Are All Estate Agents the Same? Here's Why Your Choice Really Matters

Selling your home can be slow, stressful, and full of uncertainty.

Estate agents are meant to make it easier… but they’re among the least trusted professions in the UK.

Over the last 15 years I’ve sold over 650 properties through estate agents though—so I’ve dealt with more of them than I can count.

So, does it matter which estate agent you choose? Or are they all the same?

Estate agents are not all the same. There’s a huge difference between the best and the worst. The best ones can help you achieve a faster sale, a higher price, and deliver a smoother experience. So choosing the right one absolutely does matter. It’s one of the most important decisions you’ll make when selling your property.

In the next 5 minutes we’ll cover:

• What the good estate agents actually do…
• ‍How choosing the wrong one will impact your sale…
• Finally, I’ll share some resources to help make sure you pick the best one.

Let’s jump in.

1. What good estate agents actually do

Estate agents sell houses, right?

Well, yes. But there are three parts to it:

1. ‍Marketing.
   ‍They work to generate as much interest as possible for your home, as quickly as possible.‍
2. Negotiation.
   ‍Once they have offers, they need to negotiate for you, and push buyers up to their highest price. Then they need to negotiate the terms of a potential sale (i.e. the deadlines).‍
3. Sales progression.
   ‍Once a sale is agreed, they need to proactively push it forward. The work they do is meant to help get the sale completed as quickly as possible and reduce the chance of it falling through.

That’s the idea. That’s what good agents are meant to be doing.

2. What bad estate agents do…

This is what most estate agents do though (the bad ones)…

• ‍They wait for buyers to come to them. (Instead of going out and finding them.)‍
• They push you to accept mediocre offers. (Instead of pushing for great ones.)‍
• They fail to negotiate deadlines. (Instead of setting firm expectations.)‍
• They wait—and hope—that the sale completes. (Instead of pushing it forward and resolving issues.)

So how will it impact you if you get a bad estate agent?

How bad estate agents will impact you

Based on personally dealing with 1,000+ estate agents, and selling over £100M worth of property through them, here’s how I’ve found bad estate agents will impact you:

• ‍You get a slower sale.
  (Because you wait longer for buyers. And once you have a sale, it can drag on much longer.)‍
• You get a lower price.
  (Because you get fewer buyers—which means more price reductions and fewer bidding wars. You’re also pushed to accept mediocre offers—and you’ll never know what you’re missing out on.)‍
• You face a higher chance of fall-throughs.
  (Because they aren’t proactively moving sales forward. They’re just hoping it all works out.)

So, a poor estate agent will cost you money, cause delays, and create masses of stress and frustration.

A poor estate agent will cost you money, cause delays, and create masses of stress and frustration.

And we’re not talking small differences. We’re talking huge sums of money, and months—or years—of wasted time. For example:

• ‍£50k loss.
  I’ve spoken with sellers priced £50,000 under market value because their agent is doing such a terrible job. (The agent kept telling them to reduce the price. And because there was no interest, the owner went along with it.) But the estate agent’s incompetence is literally costing this seller £50,000.‍
• Two-year delay.
  I’ve spoken with clients who’ve waited 2 years for their agent to sell their house. But when I’ve looked, the estate agent was making obvious mistakes that contributed to those delays.‍
• Nervous breakdowns.
  I’ve spoken with dozens of sellers having real nervous breakdowns (or on the verge) because of the stress their agent’s incompetence has caused.

These stories are not uncommon. They can easily happen when you choose the wrong estate agents.

That’s why choosing the right estate agent is one of the most important parts of your house sale.

3. How to find the best estate agent

The next question is… how do I find the best estate agent?

Most home sellers will choose the estate agent who:

• Gave the highest valuation…
• Or the best sales pitch…
• Or the lowest fee.

But in my experience, each one of these will actually lead you to the worst estate agents!

Over more than 15 years, I’ve developed a 3-Step Process for finding the best estate agents. (And no—it doesn’t rely on comparison sites, or recommendations from friends and family.)

You can learn more about it in this free 45-min video. It breaks down the five things to get right when you list with an estate agent, including how to find the best estate agent for your sale.