A good estate agent should also have your best interests at heart.

We’ve seen countless situations over the years where an agent has pressured a seller or landlord to take an offer they have, when in fact another agency has a better offer. We are salespeople, estate agents, after all, but we should be people first.

But what about the service? What should a good estate offer you?

Well, we consider regular insightful feedback is the cornerstone of good estate agency. It’s all well and good being charming on a valuation visit, but have the gumption, and, well, pride, to follow that diligence and commitment through… forever.

Then, your estate agent should offer you great marketing.

As the majority of buyers and tenants conduct their initial property search on the internet, it’s now absolutely crucial the marketing photos are the best they can possibly be. It’s also essential that your property is advertised on both Rightmove AND Zoopla. We’ve found that our enquiries are just as likely to come through one as the other, so if your agent is just on Rightmove you could be missing out on half of the possible opportunity.

But what about pricing?

As the slogan goes, “investments can go down as well as up”, so make sure your agent is giving you up to date advice on your property’s value. Perish the thought, but it could actually be the case that your property isn’t worth what it was worth last year. You shouldn’t need to ask – but sometimes you do – make sure that your agent gives you recent comparable evidence to back up their valuation (there are agents out there who will ‘buy’ your instruction with an inflated marketing price).

Finally, is your agent offering you good value with the agreed fee?

For some, an upfront fee paid to an online agent represents good value for money. Sure it’s a marketing service you’re paying for, and you’ll have to do the viewings, negotiations and sales progression yourself, but you do know what you’re paying for.

For others, they’re happy to pay a percentage fee based upon the achieved sale or rental price, but we think that business model is in decline.

It’s a process selling or renting a property. It doesn’t matter whether the property is worth £300,000 or £3,0000,000, it’s the same job.

That’s why we charge simple fixed fees to sell or rent at Proper Local, with no nasty hidden charges.

And for us, in the modern world, together with all the other things which make us good, we believe this makes us better.

 

Taking the next step

If you're a homeowner looking to sell or let a property in the E14 area, get in touch with Proper Local. We are local property experts and offer free house valuations in E14. For those considering letting their home, we also offer realistic E14 rental valuations. What's more, we operate a transparent fixed fee pricing structure so get better value for our service. 

The Property Ombudsman TSI Trading Standards Client Money Protection Rightmove Zoopla