The best price starts with the best advice!

Property values across West Lothian have shown impressive growth in recent times. In a sellers’ market, it has appeared virtually a foregone conclusion that whichever agent you chose to sell your property, a buyer would be found within a few days.

Subsequently, vendors can often become less discerning over their choice of agent and may, understandably, be tempted to appoint the agent who charges the lowest commission percentage. However, in a sellers’ market, this approach usually turns out to be a considerable false economy as the difference between a good agent and a mediocre one can be highly significant.

Think you’re saving money?… it’s often worth closer inspection!

The difference between the cheapest and the most expensive agent is typically about 0.5% of the asking price, which represents a difference of £2000 in fees on a £400,000 property sale. However, the ability of a good agent to set a new ceiling price, create a new market and negotiate the best terms is worth far more than this amount and this starts long before any offers are received.

Look for good practice

If unsure of the value, even some experienced agents will ask a surveyor for advice before visiting the property and inform sellers that a surveyor will ‘support’ that particular agent’s valuation. Look out for this bad practice: it goes against everything that a professional estate agent should be trying to achieve. The truth is that it is not a surveyor’s job to drive the price on your property: the surveyor should simply be able to justify the valuation on a Home Report to a lender.

It is the role of the estate agent to drive the market forward or break the ceiling price in a particular area. It is only the most proactive estate agents who will have the latest market intelligence and an overview of how many active and credible buyers are currently in the market looking for this type of property in this particular area. Based on this too, good estate agents can often ‘create a market’ that may not even exist yet by packaging properties to target groups of highly specific potential buyers. You should look for one who has experience and a proven track record in achieving results for clients who have a similar property as yours, either in value, location, type etc. Above all, you are looking for the best advice, based on the latest professional knowledge of the market.

Look for market knowledge

It’s worth examining how a different approach by two estate agents resulted in a different result based on the decision by the seller to choose the agent with the lower fees.

Our firm had previously been invited to conduct a market appraisal at two very similar properties in the same street. We expected a Home Report valuation to be in the region of £440k-£450k and, given the type of properties, coupled with recent sales we had achieved in the area, we anticipated a selling price significantly higher than this figure. We were appointed by one vendor to handle the sale of their property however the other vendor chose another agent based on their lower fee. The other agent was also local, very experienced in the area however inexperienced in handling sales at this value. Both properties were marketed and sold within a few weeks of each other. However the process, method of sale and outcome was significantly different resulting in the difference in selling price of almost £90,000!

Get a better result

Low cost agents tend to rely on turnover of stock, rather than the actual amount of fee charged and with stock levels still in short supply, they may be more focussed on arranging the sale at any price, rather than negotiating the best terms for their client. High quality agents have a reputation to protect, and they are passionate in their quest to secure the best price wherever possible. So in our above example, the additional £3000 in fees could actually have protected a potential net loss of almost £90,000! That’s £90,000 of real money and really highlights the importance of selecting the right company to handle the sale of your property. It’s your equity. So when choosing the right agent to sell your home, what is more important to you – low fees, or the most money in your pocket, and the security of a well-managed sale?