Choosing the Right Estate Agent

You may have heard that selling a home is more stressful than going through a divorce. In fact, venturing into the property market can be an emotional and stressful time for many people.

Choose the right estate agent to sell your home

This is the first article of a 3-part series in which you’ll find a complete home owner’s survival guide.

We explore the three key areas that can help you get the best price in the shortest time possible.

Part 2 is about “Getting Your Home Ready For The Sale” and in the final article, Part 3, we discuss some of the things that you can do, as the seller, to “Help Turn ‘For Sale’ Into ‘Sold’ Fast”.

How to Choose the Right Estate Agent

In this first edition of three articles, you will read about some important tips on finding the right estate agent to sell your home. Choosing the right estate agent is critical to minimising the potential for painful real estate lessons or expensive contractual problems in the days or weeks ahead.

Use an agent that’s well known and highly regarded:
This is the key ingredient to a successful property transaction. Luck plays no role when it comes to selling property and agents have to work extremely hard to sell consistently, particularly when the market enters a quieter period. Working with an agent or agency that is well known and highly regarded in the industry is key.

In today’s market, successful agents must cultivate influence and utilise all available resources in order to maximise results. The best agents are well known and highly regarded by their competition.

Where it benefits the seller, such agents frequently collaborate with other estate agents, including opposition colleagues, to share information and even buyers for a share of the agents fee. That’s why it helps to choose a respected agent that has good standing in the industry.

Competing in a ruthless market:
It pays to use a professional who is equiped with all the right knowledge and tools at their disposal, that knows how to sell a property and is aware of what needs to be done to achieve the best price as fast as prevailing conditions will allow.

Fidelity Fund Certificate:
Is the agent a fully qualified operator? The industry has standards with which all estate agents have to comply. Buyers know that they can ask to see an agent’s certificate and it’s a criminal offense to operate without one. So it’s worth making sure that these credentials are in place.

Local knowledge is King:

Local knowledge is King

It helps if the agent lives in, or has at least worked in your neighbourhood. The agent is more likely to be au fait with the local market conditions.

An estate agent who resides in your suburb is equipped to know how best to present the strengths and weaknesses of your location to potential buyers. This goes a long way to helping reassure nervous buyers and it will inspire confidence in out-of-town buyers who may be unfamiliar with your area.

Frans Theunissen of Fisherhaven Properties fulfils all these requirements. Frans launched his estate agency more than 30 years ago and has lived and worked in the area ever since. He has more than 30 years of experience marketing property in the Overberg and he enjoys putting happy buyers and sellers together.