Estate Agents

Why should I use an estate agent?

Well, an estate agent will be instructed in lots and lots of properties. It's like a one-stop shop. And most importantly, they'll sit down with you and determine whether what you want is affordable or not and then help you find it.

Why is it important to choose the right estate agent?

Well, finding a good estate agent is vital, particularly in England, because I'm afraid agents don't share fees. So you'll end up dealing with an awful lot of estate agents. In most foreign countries, particularly in North America, you go into one estate agent you'll find they have everybody's properties on their books. So here you'll end up going to lots of different estate agents. Hopefully end up finding one or two that you actually get on with. It's really quite important.

Does it cost anything to use an estate agent?

Traditionally in England and Wales the fees are paid by the seller, so normally it wouldn't cost anything to use an estate agent to buy a property. My very strong personal opinion is that if you find an estate agent you like, you can pay that estate agent a buyer's commission and they can then go out into the market, completely short circuit the process and go into to any estate agent and buy their property because they're not trying to take a fee from that agent. It's a little known fact and it's well worth trying if you find a good estate agent.