Which Estate Agents should we use?

[lifeafter40 10]

I sold my house in woodseats with Blundells. They kept me informed at all times and managed to get more than the asking price. Even after the house was sold they kept in touch with the solicitors and buyers making sure the process went through smoothly. A job well done and certainly worth the fee.

[mogwai84 10]

Current experience as a buyer:

 

Blundells - seem ok and well organised. Will get back in touch to arrange viewings, and follow-up phonecalls

Haybrooks - impressed from a buyers perspective... very keen to get you around houses and the house we're currently buying they got us in before it went up on rightmove. They're more expensive than blundells according to a colleague, and they insist on doing the viewings with an EA. Currently the sale is going through and they've kept us informed and so far so good.

Bloor - awful, they ignored our request for viewings which personally I think is absolutely criminal

Saxon Mee - slow to arrange things and slow to ask about feedback

 

My feeling is that there's probably a good reason why Haybrook and Blundells are so popular...

[WS Joinery 10]

I agree with BettyBooHoo! - steer clear of Haybrooks as they pull you in by giving you all the usual talk but once you're with them - they don't do anything!! Currently on with Blundells who seem a lot better.

[craig12 10]

they dont sell your house //they do not know how to sell a house based on negotiation, they have a price for you and they believe theres a buyer for that price wether it be 3 months or 3 yrs, weve put loads of offers in and heard nothing, we now go door knocking and deal direct

Edited June 27, 2011 by craig12

[ryanb93 10]

I also dont recommend Haybrooks, didnt do much for me!

[artfullodger 10]

Here's a site I came across recently that has lots of practical advice for choosing the best estate agent to sell a house. It also compares estate agents to find which one is best to sell your particular property: http://www.whichpropertyagent.co.uk/property-news/top-ten-tips-for-choosing-an-estate-agent-to-sell-your-house

 

By the looks of it the site is still in "beta" until mid July while they sign up agents but if you rate an agent who has sold or let a property for you in the last, they give you access to discounts at B&Q which can be handy: http://www.whichpropertyagent.co.uk/rating

[D.O.N.E 10]

I used Blundells to get a valuation when paying out my ex. Not wanting to be underhand (to the ex) I asked for a fair valuation and paid her half. A couple of years later,2007, I decided to sell. Got Blundells back for another valuation. Spent 9 months trying to sell due to Blundells overvalueing, BOTH times. Finished up reducing the price and loseing out to the tune of arround £30,000. Thanks a million Blundells.

[chocki 13]

Wouldn't touch Saxton Mee with a bargepole. My friend's house has been up for sale for over 3 YEARS and it's still not sold. Although my friend would like to take it off the market with them, they have been told if they do this, they will have to pay Saxton Mee a few hundred pounds but my friend doesn't think they have earned the money so doesn't want to pay it Stalemate really

[Mogster 10]

I'm using Winkworths currently. They are very nice people but couldn't organise a proverbial in a brewery! That said they do appear to have sold my house, but I'd say it's despite them rather than because of them. Haybrooks are aggressive verging on harrassment, Blundells I wouldn't trust as far as I could throw them based on my own previous experience and anecdotes from friends. The only ones I have heard anything good about are Bairstow Eves. I think you are swimming with sharks with estate agents so good luck!

[Diddles 10]

To be honest we've had no problems with Haybrooks at Gleadless. We got a valuation from them which was what we were expecting, and they got us quite a few viewings within the first 2 days, and the house was sold within 5 days. They do seem to shift a lot of houses in our area.

[kittykat 10]

Wouldn't touch Saxton Mee with a bargepole. My friend's house has been up for sale for over 3 YEARS and it's still not sold. Although my friend would like to take it off the market with them, they have been told if they do this, they will have to pay Saxton Mee a few hundred pounds but my friend doesn't think they have earned the money so doesn't want to pay it Stalemate really

 

We're using saxton mee and are quite impressed actually. Their quote was the lowest commission (and we had a few different companies round to compare) We have had far more viewings than we expected, and so far saxton mee have always rung us back the day after with feedback from the viewers. I would suggest the poster above friend is possibly pricing the property too high, and thats why it hasnt sold??? I would also advise people not to bother with online only estate agents, unless you live in a very sought after area in a sought after house that you are pricing competatively, and are 100% sure will sell... we got a lot of viewings arranged after putting it in the property guide, and not so many through people seeing it on the internet.

[rainbow sky 10]

Wouldn't touch Saxton Mee with a bargepole. My friend's house has been up for sale for over 3 YEARS and it's still not sold. Although my friend would like to take it off the market with them, they have been told if they do this, they will have to pay Saxton Mee a few hundred pounds but my friend doesn't think they have earned the money so doesn't want to pay it Stalemate really

 

We have just sold ours in April with Saxton, and had no problems at all. Also the year before we had ours advertised with Saxton but the owner of the house we were buying pulled out at last minute and we decided to remove ours from market, Saxton never asked for a penny from us, we had already paid for advertising up front but they never asked for anything else.