Guest Blog: 8 reasons to use an estate agent
February 23, 2010 at 2:40 PM Zoopla 11 comments
Recently there has been a lot of online and offline column inches dedicated to privately selling your property. Only last week we saw the OFT come out and suggest consumers consider “private seller platforms”.
We asked Steve Hatch, a director at North London estate agency Castles, who is passionate about this topic, to guest blog for us and give us his reasons on why selling privately online is a bad idea.
Prospective buyers who come to view your property could well be looking at your car, your identity, your family, and your future! Why would you risk all that to avoid paying a fee to an estate agent?
Property Details
Most people have a camera on their phone or own a digital camera these days but that doesn’t make us all professional photographers.
Your local estate agency may well use a professional photographer; or will have trained in the field of residential property photography and use a professional camera and equipment. We do this to ensure that your property – the externals and internals – are well represented and portrayed in a manner that will encourage people to view the property.
Car key theft
Where do we typically leave our car keys…near the front door. Thieves target private sellers deliberately. Professional thieves know that private sellers are easy to distract as they are so pre-occupied with trying, so hard, to sell their home.
Houses with drives are especially vulnerable (for some reason many people feel the photo looks better with their expensive car parked on the drive). An experienced estate agent will spot a bogus buyer a mile off.
Identity theft
Bank statements tend to be left anywhere within the safety of ones own home. An experienced agent will conduct and control the viewing. Private sellers often let people walk around a second time unaccompanied.
An experienced Estate Agent knows how to balance a viewing without letting a buyer out of their sight – the slightest unusual behaviour is instinctively sensed.
Just at the point of exchange…
A private seller is likely to miss all the subtle clues that an experienced agent will pick up on. How many private buyers slap themselves on the back for saving on estate agents fees only to get blackmailed out of thousands, of pounds just before exchange of contracts? What are your options? Reduce drastically, or lose your buyer, plus the home you thought you were about to buy.
You are the weakest link
Add to this the pressure of everyone else in the chain of transactions not being able to move because of your buyer! Very seldom does a seller realise that by going it alone without the experience of an expert behind them, actually makes them a potentially weak link and high risk buyer in the eyes of another vendor, and especially the vendors agent who will have a moral duty to flag this up at the point of an offer.
Personal safety
A private seller will not want to get off to a strained start by asking for extra contact details, work numbers, email addresses, number plates, solicitor details etc. Add to that the sense of excitement at the prospect of the viewing! An experienced agent will not only take care of their own staff safety, but they will also do this automatically for their clients. Part of the filtering process is listening to the response to these questions. An experienced agent will sense any evasiveness.
Negotiations and Re-negotiations
A private seller is rarely polished in the art of negotiating, let alone re-negotiating when it comes to property. Property negotiations are a very different beast to general sales negotiations. An experienced agent will have built up a thorough understanding of their client, their wants, needs and emotions. These are all invaluable tools that the private seller will rarely have at their disposal.
Making the move actually happen
The vast majority of people are ultimately trying to achieve one thing when selling – the ability to move! Of course they want to do well financially, but most people simply want to move to their new home in a calm, confident and reassured fashion. In my experience, most people are prepared to pay a little extra for peace of mind, and the enhanced probability of it actually happening. Realistically this is far more likely to happen in the hands of a local professional. We know what we are doing, and take a pride in what we do, this is where the no sale – no fee comes in!
Written by Steve Hatch
Director at Castles Estate Agents – Harringay Branch
Entry filed under: Advice, Guest Post. Tags: Private selling.
11 Comments Add your own
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1.
onelondonproperty | February 23, 2010 at 4:50 PM
Some very sound and points and whilst agreeing that for many using a good estate agent is and may always be preferable I think the whole furore exploded on the back of the majority of commentators on the subject defending themselves and/or those within their particular mode of business.
The variety of different methods of selling can work for different people and whilst a good estate agent can definitely represent good value, the simple fact is that times are changing and their role will need to evolve accordingly.
There is a degree of insecurity within the industry in general at present that has increased everyone’s sensitivity to criticism but perhaps a forum that is inclusive of all the various types of ‘agent’ would see the consumers interests best served, whatever particular method of selling they opt for, rather than their getting caught in the cross-fire as has unfortunately been the case on many occassions in the past.
2.
Steve Hatch | February 24, 2010 at 10:24 PM
Thanks for your comments. I completely agree, different methods of selling are here and here to stay. Many agents will need to evolve rapidly, whilst some are almost there already.
I can’t personally see all Estate Agents disappearing from the High St, as some may like us to believe. Look what happened with travel agents, they are still around and many people book online. There is no doubt that our websites are also our shop windows, but a ‘real’ local presence is also important.
Naturally there is a degree of insecurity in the industry, especially at the end tail end of this credit crunch, but this nervous energy, I suspect, will be channelled into some positive changes.
3.
carterestateagents | February 23, 2010 at 5:52 PM
Danny is spot on with his comment above….just to add. YES there is still and always will be a role for an agent to play in people moving home. YES we will see more online private seller sites over the next few years, but these will not replace agents who continue to give good personal service. YES agents need to change and adapt to the times, 16 week sole agency agreements at 2% may well still work in some areas but on the whole todays and tomorrows consumer now wants their service delivered quicker and wants it to represent good value for money.
4.
Steve Hatch | February 24, 2010 at 10:41 PM
Congratulations on the 25 Years!
I agree, agents have to get more creative with contracts, if they are not doing so already, and why not! This may suit the smaller independent agents as they can possibly react faster, and make on the spot decisions.
5.
Peter Rollings | February 24, 2010 at 1:46 PM
Nice article Steve- thanks. I don’t understand why everyone always looks at the COST of instructing a good Estate Agent. The VALUE added is the key and a good agent adds real value to the process. I wrote this aricle last week about the same subject.
http://www.marshandparsons.co.uk/20100205235/any-fool-can-sell-a-house
6.
Steve Hatch | February 24, 2010 at 11:18 PM
Thank you Peter.
I am actually fairly concerned by what the OFT have just done. Ok yes, make it more competitive by all means, great for the consumer, I personally welcome this shake up. It could be that online competition will raise the profile of professional Estate Agents significantly in the longer term.
The big question is… Have the Office of Fair Trading just let the consumer down on several other important aspects of consumer protection?
As you rightly say it is not just about cost!
7.
Dijana | February 24, 2010 at 5:01 PM
You would have to be nuts not to use an agent when buying a property in an overseas market. This is especially true of markets such as Croatia where we are based. In our case it is not just sales & marketing there is a lot of legal understanding that is required especially when related to title. If fact we spend half our time checking paperwork, in order to make sure the property can actually be sold or is what the vendor says it is. Unfortunately much of this goes unnoticed by clients, until they decide to go it alone.
8.
Martin Smith | March 2, 2010 at 10:12 AM
Hi Steve,
Good article that I tweeted when it was published. I’ve also just linked here from a blog post of mine – using for sale by owner websites as a source of leads.
http://www.modernestateagent.co.uk/2010/03/turning-private-sellers-into-valuations.html
Carefully done, I don’t see why it can’t be as effective for sales as it is for lettings.
Martin
9.
S Davies | March 18, 2010 at 12:34 PM
I thought this article interesting but not in the least convincing. I have used an agent once in the past and did not find them to be particularly knowledgeable or clever at picking out potential as against time waster clientele. They lost interest once there was an offer and despite my insistence that I wanted the best of three offers they sent nobody else to view. I believe that generally they do not warrant their large percentage. I have sold two houses privately without going on-line and have had easy peasy experiences on both occasions and got a better price than any agent suggested I would. So sorry, but not convinced.
10.
My Estate Agent Jobs | April 23, 2010 at 10:48 AM
In response to the last comment, I think that Agents do play a valuable role in the selling process. I have sold many properties over the past twenty years and have been impressed with all of my agents, both lettings and on the sales side. Yes, there are different ways to skin a cat but to judge a whole industry on a few personal experiences is not a good judgement (in my opinion).
11.
Online Estate Agent | September 29, 2010 at 10:54 AM
Estate agents will not disappear from the high street, however there is an ever growing amount of “online” estate agents that do the same job for a much cheaper price.
However, I think that there are only 2 reasons there that stand out as a bit silly to me, the car theft and identity theft. If you know strangers are coming round to your house, the first thing you would do is tidy up and hide these things!