Choose your estate agent carefully

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"This is far and away the most important decision a homeowner can make when the time comes to sell," said Rawson, "and sellers need to be ultra-careful in the way they go about making their choice of agents. They should, to quote a Rawson Property Group mantra, be looking for the man or woman who will get them the best possible price in the shortest possible time with the least possible inconvenience.

"The plain truth is that, as in so many other fields, the star performers are not thick on the ground and so need to be sought out if you want the very best performance."

The very first step in the selection process, said Rawson, should be to establish that the agent is operating legally, i.e. is registered with the Estate Agency Affairs Board and has an up-to-date Fidelity Fund Certificate or positive proof, e.g. previous certificates that he is entitled to and has applied for this.

A list of sales

In going about the selection, said Rawson, a good next step is to ask for a list of the sales in which this agent - not his colleagues or fellow agents in the same agency - has himself recently been involved.

"It may be that if the agent is operating in an expensive area in the current market he will sell only one home every two or three months, but if three or four agents are interviewed the seller will soon find out which of them are the real performers."

Driving around the area to count the sales boards can also be a useful indicator of how keen and active a particular agency is, but it should be realised that a large stock list does not necessarily indicate that the agency or agent is efficient, said Rawson.

As a next step, he added, the seller should try to talk to anyone else who has sold or bought a home in the area recently. Obviously, some 80% of what the homeowner will hear will be irrelevant or a personal opinion on which too much store should not be set. However, conversations of this kind will be likely to show up any real non-performers and they can also often reveal which of the new boys - or girls - on the block are making a name for themselves. Quite often these new performers are beginning to outclass the old agents who have been in the area for some time.

Who is advertising most?

In addition, said Rawson, the home seller should be looking at the local newspapers and the agencies' websites to find out who is advertising the most and the most attractively.

"No good agent ever made the grade without advertising a great deal," he said, "and it has to be accepted that today the advertising on internet media can be just as important as that in the printed media, even though not as expensive."

The seller, said Rawson, should also take the trouble to visit show houses in the area to assess just how well or badly they are being managed. These will give a very good signpost to the agent's true ability.

"The way in which the agent deals with a prospective homeowner (and they have no means of knowing that the visitor is not a possible buyer) will tell the enquirer a great deal about the agent's professionalism. In particular, he should take note of how quickly and how effectively any follow-up phone calls and contact are handled in the following week."

When interviewing a potential agent, said Rawson, the seller should also "delve deep" to find out just how accurately informed his knowledge of his area is - and the agent will need to back up his statements with statistical data from Propstats, Lightstone and other others who supply this information.

"Quite often," said Rawson, "an agent will say that he does not need to consult other statistics because he is so in touch with the market that he can assess within 20 minutes of visiting the home what it will sell for. My advice is: beware of such statements - without research and study they can be way off the mark."

Agents who then make it on to the home seller's shortlist, said Rawson, can be asked not only for a free evaluation, but also for a comparative market analysis showing on what data the agent has worked to arrive at his conclusions.

Don't hedge your bets

Finally, said Rawson, sellers should beware of "hedging their bets" by appointing a large number of agents in the belief that if one or two are not up to the mark some of the others will be.

"When several agents are appointed," said Rawson, "one of two things may happen: if the home is not obviously saleable, the majority of the agents will list it low down on their priorities and after an initial effort take very little notice of it. On the other hand, if it is clearly going to excite interest in the market, they will scramble to get an offer lined up as soon as possible and then pressurise the buyer to accept it. This can often result in the home being sold below its true market value."

Many of the Rawson Property Group's agents, said Rawson, operate only on sole mandates and will not consider operating on any other system because they have learned that only in this way can they allow the seller the time to wait for new offers to come up without committing themselves.

"If only one agent is handling all the offers he can afford to advise the client to be patient and see what other offers come in while he continues marketing and advertising the property to the best of his ability. This usually results in the best possible price being obtained."