Hiring the Right Agent for Your Home Sale, Purchase, or Rental

Anyone who wants to buy, sell, or let a property needs to hire an agent. The number of agents available to you, particularly in popular markets, can make selecting one a daunting prospect. Here's some information that may help you in your search for the right estate agent for you.

Anyone can work as an estate agent, but that doesn't mean there aren't rules. They do have a licensing scheme through the trade organization, the National Association of Estate Agents, or NAEA, however. Membership and licensure by the NAEA is voluntary. One of the better reasons to use a licensed agent is that this gives you access to a redress scheme in case you believe the agent has cheated you in some way.

Estate agencies often represent buyers, sellers, and letters, so if you intend to sell your current home and buy a new one, you can often work with the same agent for both transactions. It can save you time and trouble to work with one agent for both transactions. You should, however, always make sure to have your own agent during a property sale, whether you are buying or selling. While this may seem tempting at first as it can reduce your costs, it isn't worth it. The only way you can be sure that your best interests are being represented during negotiations is to have your own agent.

The amount an agent gets paid is usually a set percent of the price of the property. This will be a percentage of the sale price of the home for both the buyer's and the seller's agents. Since there is no home sale, a letting agent may take a percentage of the annual or monthly rent payment. Agents can also charge you additional fees for other services they might provide. For example, a letting agent who also provides property management services might charge more for this service than they would for a more basic service like rent collection. Agents should tell you up front either what they will charge or how they will calculate their fees. It's important that any agent you work with be clear in their pricing and that you understand what expenses you will be liable for if you work with them.

Experience is a big part of selecting the right agent. While number of years in practice is one part of it, the more important part is how much experience they have in your market. If you have a country home to let, you want an agent who has experience finding good tenants for a country home. This is also related to their experience in the location you are buying or selling in. Agents who regularly deal with property in the area will have a better idea of what the market is like there. Check out this website for more.