How to Choose an Estate Agent Wisely

Choosing an estate agent is one of the few decisions in selling a home that you have to make before you find out whether you got it right. Get it wrong and you lose weeks, a chunk of your sale price, or both. The good news is that the differences between agents are usually visible long before you sign anything — you just have to know what to look at, and what to ask.

Start With Sold Prices, Not Asking Prices

Every agent can show you a long list of properties they have listed. Far fewer can show you a list of properties they have actually sold, on your road, in your price bracket, in the last year. That distinction matters more than any brochure.

Before you invite anyone round, spend an hour with the sold price data on the major property portals and the government's own house price records. Look at the same property type, similar condition and similar size within a quarter of a mile, ideally over the last six to twelve months. That gives you a realistic range before an agent tells you what you want to hear.

• Ask each agent for evidence of their own comparable sales, not just the local market in general.
• Ask what percentage of their asking price their recent sales achieved, and how long they took from listing to offer.
• Be sceptical of a valuation that sits well above the other two. An inflated figure often means the property sits on the market, goes stale, and eventually sells for less than a sensible valuation would have achieved.

Understand the Fee, and What Sits Behind It

A typical sole agency fee sits somewhere between 1% and 1.5% plus VAT, with multi-agency arrangements usually higher. That is only the headline number, though. The detail in the terms of business is where money actually changes hands.

• Sole agency versus sole selling rights. These are not the same thing. Sole selling rights can leave you liable for a fee even if you find the buyer yourself. Read the clause carefully.
• Tie-in periods. Many agreements lock you in for eight to twelve weeks. Check the notice period too — usually two to four weeks — and whether any withdrawal fee applies.
• "Ready, willing and able buyer" clauses. These can trigger a fee even if you decide not to proceed. Ask directly whether that clause is included.
• What is included. Photography, floorplans, an energy performance certificate, portal listings, printed brochures, the board and accompanied viewings are all negotiable line items.

Get everything in writing before you sign, and compare the total cost across agents rather than the percentage alone.

Compare Marketing Plans Properly

"We'll put it on the portals" is not a marketing plan. Ask each agent to spell out exactly what your money buys, and how it differs from the standard package.

• Which portals, and whether your listing will be a standard or premium position.
• Professional photography — and whether that means an actual photographer or a phone.
• Floorplans, a proper written description, video or a virtual tour.
• How often the listing will be refreshed, since only new or updated listings tend to appear in buyer alerts.
• Board placement, and whether they will chase feedback proactively.

Ask how many enquiries a comparable property received in its first fortnight. A specific number tells you a great deal more than a promise.

Ask How They Will Screen Buyers and Handle Viewings

This is the question most sellers forget, and it is the one that saves the most time. Unqualified viewers waste your evenings; unqualified buyers waste your solicitor's time and can cost you months.

Ask each agent to describe their screening process. A good answer will include:

• Confirming the buyer's position before the viewing — mortgage agreed in principle, deposit in place, or cash with proof.
• Establishing whether they have a property to sell, whether it is already under offer, and how long their chain is.
• Checking that a solicitor or conveyancer is instructed, or will be.
• Accompanied viewings by someone who actually knows the property, rather than a key-holder reading from a sheet.
• Written feedback within twenty-four hours, and a clear process for re-qualifying a buyer's finances before you accept an offer.

Then ask who chases the chain once you are under offer. The best agents keep chasing all the way to exchange. The weakest go quiet and let you do it.

Judge the People You Will Actually Deal With

The person who values your home is often not the person who runs your sale. Ask who your single point of contact will be, how often you will hear from them, and what happens when they are on holiday.

Ask for their fall-through rate and their average time from listing to exchange. Ask to speak to two recent sellers in your area — most vendors are happy to talk. Honesty about a property's weaknesses is worth far more than flattery, and an agent who tells you the awkward truth at valuation is likely to do the same when a low offer arrives.

Put the Decision in Writing

Get three valuations, take the written terms away, and compare them side by side: fee, tie-in, notice period, marketing package, screening process and communication. Negotiate the fee if you want, but weigh it against the service you are actually getting — a 0.3% saving is poor value if it costs you a buyer.

Once instructed, agree your reporting rhythm: a weekly update, viewing feedback as it arrives, and a review point at four to six weeks. If the marketing is not working by then, ask what they are changing. If the answer is nothing, you now know what your notice period is for.