Enthusiasm: If an agent is not enthusiastic about your property – don’t instruct them. A positive approach to selling your home is essential if buyers are to be inspired into looking and consequently buying your home.

The Directors: Use an agent that is run by property professionals who are interested in your sale, rather than by people who are simply employed to build an empire. Could you get hold of a director if you needed to? Frost’s is personally run by directors and founders David Frost and Mary Frost. They can be contacted on 01727 861166

7-day Opening: Is your agent open 7 days a week? It stands to reason that buyers are most active at weekends, so why instruct an agent who is closed – just when you need them to be open! More buyer activity usually means a better price for your home!

Multimedia Window Displays: Most estate agents still use traditional window cards in their window displays, which seems archaic when the vibrancy of an eye-catching LCD or projected display attracts attention and creates interest. If your home is to be shown effectively, then you should insist that it appears frequently on a large format multimedia window display.

Advertising: Make sure you choose an agent who advertises properties similar to yours in the local press. Chances are that they will already have a large database of buyers who have enquired about similar homes to yours. However be wary of an agent who promises to advertise your property every week with a postage stamp size ad! This is simply paying lip service to you and has very little to do with marketing strategy as it can cheapen your property and lead to over exposure.

Email and SMS text Messaging : Make sure you appoint an agent who employs the latest technology to ensure that their buyers are offered your property first. One of the reasons for our high viewing rate is that within minutes of taking a property onto our books, details are sent as a text message or email to all suitable buyers.

Open House: Open houses have planned viewing times that, when marketed correctly, often attract large numbers of buyers who might not otherwise have viewed the property. So for maximum exposure, choose an agent who uses the Open House method as part of their marketing strategy.

Lettings: When you are choosing a selling agent, do make sure you choose one who also does lettings. Letting agents have long-term buy-to-let property investors permanently on their books who buy regularly. They know the agent, and make quick decisions and reliable offers. They prefer to buy through an agency that combines lettings and sales because it is easier for them to let out their new investment. Also, many tenants also register to buy. Good letting agents build strong relationships with their tenants and are in a good position to help them buy one of their own selling client’s properties.

In-House Conveyancing: One of the greatest frustrations in moving is legal delay, along with poor follow-up of linked transactions and poor communication of progress to the client. Good estate agents have acted decisively on this point and now employ (as we do) their own team of conveyancers in-house. This not only speeds up the sale considerably, but substantially reduces fall-through rates and ensures that you are always in the loop. As soon as your property goes on the market the conveyancing team will already be calling for title deeds and mortgage documents, and putting a search in hand in order to make the sale as smooth as possible when the buyer is found.

After-Sales Liaison: Some agents think the sale is done when the buyer is found, and some sales negotiators are incentivised to arrange sales, but not necessarily see them through to completion. Many a sale has been lost due to poor follow-up or inadequate liaison with surveyors or solicitors. About 35% of sales arranged in England and Wales fall through (although far fewer than this in our case). So choose an agent that provides a dedicated sales progression service that employs people who are trained to spot potential difficulties long before they arise, and who will spend 100% of their time working towards a successful outcome.

Ombudsman: Anyone can become an estate agent in this country without any qualifications or minimum service standards! Agents who wish to demonstrate their commitment to consumer protection will be members of the Ombudsman for Estate Agents scheme, which is a rigorous Code of Practice. The Ombudsman is independent and impartial and can listen to any complaints and award compensation without the expense and hassle of having to go through the courts. The sale of your property is too important to entrust just anyone. So we recommend you choose an agent who is a member of the Ombudsman scheme.

NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) Membership: One of the most important aspects to consider is whether your agent is a member of the National Association of Estate Agents, which sets down a stringent code of conduct and provides extensive training for its members.

Financial Services: Make sure you appoint an agency that has close ties with a stable and efficient financial services provider who can help buyers with their funding. This can be pivotal in clinching a sale and making sure that it sticks!

Homesale Network Membership: Only the finest estate agencies in their respective locations are invited to become members of the Homesale Network, giving access to over 750 linked Branches of independently owned local estate agencies. Homesale is backed by Cartus, the worlds largest relocation company which helps over 100,000 families move house annually as part of a company relocation, frequently via their connections with Homesale Network agents such as ourselves.

Guild Membership: Only the best independent agencies in their respective locations are invited to become members of the Guild of Professional Estate Agents. If you instruct a Guild member to sell your property you will benefit from a superb national referral network of over 800 branches and have the ability to have your property showcased in the guilds prestigious London office at 121 Park Lane, Mayfair. Guild members can also showcase properties to many more buyers on the Guild’s very own property website, www.property-platform.com

Internet: The Internet is a valuable tool in estate agency. But don’t be impressed by any "hit" claims. All web-enabled agents are exposed to many buyers, but how well do they qualify those buyers who have a serious and pressing need to move. Find out how easy it is for the buyers to use the agent’s property facility by visiting their website yourself. Is it impressing state of the art, and does it provide useful buying and selling advice?

Property Portals: Over 80% of buyers use the Internet when looking for a property. So you need to sure that your property is found and promoted – quickly and easily. An agent might have a great website, and that’s fine, but do they subscribe to the most effective property portals, because this is how buyers are directed to your property when you search using the search engines such as Google, Ask Jeeves, Excite or Yahoo. The best property portals in the UK are Righmove.co.uk and Primelocation.com, and if your agent does not feature your home on these websites, then you are at a considerable disadvantage. So it’s worth checking.

David Frost F.N.A.E.A,M.A.R.L.A

OPENING HOURS
Monday – Friday 9am – 6 pm
Saturday 9am – 5 pm, Sunday 11am – 3pm