What to Look For When Choosing the Right Estate Agent or Auctioneer to Sell Your Property
When choosing your Estate Agent you need to get a person who is a good negotiator, someone who knows the locality, knows the current status of the property market locally and someone who will get you the best price in an honest, transparent and professional fashion. We now set out in more detail what you need to consider when choosing the right Estate Agent or Auctioneer
1) Property Services Regulatory Authority
The Minister for Justice and Equality, Established the Property Services Regulatory Authority after the enactment of theProperty Services (Regulation) Act 2011, The main function of the Authority is to control and regulate Property Services Providers (i.e. Auctioneers/Estate Agents, Letting Agents and management Agents) this includes the licensing of all such services providers, the establishment of a complaints investigation and redress system for consumers, the setting and enforcement of standards in the provision of property services, the administration of client accounts, the establishment and maintenance of a compensation fund and the creation of a Public Register for Licensed Property service providers. It is important to ensure that the person you engage to sell your property with or who you are buying the property through is Registered and licenced. They must have details of their registration number on all their stationary and in practice should have it on all promotional items.
2) Specific Area and Locality Knowledge
Your Estate Agent or Auctioneer needs to be able to sell the area as well as the property. You should ask the agent to list off hand the benefits of purchasing or selling the property in the specific area. He/she needs to be able to without reference to a brochure list all the schools, transport options, recreational amenities and all such local matters that are important in the context of the principal location, location, location !!
3) Negotiating Skills:
When selling your property you need a good negotiator who is highly skilled in the art of negotiating. It is important to ensure that you will not only get someone who will get the best sale price but also someone who is capable of ensuring the successful bidder is capable of closing the deal and is financially capable of signing unconditional contracts for sale. There is no point in having a bidding war on a property where the successful bidder is tied into a long line where they will only be able to purchase after a number of other property purchases and sales in the line also close. A good negotiator can easily mean an extra ten percent on your selling price. To discover if an agent is a skilled negotiator, ask the agent to teach you something about negotiation. If you are not impressed with what you hear, if you do not learn something worthwhile, do not hire the agent.
4) Strong list of Qualified Buyers
The best Estate Agents maintain records of potential buyers. Many times, the agents will find the right buyer very quickly because the buyers are already known to them from other properties they may have recently bid upon. Competent agents know how to attract buyers. They make it easy for buyers to buy. These agents will make themselves readily available to genuine buyers.
5) Get a Quotation and Valuation
When you are agreeing on a Sales Estate Agent you will need to ensure that you get a detailed note on costs and outlays in respect of the sale of your property. You need to be aware what costs will be incurred in the event that your property is not sold by the estate agent. You need to establish the minimum sale price or Valuation that you will agree to sell your property at from the outset and this should be noted in your contract with the estate agent. It should be noted that if you go sale agreed with an individual and they ultimately decide to not proceed then you are the one that will be left with the financial costs associated with that as the purchaser who pulls out of the sale. This purchaser will be entitled to a refund of 100% of their booking deposit if they withdraw before the signing of contracts. In such circumstances you must be in a position to know if there are going to be additional costs incurred by you with your estate agent in placing the property back on the market.
If you have any additional queries in relation to anything set out herein please do not hesitate in contacting us directly. We can give advice in relation to all aspects of the property sale and purchase transactions and these advices are included in our fixed low cost conveyance fees. Call us in the office on 01 2300022 or by e-mail at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.