Estate agents and what they do
There are many professional estate agents in operation and the service they offer can be worth its weight in gold.
Please remember though that estate agents' fees are normally between 1.5 and 3% of your property's sale price. So if your house sells for say £250,000, you will pay them anything from £3,750 - £7,500 in commission.
What does an estate agent do?
Setting a selling price for your property
An estate agent will visit your property and may suggest three prices for you to consider:
- An asking price
- A fair price – if you cannot achieve the asking price
- A lower price – likely to sell the property within six weeks
Please remember that these price guides are the agent's opinion of how much he or she thinks they can sell your house for, so it's worth getting the opinion of at least 3, who have a good understanding of the property market in your area. Estate agents are not legally entitled to provide a survey, only a surveyor can do that.
Use the estate agent's knowledge. Ask questions to find out how the property market is moving in your area, how many viewings to expect and what percentage of the original asking price you can expect. This is important market information which will help you set the price.
Arrange a contract
An estate agent will draw up and send you a contract based on 'sole agency', 'sole selling rights', 'multiple agency', 'joint sole agency' or 'ready, willing and able' terms. Make sure you read the agreement terms and the small print in detail and question anything you're unsure about.
Sell privately at the same time
Under a 'sole agency' contract, you generally have the option of selling privately at the same time. The estate agent you've appointed is the only estate agent with the right to sell your property. However, in general you can still sell your property yourself under this type of contract. The estate agent can only charge commission if they are responsible for selling your property because they introduced the buyer to you or if the buyer was introduced by another estate agent during the sole agency period (and that period could be several months long).
It’s still important to read the contract wording to make sure – and ask your agent to amend it if need be. If using an Internet Property Retailer (IPR) to sell your house, be particularly careful to check that your contract does not contain a clause which prevents you from using IPRs at the same time as using the services of the estate agent.
Measuring and photographs
The agent will take accurate measurements of the dimensions of your rooms with a sonic measure and take photographs for your property details. These should be forwarded to you for checking and signing off before they're printed.
Put together a Home Information Pack (HIP)
As of 1st August 2007, the Government launched compulsory Home Information Packs (HIPS) to make buying and selling clearer and more straightforward. This initially only affected sellers of properties with at least four bedrooms, then from 10th September 2007 this was extended to properties with at least three bedrooms, and as of 14th December 2007 all properties for sale must have a HIP available to buyers.
If you instruct an estate agent to market your property, then the estate agent is legally obliged to arrange a HIP and it's very likely that agents or legal companies will offer a HIP bundled as part of their service. As a private seller, you can arrange the HIP yourself.