Estate Agents

It came to my husband and I just recently that although we love our house and everything we have done to it,  we would like a little more for our daughters.  This led to the conversations about moving house, how much it would cost and if it was the right thing to do.
After checking it all out, we decided that yes, we would move but this should be looked upon as the last time.  The next step was to get the agents over......

I knew it was not going to be pretty, but I had forgotten how rude some agents could be.  I will not be using any names of companies as this could be seen as advertising for them!! I also did not tell any of them that I use to be an Estate Agent myself......

The first lady that came over was fine.  Straight to the point, told us what they could do for us.  Her fee was 2% which we got down to 1.5%.  Nice enough but her fee is just too high.

The next agent wanted to know why we had never come to them in the past because they had been in the area for so long...... I replied with simply 'We just never called you'.  The problem with his comment and the ones that followed, is that he assumed that he was the best in the area and seemed 'put out' that we had not called when we moved before!  There are quite a lot of agents locally and you just pick up the phone and call a few.  If you rang them all you would get bombarded with too much information.  They do all ultimately do the same job, some better than others.  This guy did not stop there.  He said his fee was 1.75% but could, at a push, go to 1.5%.  So I pushed.  His argument for not going lower was that all his staff were senior staff and as such he had to pay a senior wage.  Well to me that is his problem and not mine.  If that is how he chooses to run his business then good luck to him, but it does not make good marketing or sales sense to tell a potential client this.  He offered nothing special or above the others and even after whipping out his iPad, he did not fill me with any confidence that I could work with him.  The arragancy and assumptions he made, put me off.  The part he forgot, HE would be working for ME.

The final agent was the best one.  An independent agent who has been around for many years.  He was down to earth and honest without being rude. He gave his fee as 1.25% which we are happy with but I will push for 1%.  Every penny counts!

All of them talked the talk but only one agent actually made the effort to listen.  Estate agents do not need to be rude, arrogant or smooth, none of that washes with me.  I just want them to sell my house!  They all need to remember, the vendor (seller) is the client and therefore the agent works for them.  When more of them realise, understand and respect that, they may get a better reputation.  Agent number 2 let the industry down and ticked all the normal boxes whereas agent number 3 did not and that is why we will go with him!