Property investment advice – How to deal with your estate agent

It is vital that you have as well as  maintain a good working relationship with your estate agent. Here are  some tips and guides to help you so that you will have a pleasant  experience throughout the entire process. You are paying a fee for their  services so it is very important that you employ someone from a  reputable firm. The estate agent will then help you sell your house  while making sure that you get the best possible deal that they can get  in the allocated time that has been provided to them.

Get  the best service at the best price

One thing that you may  need to make sure of is that the agency deals with the same type of  property similar to yours. The estate agents will target the buyers that  know the area well including the properties that will suit their price  range and taste. If you must, then read through the details to see  whether or not the information that has been provided by the agency is  accurate. If you have any suggestions, then feel free to inform the  estate agent about it. Remember you are already paying for their  services so make them work for the money.

Know  what to expect from the estate agent

Here are some other things  which you may need to look into before you decide on which agency will  suit you the best. Make sure that you check the terms and conditions on  the contract, read every single word that is printed and that includes  the fine print. If you have trouble understand the contract because of  the technical terms and jargons, you may want to let your solicitor have  a look at it and sign when you fully understand the contents. The other  thing that you may need to check is the home information pack; see how  and when it is paid for. When discussing the details with the estate  agent, you should also agree on a maximum selling time. This means that  they have a certain amount of time to sell the property, if they are  still unable to sell but you are happy with their services then you can  extend it, if for any reason you are unhappy with that particular agency  then you can always look for a new one. Bear in mind that when you are  getting estimations from the different agencies, the highest figure that  they present to you may not be the best one, so you should think  carefully when employing their service. Make sure you know what exactly  you are paying for; you do not want to be surprised by hidden charges  and check the method that the agency will use to advertise your property  as well as the location. You may also be able to negotiate the fee that  you are being charged with, but look at the type of property that you  are selling before you want to negotiate with the agent. There might be  hope if you are selling a mansion but don’t get your hopes too high if  the property that you are selling is a one bedroom flat. Try to hire  someone you can get along with, it might be a long process and the last  thing you want is to have a sour relationship that you would need to  endure throughout.

The different type of  agency contracts

You  can choose from several type of agency contracts to enter into and they  include the sole agency which is where only one estate agent will take  the full responsibility of selling off your property. Once they have  successfully done that you will pay them the agreed commission upon  completion of the overall transaction. You may want to check the  contract carefully as you may be required to pay the commission even  though you sold the property by yourself while still using their  service. Another type is the joint agency where two or more agents try  to sell your property and then they will share the commission amongst  themselves regardless of who made the sale. And finally there is the  multiple agencies where you instruct more than one agent to sell the  property independently but the one that makes the sale will get the  commission.

The time to show off your property

Set an asking price that is reasonable, while you  can ask your agent to help you set a price you do not have to take  their suggestion at face value. You can also opt to have a professional  surveyor to look at your property so that you can get estimations on how  much your house it worth. Another thing that you may want to think  about is the method of selling off the property; do you feel comfortable  with an open-house type of sale, auctions, or closed bids. When it is  time to prepare the house for viewing, you should take a look around the  house and this includes the interior as well as the exterior to see if  anything needs fixing or sprucing up. Decide on the route you want the  people to take so that they can get the best possible view of the  property. Once you have finished with the tour, let them walk around  without you hovering over them. Make sure to tell them the facilities  that are located around and near the area for the convenience. If you  are nervous about doing this, you can ask the estate agent to help you  but remember no one will know your house better than yourself.