Are there any decent estate agents around?

Home & garden

Not exactly the right group to post this in, but semi related. I’m wanting to sell my flat and so far have had nothing but problems with the estate agents locally. Are there any decent ones out there that anyone can recommend?

26 Comments

  1. A competent estate agent is something of a contradiction in terms but Ive always found Bunch and Duke (who are agents and Chartered Surveyors, so somewhat more professional) to be good, though they wont try to hike the price of your flat into the stratosphere like the agents on Church Street or Keatons/ Foxtons will. This is their website. Lesley is the lady to speak to: http://www.bunchandduke.com/ If you want to save yourself a fortune on fees, I came across a flat fee estate agent last year while in the process of buying a place. They’ll advertise and book viewings in for you, but you have to let the people in (it’ll save you thousands though). The lady I was in contact with there was called Karen: http://www.fasttracksales.co.uk/ Hope that helps.

  2. Thanks Gavin, unfortunately i’ve already moved out and  have a small baby now, so won’t be able to do viewings easily which means I’ll definitely need to use the normal type of agent. Its a tough one, good agent or overhiked price. To be honest, when selling I think I’d rather define ‘good’ as whoever is going to work the hardest to get people through the door and get me the most money, so perhaps Bunch and Duke aren’t the guys for me? Are they too honest?!

  3. @flipjango Telling the vendor that their property is worth x doesn’t mean they’ll get it. Loads of agents try to flatter vendors with high evaluations only to drop them later when the property isn’t moving. I’ve only had dealings with Bunch& Duke as a potential buyer, but they did seem a cut above the rest in terms of their professionalism to me.

  4. True dat

  5. We bought through Keatons, but I spoke to most of them (as a buyer) in the time I was looking. My observation is that Keatons tends to get the best stock, get the highest sale prices and get really quick sales. Winkworth and FJ Lord were better at dressing up the photos, but generally quite crumby in reality,  and they tend to hang around for longer.

  6. Of course, there’s always Foxtons which is currently be fitted out on the corner of Mare St and Morning Lane;http://www.yeahhackney.com/foxtons-estate-agents-coming-to-mare-street/

  7. Good luck with their 3% fee!

  8. That’s what it is?! Free fizzy water for all! I’ve heard plans are afoot to protest against its opening.

  9. @robbieds On what grounds?

  10. I believe both Keatons and Foxtons have a 3% fee for sales with more than one agent, and you get a discount to 2.5% for them being sole agents. Smaller names will try to charge 1.5%, but you can negotiate. A friend of mine recently sold through Currel, who are quite professional on a discounted 1% fee. Or, if you have the time, you can try the internet agent route which can be as little as £500 fixed. Depends how well you think your place sells itself.

  11. Rayners.com are very helpful, no frills  very reasonable  rates and  open to negotiation

  12. @benjamin I think more as a focal point than being specifically worse than others – people love to hate Foxtons as a brand whereas Keatons or Currell or anything more local don’t provoke that kind of visceral reaction.

  13. I bought from Foxtons a few years ago and I can only say what scumbags they are. However, they literally will do anything to get a sale. I’m sure they would sell it quickly and for a good amount, but do I want to give them my money? Not sure if I do! If you were looking, would Keatons be on the map then? Seems like they may be best to start with? May have to negociate on the fee though. I’m had real problems with FJLord when I was letting it so not sure if I want to use them again. Its a good flat so should sell, but as it will be empty I’d like to to sell fast too!

  14. BTW, are there any internet only agents who still do viewings? I’m pretty happy to go down the internet route as seems the main way people look these days anyway, but I can’t do the viewings myself so still need a proper agent in that respect.

  15. Why not advertise with an internet agent, then give a trusted and sales savvy friend with some spare time xxx quid to show some people about the house on your behalf? Everybody’s happy….!

  16. That’s a really good idea. Might have to start thinking about who could do it.

  17. Hi Guys, We are members of yeah! Hackney and I like to think that we are one of ‘the good guys’ when it comes to Estate Agency. We have been established since 2004 from our offices in Shoreditch and have established ourselves as one of the leading agencies in the UK with numerous awards for our marketing, lettings and (importantly) Customer Service! From our offices in EC2 we specialise in City & East London but have sold and let bproperties in many areas across our great City. We are also one of the most positively reveiewed estate & letting agents in the whole of the UK- not bad for a single office independent. No shiny suits, no branded minis and no nonsense. Don’t just take my word for it though- type ‘base property reviews’ in to any search engine and you should easily find over 200 independent reviews from Tenants, Landlords, Sellers and Buyers alike. If you like what you read then hop on over to http://www.baseps.co.uk and check out ourt comprehensive website. I founded the company when I was 24 and we are just about to celebrate our 9 year anniversary- I like to think we do things very differently (and much better) than 99% of all other agents out there. Feel free to call me directly on 07968 469 358 or call the office during working hours on 020 7033 1901 Hope to hear from you soon- Kristjan P.S. I have also just started a topic in the lettings group to answer anyone’ property questions/problems. If we can help, we will!

  18. I found that estate agents wouldn’t call me for the properties I wanted – as they’re the same properties other people want, so they just go within a couple of viewings, so why would they phone their list of 30 people? Instead, I would get called for the ‘problem properties’. So instead I wrote a scraper to poll local estate agent websites, and email me if a new one appears on a road I like.

  19. @goodlegs interesting is it on scraperwiki or your own host?

  20. @ewebber my own host, only really made it for my own use. Actually would be good to speak to someone who knows a bit more about web programming as there are some sites it’s quite hard to get to work programatically

  21. Not a suggestion, but the Winkworth PR gumph-babble we got through the door today was hilarious. Whoop look at us we’ve got the ‘London Knowledge’! Just like cabbies! Only we’ve even more experience! And cabbies drive Hackney Carriages and we sell properties in Hackney! We use lots of words like unique and innovative! Cheers

  22. I’ve been talking to Bunch and Duke, they’ve been around in Hackney since the late 1800s so really do have the knowledge. Friendly and local.

  23. @flipjango Foxtons on Mare Street – which are opening on Saturday 20th April – have a special offer on of 0% commission for local sellers.

  24. Crikey no! I asked for GOOD estate agents!

  25. (I actually sold privately in the end through House Network who I can’t recommend highly enough. I sold it on the first day of viewings).

  26. Hey guys- not bragging but we really are good at what we do- and people seem to love us too (over 250 glowing online reviews). Happy to give advice & help if I can- been doing this job for nearly 20 years- 9 of those starting & running base. If you post specific questions on here I’ll fire over some answers for you…

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