When an estate agent comes out see you, after they have given you their opinion on value, they will try to give you a presentation about the company they work for and explain why you should choose them to sell your property. Much of what you are told will follow a similar theme.
All agents have websites; all agents have access to property papers and property portals. In fact we all have access to much the same pool of applicants. Agents will tell you that their network of offices helps them draw on a wider range of buyers. This may have been true before the internet but now buyers have access to the Internet they can access available properties at the click of a mouse.
So why is it that this agent can do a better job than the others? What is it that we can use to make Mr and Mrs Buyer offer on your house rather than the one down the road? What is our unique selling point? It is our experience! In fact between the principal selling staff in Wokingham and Crowthorne we have over 100 years of handling properties in the area.
There are those who believe that all estate agents have to do is place an advert in the paper or on the internet and then sit back and wait for the offers to flood in. If that perception were true then all the agents with good staff and high profile offices would have closed during the credit crunch. Instead the reverse is true; those who relied on inexperienced staff and low cost marketing techniques closed their doors first. Our biggest investment is our staff because it is those very staff that have consistently made us one of the most successful estate agents in the areas we operate.
Often we get calls from homeowners who will say, "I don't want to know what you do, I just want to know how cheap your fee is?" Fair enough, but ask yourself this. If the agent responds to the question by immediately dropping his fee how hard will that agent work to get you the best possible price. If he caved in on what he gets paid how much does he care about what you get?
We do everything we can to get as much money from a prospective buyer as possible, Why? Because that is what you have employed us to and if we do it right you, the home owner, will remember what we have done and will use us again when you make your next move. We are a small local firm and our reputation is everything to us. Between 65 and 70% of our clients are repeat business or by recommendation. Given the poor reputation of estate agents this is no mean feat!
We aren’t the biggest agent nor are we the cheapest, none of us drive a Mini with the company name emblazoned on it and nobody wears gel in their hair because most of us haven’t got enough hair! We don’t wear flash suits or loud ties. If we were a car we would be a Volkswagen Golf, not too flashy not too staid but get the job done with a little bit of style! If you instruct us to sell your house we won’t give you cause to regret it!