[Bubbles]

Might be a silly question folks, but never having sold a house before I was wondering what the pro's and cons were with regard to 'Sole Agent' against 'Multiple'. Other than having your eggs in more than one basket with the latter, so to speak. Is there anything else I'm obviously missing.
I appologise in advance for my stupidity, but I just don't get it. :confused:

( House goes on the market early Feb' )

[gil]

Hi Bubbles,

Not being hugely experienced in house selling meself, my understanding of the multiple agency is that you pay a much higher commission on the sale (often set at around 3%, though obviously, one would have to negotiate on that!).

It means that there should be greater exposure to potential buyers as you will have two or more agencies sending out/publishing/marketing your house details. I would think you need to be careful about the choice of multiples, as estate agents are often grouped together under national names for use of websites (Team, Rightmove etc.) and it would be a shame if the 2 agents you chose used the same website, sort of shoots you in the foot really.

When we HAVE sold successfully, it has been with a good local agent who knows the local area and has a reputation to uphold in that area, rather than with the bigger chains who might come in with the highest valuation, but in our experience, take a-g-e-s to sell (if at all) and you end up reducing the price anyway.

Hope that's of use, Bubbles, and I'm sure there are other, more experienced folk who will give great advice when they see this!

Good luck with the sale,
Gil
x

[Smiler]

I also think t'internet is becoming a good tool in selling houses.

Lots of people would rather pay a one off advertising fee than high sole or multiple agents fees. You have to have your photo's right and a good description though. :D

Deborah

[jubjub]

With sole agency, you deal with them and if you pick a good one, that should be enough, however from what I can see from everyones postings still in UK, the selling market appears to be slowing down and maybe dual agency may be an idea, you get two lots of folks working to sell your house, so exposure to a few more potential buyers. The fees will be higher for dual agents, as they will both want a cut. Another option is to start with one, give them a time frame, say a month, and if not tell them you will go dual agency after that?

If you can, get an agent that uses www.rightmove.co.uk (http://www.rightmove.co.uk), its the biggest estate agency website in UK, and you can search for agents in your area.

Your best bet in choosing an agent is to look at your local area, and see who has the most boards up with "Sold" on them, they are obviously doing something right.
Best of luck, remember all the House Doctor tricks too.... :cheers

Oh, and Bubbles, everytime I read you signature I start humming the song:)

[Bubbles]

Thankyou very much, oh knowledgable ones. :nice1

Me thinks we'll go with 'Sole' agent first and see how it pans out.



Oh, and Bubbles, everytime I read you signature I start humming the song:)

Sal, it's a good song that is. :yes Hope you do it justice. ;)


John

[Avalon]

Bubbles -

I know its looks like you have chosen anyway - but something that may just help yo feel more comfortable in your choice. Our last agent became a very good friend of ours, and we were discussing sole vs joint agencies (I wasnt going to change but a competitor was very unethically trying to poach me). Robin explained to me that with joint agencies - each agent pushes hard to get any buyer and force the deal through because otherwise they only get a small cut of the fee - if any. This can mean that you end up with a lower price than you might otherwise do. Whther this works in practice I honestly dont know. I do know that he had one such case at the time - and it did go for a low price.

Also, rememebr you can negotiate your commisions, but also you can and possibly should negotiate any "lock in periods" that you sign a contract for. Most agents lock you in for 12 weeks (in order to "give them time" to market your property well). Unfortunatley that also gives them 12 weeks before you can give them the shove if they are crap. We negotiated down to 6 weeks - but as it happens we like the agent so much we stayed on his books till we sold 7 months later (it wasnt down to them that it didnt sell).

Good luck :cheers

[GeorgeM]

I don't know what it is like where you live, but in many places I know lots of Estate Agents cluster like banks in the High St. This means that people who are looking for a house often start at one end of the row of shops and move along all five or six agents to see what each of them has got and to register onto their mailing lists.

If both agents in a dual agency are in the same location then any househunters doing this will get your details twice, and I would think that you would pick up very few additional potential buyers compared to if you were with just one of the agents.

The crucial things seem to be how good (and how frequented) an agent's website is, and how good they are at old-fashioned selling. Get the views of others in the locality who have both bought and sold and then plump for which single agent seems the best for your type of house.

[kiwidebs]

The crucial things seem to be how good (and how frequented) an agent's website is, and how good they are at old-fashioned selling. Get the views of others in the locality who have both bought and sold and then plump for which single agent seems the best for your type of house.

I agree - and also, what are their ads like in the local paper. Most of our viewings came from the local free paper ad - our estate agent writes quite catchy little blurbs and put in a great photo of our house.

No other advice, I still think it's down to luck a bit too - all it takes is one person to want to buy it and that might be the first person to walk in and look around ..... or it may be the 99th person.

Good luck John and Maria - hope you get that mythical first time buyer with finances intact wanting your house as soon as it goes on the market. Keep us posted.

Debs

[Paul]

Also would add to all the above that it can be worthwhile doing a "mystery shop" i.e pretend to be a buyer and go in with some specific requirments and see how good the agents are at matching these requirements. We found that some of the big national chains just threw all properties roughly in the price range at you which is not what you want when you are buying. So we woould always go with someone who listens to their buyers, they are more likely to get a sale for you

Also can't underestimate the power of good advertising in local free papers. One of the most successful agents locally spends a fortune on glossy colour spreads and good colour sales details

Finally make sure your house is properly "prepared" for sale and decluttered etc. Most people do this now and it almost becomes the expected thing. You may have a nice house but if people cannot see past the boxes and loud colour schemes they are not going to buy your house these days unless it is very cheap! Times have changed thanks to Messrs Linda Barker, Laurence Llewellyn Bowen (sp?) etc etc

Good luck! :cheers

[K&CS]

I think you're right to go for sole agency in the beginning. I think dual or multi agency can confuse some buyers and can also make you look like you're desperate (even if you are!). Always find out how much notice you have to give and also if there is a cancellation fee - you should always negotiate fees as well. We have never paid more than 1% - play one off agaist another. If you are unhappy with the service they give you, make sure you let them know. We made an absolute pain of ourselves to our estate agents, but they sold the house in the end (funnily enough after we'd given them notice).

Good luck - it's a minefield out there, but it'll be worth it in the end.

Kate

[westies]

Hi there

On a positive note, we went with sole agents, after much deliberation!!
Our house sold in 3 days, and we got the asking price!!! :raebanana :raebanana So it does happen, good look with your sale, we hope you get a speedy one. We are looking to fly out to Auckland end of Feb

Again good luck

Tracey & Adiy

[jubjub]

Just found an interesting example using more than one agent,

edited, single link did not work, heres the three
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-10166651.rsp?pa_n=3&tr_t=buy
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-10734980.rsp?pa_n=3&tr_t=buy
http://www.rightmove.co.uk/viewdetails-4939546.rsp?pa_n=3&tr_t=buy

Was just being nosey around my old stomping ground, and noticed that two pics looked the same, in fact there are three, all three agents advertising on this one main website, look at the house for sale at £209995, and how differently each agent has described it, and the amount of detail.

Must say it makes the owner look a bit desperate especially as all three agents are members of rightmove....., maybe something to watch out for..

[tee and dee]

Smiler / Deborah,

not following the thread exactly but you are the first person outside of the school where I work (in Derbyshire) who says "t'internet" - children here nearly all say it and it makes me smile everytime - thanks Smiler !

Tracey

[Smiler]

:nice1 It makes me smile too. Everytime I write it I hear a good friend of mine saying it 'ot loud.

In my head I mean, it's a wonder I can hear him above everyone else!:eek::eek::eek:

D x

[StevieD]

It is a Lancashire thing, and Peter Kay has certainly spread it's popularity coz I have been calling it that for ages now!