Published: 10/09/2018 By Stephanie Wright
Balham is one of London’s most densely populated locations for estate agents. From independent estate agents to large corporate agents, clients have a wide range of businesses and business models to choose from. This always begs the question; why do property owners choose the agent that they do?
Most of the time property owners appoint estate agents with a strong reputation for selling properties close to their own property, or from a personal recommendation that a friend or family member has passed on. But surely there is more to selecting an Estate Agent to represent you than just a few Sold Boards and a singular good experience from an acquaintance. Whenever I go about appointing someone to work for me or to work on my behalf, I always want to get to know them first. Do I gel with them? Could I imagine spending time with them? What are their motivations? And various other questions that would help me to decide whether to enlist their services or not.
What’s good for one client is not always good for another. For example, if you were to tell me that the Estate Agent that I instructed to sell my house had twenty sales negotiators, I wouldn’t feel very comfortable. I wouldn’t think that all twenty estate agents would know me and my motivation for selling, I wouldn’t have a personal connection with them, and I almost certainly wouldn’t think that they had my best interests at heart. In reverse, some property owners believe that the more agents they have working for them, the higher the chance of them selling and selling for a fantastic price. I would have agreed with that sentiment before the Internet span this industry on its head, but with Hybrid and Online agents it seems a little bit old-fashioned to think that all estate agents don’t have the same buyer pulling power.
In an ideal world, I would want to meet every person that will have a role in the sale of my property. I certainly wouldn’t want someone to try and sell my property without knowing all of the more aspects that make my property special.
This is why I continue to believe that there will always be a place for independent estate agents who provide personal service and full accountability.