Estate agents will often help those hoping to move and try to make the process as simple as possible. Selling a property is not an easy task so getting an experts opinion can make the process easier. However, some estate agents will not always give the best tips, an expert warned.
When choosing which estate agents to go use, it can be tempting to pick the one which gives homeowners the highest valuation for their property.
However, if a price seems too good to be true, it probably is, Jamie Salisbury, property expert at digital estate agency, Nested, explained.
He told Express.co.uk: “Be careful of choosing the estate agent who gave you the highest valuation.
“This is often a tactic used to win your business, and is not necessarily based on the true market value.”
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Some agents may overvalue a property in the hopes of enticing sellers when it is not actually possible to get that price.
Instead of accepting a high valuation, homeowners can do their own research to see how much they could actually get.
“Ask the agent to provide you with similar properties to yours that have sold for that price,” he added.
What’s more, putting a property on the market for a high asking price can actually make it more difficult to sell.
“If you go on the market with an unrealistic asking price it may leave you on the market for longer, which will delay your move.”
If the property is listed for more than similar homes, it could be left on the market and slow down the process.
When picking an estate agent, it is also important to be careful before signing up for a contract.
Some estate agents will try to sign up sellers up for contracts for as long as 26 weeks, an expert explained.
This can further slow down the selling process and leave sellers out of pocket as a result.
There are a number of other things agents may do that could slow down the selling process, Tom Scarborough, CEO of Movewise, explained.
“You need an open house to sell” and “only use one estate agency” is a common trick used by estate agents to get exclusivity on selling a property.
He said: “This is an American tradition but very rare here in the UK.”
While an open house may be recommended to some homeowners, it is not always necessary to sell a property.
“The main thing is that the house is presentable and clutter-free at key times; evenings and weekends,” he added.
The expert explained some estate agents will say it looks desperate to use more than one agent, but it could actually be beneficial to the seller.