What should you expect from your Agent?

Whatever your views... very few people sell their home without them...

What do they do?

Selling a home need not be that complicated - make it attractive, choose the right estate agent and be prepared to show people around. Dealing with buyers initially and even agreeing the price can be fairly straightforward.

At this stage the relationship between you and your buyer is likely to be convivial, after all they have seen your home once or twice, have seen that it meets their needs, and you have both been saying all the right things at the right times.

It is often once an offer has been accepted that things can get tough, and the agents earn their fee.

Good agents do more by not just bringing together buyers and sellers but by making sure that your sale reaches completion - often 10 - 12 weeks later; it is not until this stage that the agents will receive a penny of their fee.

Agents market themselves to ensure that buyers and sellers are attracted to them in abundance. They maintain databases of likely buyers who could be interested in your home. Some will be in a position to buy very quickly; others will take a little longer for the owners to find a property themselves.

If the buyer is short on funds, the chances are that agents have access to many different financial institutions or mortgage schemes that allow the buyer to buy.

They will handle all of the difficult parts of the process for you. By acting as a professional go-between they can encourage the different parties involved to act more quickly (or slowly).

Be prepared that in some cases the buyer will want to re-negotiate the price after receiving their mortgage valuation or Survey.

Re-negotiating is often less straightforward than arranging the sale and often leads to disharmony between buyer and seller. This really is where the agent earns the fee because it is in their interest, as well as yours, to keep the sale alive.

Very few transactions stand entirely alone, most involve chains. It may not be your buyer who is being difficult but it could be someone much further down the chain that holds up everyone. A really good agent will get to know exactly what is happening throughout the chain and be prepared to help.