What Makes A Good Estate Agent
In the current property market it is essential to choose the right estate agency in order to sell your home quickly and at the best possible price. We have written this article in order to highlight the key areas you as a seller need to consider to help you choose the best estate agent for you.
How does the estate agency market your property?
An estate agency’s first job is to market your property.
Ideally a good estate agency will have a wide database of motivated buyers who they contact on a regular basis.
For example, here at Jonathan Waters, we send out daily emails to over 400 people, to notify them of new property instructions. This means that within hours of us taking on a property, buyers will be alerted to the new instruction, and will be able to view your full property details on our web site. We also send out property details in hard copy to buyers who prefer to receive them this way.
Another key aspect to a successful marketing campaign is to advertise your property online.
The estate agent’s own web site should be attractively designed and easy to use – to ensure buyers can find properties they may have driven past, or search for properties in their price range.
Jonathan Waters Estate Agents work hard on their web site to continually improve its ease of use. All properties are listed with full colour photos and floorplans showing the layout.
As well as the agent’s own site, there are a number of important portals, which advertise properties from many different estate agencies. Since these offer buyers a good overview of what is available, it is important your house or flat is amongst them.
We list your property on all of the main property portals, which include: Rightmove, Propertyfinder.com and Home.co.uk. These are continually reviewed, and new portals are considered as they come online.
It is also essential that your agent’s web site be well positioned in Google, Yahoo and MSN, so that they are highly visible to buyers searching online.
The Jonathan Waters’ web site is currently listed high up in the search results of Google, Yahoo and MSN for a wide variety of key phrases.
Does the company have an office that is easily accessible to buyers?
A town centre presence is a big help when selling property. Many people will browse in the window of the local estate agents whilst in town shopping or on their lunch break. Other buyers will prefer to visit an estate agency that is out of town and is therefore able to offer free parking.
Jonathan Waters Estate Agents (Ipswich branch) has two offices – one in the middle of Ipswich town centre and one on Foxhall Road East, where there is free road parking. All sellers’ properties are advertised in both branches, for maximum exposure and convenience to buyers.
How long has the estate agency been in business?
It is essential to choose an established estate agency to sell your home. This will help to eliminate hiccups and help your move proceed as smoothly and quickly as possible. Choosing an estate agency with over five years experience is a must, particularly in current times, where good local knowledge, experience and a tried and tested approach will help you achieve the best price without unnecessary delay.
Jonathan Waters Estate Agency was started in 1992 – in the depths of the housing market depression. We have therefore experienced both the good and bad years – and know how to move properties in all types of markets.
How does the estate agency price the properties they sell?
Some estate agencies overprice the properties they take on in order to win the contract. They entice the seller with inflated pricing and thoughts of achieving more from the sale – to make their proposal seem better than others.
The reality is though that a house is only worth a certain amount, and if the price starts too high it will then have to be reduced. The problem with this approach is that this delays the sale of the property, and may put some genuine buyers off viewing it because they think it is out of their price range.
Another problem with overpricing is that sellers may wait too long before accepting an offer. If they are expecting a certain figure and receive an offer that is lower than this, they may hold out for a better offer. This can lead to missed opportunities, and the property staying on the market for weeks – which can then appear to buyers that there is a problem with it.
Jonathan Waters Estate Agents aim to accurately price your property from the start. We have excellent knowledge of the local area, and will advise you on recent prices achieved for other similar properties in the nearby roads surrounding your home.
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