Why We Need To Learn To Love Estate Agents

Submitted by: Ben Greenwood

It s fair to say that the relationship between the general public and estate agents isn t exactly the strongest; years of broken promises, unhappy experiences and undervalued houses have led to the kind of begrudging have-to-do-it relationship usually reserved for weary couples staying together for the kids .

Does it have to be like this though? Surely selling a home would be so much easier if we got along in harmony? Not necessarily a deep-seated love, but at least a cordial relationship in which we want the best for each other.

The fragile relationship has gone on for too long it s time to learn to love estate agents.

As with any relationship, the first step to rehabilitation is admitting we both have our issues. Estate agents, on the whole, have suffered for the practises of a few the unscrupulous agents out for money who care more about wallets rather than homes.

Perhaps they ve been guilty of twisting the truth too; being a middle man when one wasn t needed. But they ve changed; legislation has seen to that.

On our side, we need to admit we ve been a bit harsh on estate agents perhaps in the heat of the moment, when we re most stressed about moving home, we ve been too quick to blame estate agents.

The second step to solving our issues to consider what we offer each other and why we need to stay together. Let s be honest with ourselves; we can t sell a home by ourselves. Estate agents have always been there to help us along and make sure we ve not under- or overvaluing our property. They know their area s property market like the back of their hand. After all, they are paid to.

They also know all the right people, and have the budget to get our house marketed to all the right people. They can afford newspaper adverts, they know who might be interested in our houses and best of all, they ve got extensive databases of potential buyers.

For buyers, estate agents have been a guiding hand into sometimes uncharted worlds. Think about when you were viewing your first home in a scary new city. The estate agents know local areas and can give you guidance. Okay, so they may have some vested interests, but on the whole, making you feel comfortable and knowledgeable about an area helps them make a sale.

We need to be honest with ourselves and say we haven t always acted honestly with our agents either. We ve tried to negotiate knock-down fees and then wondered why our service hasn t been as spectacular as usual. We need to realise that we can t try and trick estate agents and an open, mutually honest relationship is beneficial to both of us.

Have you ever signed a contract without reading the small print and then felt tied down to poor service? Consider that this may be our fault after all, as much as you may think an estate agent tried to hide something, they didn t. You merely ignored it. By carefully reading contracts, we can make sure that we aren t tying ourselves down to something we re not sure about.

About the Author: Ben Greenwood is writing on behalf of

Shepherd Gilmour

,

letting agents

specialising in Manchester City Centre property

Source:

isnare.com

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