Some good reasons to use an Estate Agent
Only recently did the OFT come out and suggest consumers should consider “private seller platforms”. Perhaps implying a need for awareness? Prospective buyers who come to view your property could well come looking for alternative means such as your car and other personal possessions. Estate agents generally are very good at assessing enquirers needs and obtaining the relevant information. So why would you risk all to avoid paying a fee to an Estate Agent?
- Professional presentation
Having a camera on a phone or owning a digital camera doesn’t make us all professional photographers! At David Phillip Estate Agents we use professional photographers with high technical equipment and high-quality details to ensure that your property, externally and internally, is sufficiently portrayed to encourage people to view.
- Car theft
Thieves are known to target private sellers deliberately who may be easily distracted as they are so pre-occupied with trying, so hard, to sell their home. Car keys are often left near the front door. An experienced estate agent will spot a bogus buyer a mile off.
- Identity theft
Bank statements are often left on kitchen work tops. An experienced agent who may well conduct and control a viewing knows how to balance it without letting a buyer out of their sight and can instinctively sense unusual behaviour. Why risk your own security and family too?
- Potential gazundering
A private seller may well miss all the subtle clues that an experienced agent can pick upon just at the point of exchange, get blackmailed out of thousands of pounds seeking a massive price reduction at the eleventh hour, what are your options, reduce drastically, or lose your buyer and then the home you thought you were about to buy?
- Weakest link
Rarely does a seller think that by going alone and without an experienced hand behind them, it makes them a potentially weak link and a high-risk buyer in the eyes of another vendor. At David Phillip Estate Agents we will guide the process from start to finish and flag up potential pitfalls at the point of the offer.
- Personal safety
A private seller at the excitement of a potential sale may not want to get off to a strained start by asking detailed and awkward question like seeing written confirmation of proof of funding, email addresses, mobile, work and home landline numbers which is an experienced agent will do. Also, they will not only take care of their own staff safety, but they will do this automatically for their clients. Part of this filtering process will sense any evasiveness.
- Negotiations and re-negotiations
A private seller is rarely polished in the art of negotiating/re-negotiating and property can be much more of a beast than general sales negotiations. An experienced agent will have built up a thorough understanding of needs and emotions, all the invaluable tools the private seller will rarely have at their disposal.
- Make it happen
Most people want to move in a calm, confident and re-assured manner. This is far more likely to occur under professional guidance and a little extra peace of mind is perhaps worth the cost. Experienced agents take pride in what they do and when there is no sale, generally no fee! David Phillip Estate Agents take pride in providing an “end to end” experience to make it happen. View their website: davidphillip.co.uk