Why Use an Estate Agent?

Selling a house is just like taking any other product to market: you’ve got to know what you’re selling, who you’re selling to, and then devise a strategy to meet this goal. With this knowledge now in your arsenal, you couldn’t be blamed in questioning whether you even need an estate agent at all. Why use an estate agent? Do they do anything you couldn’t do yourself or are they just a needlessly expensive add-on to an already consuming process?

This question is ultimately fairly easy to answer. Could anyone sell a house for the right price and within the shortest time possible? Not likely. For that you’d need someone with the skills and training to price a property competitively, who also has built up a network with which they can find the right buyer, willing to pay the best price. When asked whether estate agents were still necessary today, Jimmy Lecours from a real estate comparison site had this to say: ‘Many people have tried to sell their house without an agent and some have been successful while others ultimately failed. Without the right marketing strategies, a property can languish in the market which translates to more money lost and time wasted.’ While it may seem that the process is easy enough to grasp and take on yourself, in the face of an increasingly complex and ever-changing market, the importance of experts and licensed professionals in getting the right deal cannot be understated.

What Does an Estate Agent Do?

If you’re new to an area, the most important thing that an estate agent offers you is a wealth of knowledge about the wider housing market, but also local inside knowledge to know which part of the neighbourhood is right for you. This local knowledge means that your estate agents will also have the right network of buyers and sellers, and can use this to find the right deal for you, using specialist websites such as Zoopla or Rightmove, as well as their own shop window and email alerts to reach prospective buyers. Their broader understanding of the housing market lets them get the most out of your property, by finding the optimal price without sacrificing any competitive edge.

A further contribution that an estate agent can make to the home-selling process is a mastery of a deceivingly difficult discipline: negotiation. If you think you’ve found the property for you, but are put off by an overly bold wallpaper, an estate agent gives you an avenue to vent these concerns, without risking buyer-seller relations. While the stigma surrounding estate agents and their reliability may lead you to favour the transparency of direct buyer-seller negotiation, this is not an approach that many would advise you to take. On the matter of negotiation PrimeLocation have said that estate agents are ‘well equipped to manage the negotiation on your behalf and will make sure you get the best deal possible’.

For any who have concerns that the selling process will not meet their expectations, they need not worry, for the offer to purchase contract is here to protect you from disappointment. A qualified and licensed estate agent who has built up a familiarity with these contracts through working with them on a regular basis can be trusted to put together a contract that will help you through the process. This will also take the hassle out of the process for you while ticking all of your boxes along the way.

Many say that buying and selling a property is as stressful as getting married or divorced, but we believe this can be alleviated with the help of a trusted estate agent, to take control and ensure you get the deal you need. It is our view that if you’re looking to buy or sell in the local area, you need look no further than just down the road, for someone who is passionate and understands the community and what it offers. For residents of Epsom, Ewell, Banstead or Stoneleigh, we here at the Personal Agent will do all we can to ensure the process is as seamless as possible.