.

I said on a previous thread that DD1's house is currently on the market and she and SiL had 'discussions' about which agent to use. SiL wanted to go with the cheapest which DD eventually agreed with. Personally, I think the photos on Rightmove do not do the house justice - but I'm saying nothing unless I am asked!!!!

I might possibly be in a slightly similar position as Gracesgran near the end of this year.
Can I ask why houses are not auctioned? They can sometimes get a better price that way?

Ask a few to send someone round to value your house. Discount the flashy metrosexual fake tanned school-leaver, the one who doesn't bother asking questions about what maintenance and improvements you have had done, the one who over or under-values your house, the one that gets the online details wrong and the one that doesn't bother to contact customers who are looking for a house like yours and you'll be lucky if you get one! My sister refused an exorbitant fee from a very big estate agent chain, but a year later they offered to halve their fees and within days she had a stream of viewers, three of whom made an offer. Until things were on a firmer footing, they continued to send people to view at least once a week. Estate agents should get paid by results - some are clueless.

soon, I think they might also sell for a lot less!

All of the above, but would just like to add that we've always had three estate agents to value the house, and chosen the one who seems to love the house most and who is genuinely enthusiastic about it. That will come across in the way they talk about it to potential viewers/buyers.

Also, the three agents have usually given three different valuation prices, and we've picked a price somewhere above the middle - not over-priced or under-priced. You can tell the estate agent how much to market your house for - you don't have to go with the amount they quote.

You can usually negotiate the fee as well.

Hope that helps.

As I have already said on another thread, I interviewed 4.

. One was very enthusiastic but in my opinion overvalued.
. One was smarmy and hardly looked at the house
. One was very old fashioned, appeared older than me! I nearly fell asleep!
. One was courteous,had good marketing strategies and sold most of the houses in the area.

All of them were going to charge the same. We chose the last one, who took fantastic marketing photos. Most people look on the Internet, so photos and marketing are vital. We also have a dedicated person to look after all the admin, liaison with solicitors etc.
good luck x

Thank you all so much. I had a tough morning with Mum when I went over. She has become so much more confused in the last six months and I was worn out when I got home so slept the sleep of the hypothyroid trying to "manage" my energy ... it had managed itself away .

Some really good ideas on the thread. I particularly liked the idea of putting the details on this house in the websites and seeing who was selling houses like this one.

I found some stats yesterday - I'll post a link if I can find them again - that said more people started looking on line these days. There are so many different types of agent now. A house near my mother's sold very quickly through Ewemove.com and at a reasonable price. I had certainly never thought a For Sale sign with a sheep would work!

Thank you all. Much good sense and I will read through again slowly now I am awake!

I did the reverse search and it was really interesting - none of the bigger agents appeared in my final list, but one, well thought of but smaller came top.

I shall get the top three from this list over and then decide on their estimate of value and their costs.

kittylester - true. But they can have reserves.
But as people dont regularly do it, I presume they know what they are doing!

There is one estate agent around our way, whose properties sell for regularly prices at the higher end. I dont know their fees at all or compared to others, but that is the one I have my eye on. It is probably middle size/bigger. I think that their reach and marketing are slicker than other estate agents.

gg we chose the one on our high street that had the most "sold" signs up on our area. I don't think it matters that much what their websites are like because all properties now go on to the "collective" websites like Zoopla, Prime location etc.

By the way, I read about an online estate agent in the paper this week, the article said that's the way to go and that they're gaining in popularity because the fees are so much lower (to the seller). I can't remember the name in the article but I know that Sarah Beeny has one called Tepilo, so perhaps google that.

...in our area not on.

I think it was Sarah Beeny's site that charges everyone a low, upfront fee. That way those who sell do not end up paying for those who put their houses on at silly prices and don't sell. It seemed fair to me .

However, I have never seen one of their boards in our area.