How do you choose your estate agent?

Capability and market knowledge continue to top the list of how prospective home movers choose their agents, according to a recent report by Dataloft. 77% of home movers interviewed prioritised confidence in an estate agent’s ability, with 71% also rating 'good market knowledge' as an important factor in their final decision.

Interestingly, just 17% indicated 'lowest fee' in their top five decision making factors in choosing an agent.

Choosing any estate agent is easy. Choosing the best estate agent to market your property and achieve the best possible outcome for you is less so. So, how do you sort the wheat from the chaff?

When it comes to choosing the best estate agent, it helps if you can shortlist your options. Research the local estate agents in your area - How experienced are they locally? How will they market your property? Do they offer a progression service to ensure your home goes from 'sale agreed' to 'completion'? Do they have a strong understanding of the local area and property prices in your area? And, most importantly, do they understand what's most important to you?

It’s vital that you and your agent are on the same page regarding how quickly you hope to move. Have they understood your plans for moving on and helped you find your next home? Its also important to establish at the outset whether price is your top priority, or if you would rather focus on achieving a smooth and swift sale.

Having been an estate agent myself for many years, I have seen excellent estate agents who really shine at what they do. Unfortunately, as I’m sure we all have, I’ve experienced poor estate agents too.

For me, a good estate agent will sell your property, but a great estate agent will assist you with all aspects of your home moving journey making it as smooth as possible - whether that's helping you find a new home in a different county, securing a removals service at the last minute or even arriving at your property early just to feed the cat when you forgot! It's all part of the service!

Here at Complete Property, our team work incredibly hard to regularly review our service offering, adapting to changes within the marketplace and investing in the latest marketing tools and technologies to ensure that we consistently provide our clients with a complete and thorough service.

When you choose an estate agent to work with, you will be bound by their terms and conditions, so it's important to understand every aspect of your agent and establish whether you feel they are your

agent of choice before committing to their services. You can do this by asking a number of different questions. Here are a few of my favourite I've included a few of my favourites:

· How have they reached their valuation of your property? Can they provide you with comparable evidence that supports the price they have provided you?

· How will they market your property? - Will they instruct a professional photographer to photograph your home? Will they create a virtual tour for your property? What portals do they advertise on? Do they create relevant materials necessary for marketing your property to it's highest potential such as floorplans, an online brochure, a promotional video etc.

· Do they offer an 'after sales' service to progress your property sale from 'sale agreed' to 'completion'?

· Do they have an understanding of the local market? Have they sold any properties nearby? If so, take a look at how they marketed these properties and how long they were marketed for - were the photos of a high quality? Was there a floorplan? Could you easily access the property particulars?

· How can they help you with your home-moving journey?

We're always looking to improve our knowledge of the home-buying journey and would love to hear what might drive you to choose an estate agent and what experiences you’ve had in the past. Share your feedback with our team at [email protected]