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.