Can anybody recommend an estate agent?

[Search East]

we are thinking of selling our flat, can anybody recommend any estate agents (or can anybody definitely not recommend any estate agents!)?

Our neighbour recently sold her flat with Robinson Jackson and seemed very happy with their service, has anybody else used them?

[G-Man]

We've always used Property World. Speak to Dan, very helpful. Good people.

G-Man

[monkeyarms]

Having recently sold our flat in Brixton and moved to Sydenham, I'd say it's worth getting several different estate agents round to see what they suggest in terms of valuation.

The one thing I'd definitely say is this: whoever you go with, don't put your flat on the market between now and Christmas. You'll get little interest from buyers and lower offers. It took us quite a while to sell our flat as a buyer dropped out. It's amazing what a financial difference it made putting our flat back on the market around May/June, just when the sun was starting to come back out.

Oh, and have a big clear-out. Get rid of as much stuff as possible; make your flat seem like it's got bags more space than it actually has.

When we were looking, I did notice that both Robinson Jackson and Mann weren't all that great in the photos department... have a look at the way Pedder present flats and houses on rightmove and zoopla compared to RJ and Mann...

oh, and we initially used KFH but they were rubbish.

[leenewham]

Thinking of moving anywhere else or local?

[Parker1970]

We've always used Property World. Speak to Dan, very helpful. Good people.

G-Man

Seconded.

[dickp]

Both me and my neighbour recently used Mann in Sydenham, and we've no complaints. We got them to price match another agent's fees at 1.5 per cent, and didn't notice any lack of urgency from them as a result.

We got quotes from three estate agents, one from Forest Hill, one from Crystal Palace and one from Sydenham, on the assumption that the other locations might attract buyers with a bit more money. But, as it happens, they all came up with the same valuation. We also opted for estate agents that were part of a wider chain - even if they weren't branded as such - to try to extent our reach still further.

[Olivia]

Stanford Estates in Forest Hill were excellent when we bought recently. They're very straight forward to deal with and friendly. They're a small company so it feels like a personal service where they actually care about buyer and seller.

[leenewham]

We used Mann to buy in Sydenham who were great.

[owlwise]

I've used UniPlan a couple of times. Great service.

http://www.uniplan.co.uk/

[Eagle]

I agree with Olivia. Have used Stanfords in Dartmouth Road three times and were excellent.

[Willy]

We are currently selling through Pedder and am very pleased with them. The photos they took make our house look awesome and we got an offer above asking price after just 1 week (along with 2 other offers). Their valuation was higer than Property World and KFH and were confident from the start they could sell for the asking price wheras the others were sceptical they would even get their lower figure. Plus they matched the fees offered by the other 2 so we are oly paying 1%.

[Sydenham Syd]

We are currently selling through Pedder and am very pleased with them. The photos they took make our house look awesome and we got an offer above asking price after just 1 week (along with 2 other offers). Their valuation was higer than Property World and KFH and were confident from the start they could sell for the asking price wheras the others were sceptical they would even get their lower figure. Plus they matched the fees offered by the other 2 so we are oly paying 1%.

I have to agree here on the valuations - Property World were pretty good, and it's nice to see that they are a local business,a couple of brothers doing well it seems (plus just opened in Penge). We used Wooster and Stock and they presented our old property in a totally different way with a higher valuation that we got. Not an inflated one, just a more realistic one.

We then used Mann to buy our current property and they were pretty efficient - they seem to have good access to the slightly distressed end of the market, which is what we were in to at the time.

Estate Agents roles have changed though, and valuations are pretty much done via Zoopla. I think they might get an 'Uber-ing' fairly soon.

[Willy]

Just wanted to state the obvious...whoever is giving you a value needs to be aware of the local market. We had a guy from an agency based in Forest Hill who gave us a valuation of 200k less than we we are currently under offer for, he had based his number on Zoopla plus 50k. I doubt Zoopla will take over valuations any time soon, the numbers don't seem to be consistent to me and don't reflect real prices.

[Sydenham Syd]

Just wanted to state the obvious...whoever is giving you a value needs to be aware of the local market. We had a guy from an agency based in Forest Hill who gave us a valuation of 200k less than we we are currently under offer for, he had based his number on Zoopla plus 50k. I doubt Zoopla will take over valuations any time soon, the numbers don't seem to be consistent to me and don't reflect real prices.

Fair shout. I guess the thing is, that lenders won't give you a mortgage based on an estate agent valuation either - still have to get a surveyor to come round. The surveyor who valued our house just looked at the front. Bonkers.

[Willy]

I think they quite often just ask the agent to justify the price so the agent just gets out some details of similar proprties that they have recently sold. The bank doesn't really care as long as the valuation exceeds the mortgage amount and is in their loan to value tolerance.

[Mayowthorpe]

We also used Mann to buy last year, and they were great.

They come across as very honest and reliable from a buyer's perspective, which is very comforting.

[Hissing Syd]

I also bought through Mann Countrywide. It was a lengthy purchase - I used their finance broker and their solicitors too, and have nothing but good to say about them. Good luck!

[robbieduncan]

We bought with Mann and I found them to be infuriating. From the agent who first showed us the house who had no clue about anything in the building to the stupid price range which really meant the top number or nothing to the terrible negotiating tactics (why not just tell us how much the vendors want rather than have us work up to the minimal number over days and days) to the final hand over (here's the keys, bye) they were crap

[DanW]

I can second Olivia's recommendation of Stanford Estates (opposite The Dartmouth Arms in Forest Hill), purchased our house through them several years ago and I know friends who were also happy with them when buying and selling.

[Search East]

Big thanks to everyone for suggestions and comments, it gives us a good guide for when we do sell