5 Huge Mistakes To Avoid When Choosing An Estate Agent

A good agent will help you set a realistic price for your property, advise you on the best way to sell it, develop a professional marketing campaign, and negotiate on your behalf to help you get the very best price. He or she will also help you avoid many of the other big mistakes you could make in selling your home. Some of these mistakes we have listed below for you.

Choosing the wrong agent
There can be big differences between the agents out there, and choosing the wrong agent can be one of the worst decisions you’ll ever make. Not only can it lead to a lower selling price and delays, but also lots of unnecessary frustration. Yet, amazingly, almost half of sellers appoint the first agent they meet.
An inexperienced or unprofessional agent can cause all kinds of stresses and lose you money. The wrong agent might give you bad pricing advice, not market your home effectively, and waste time with buyers who aren’t serious. Worse still, he or she may chase a quick sale and may not fight for the best price for you.
You also need to feel comfortable with and trust an agent, and be able to work with him or her through what could be a stressful sales process.
So do your research before hiring an agent and make sure to avoid the following 7 mistakes

Mistake Number 1. Overpricing Your Property
Pricing a property is not an exact science, but over-pricing could lose you money. Properties that are overpriced at the outset tend to eventually sell at a lower price than they would have if they’d been appropriately priced in the first place.
Setting your house price too high will limit the number of buyers you get through the door and cause your house to sit on the market for too long. When that happens, buyers start to wonder what is wrong with it. Many agents will overprice your house just so you will give them the business. Beware of this trick.

Mistake Number 2. No Marketing Plan Or Case Studies
Many agents will turn up to a valuation/market appraisal with nothing only their opinions. A good agent should turn up to your home prepared. They should have a sample of a marketing plan for a home with them to show you, the vendor, of what they can achieve for your particular property. One size does not fit all when it comes to marketing what is, more than likely, your most valuable asset. In many cases a bespoke marketing effort will increase offers and values by as much 10, 15 or 20,000 euro. Added to this, it’s really important to have an understanding of how your marketing and sales process will run. The perfect tool for this is a case study. Ask your prospective agent to guide you through examples.

Mistake Number 3. An Agent In Too Much Of A Hurry and Has No Timelines
When considering selling your home you may have many other ‘irons in the fire’. You may be trying to purchase a new home at the same time or indeed trying to establish your exact next move. A good agent will discuss realistic timelines with you and help you decide on a plan of action for progress. When will your ‘Marketing Action Plan’ begin? When are you likely to get offers? When you do accept an offer how long does it take to close the sale? When can I make offers on my new home?

Mistake Number 4. Not Following Your Gut Instinct
Lets face it, your gut instinct has got you this far. So ask yourself is this agent all they are cracked up to be. Do they have solid testimonials? A good agent will have testimonials on social media or their website. Are these real? Is the agent someone you can work with. Do they know it all (in a bad way)? Are they listening to you or talking at you? Is the agent just looking for a listing or are they interested in your property? Do they make recommendations for repair or paint? Do they tell you what they think you want to hear or actually give good advice?

Mistake Number 5. Hiring A Lazy Agent With No Back-Up Plan-
Not every home sells at first launch and some take a little more work than others. This is not unusual, therefore a good agent will discuss in detail with you what their plan of action is if your house does not get any suitable offers within the first 6 weeks. A bad agent will ask you to drop your price without discussing any other viable tactics. Remember its the agents job to ensure that you have as many viewers as possible at your home. A good agent will have a plan B!

Finally
Okay I know we said 5 Mistakes but here is one more

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