Business & Finance Renting & Real Estate

Estate Agent Duties And Property Sellers

Witham is a town located in the county of Essex and in the country of England. Its early history can be traced to roman times with a considerable temple structure; its roman importance was assured due to its preferential position along the Colchester London road. This position remains today and Witham is still as popular with commuters now as it was two thousand years ago, naturally this means that property in the town is highly desirable; subsequently estate agent numbers in the area are also high.

As a homeowner, and seller however it can be difficult to understand exactly what responsibilities your estate agent should be fulfilling? Hopefully the following article will give sellers the key information that will allow the assessment of different estate agent services.

The first and major concern is the hours in which the agent will operate. Some agencies will still shut at around five in the afternoon although increasingly they are staying open longer in order to supply services out of regular office hours. This is why it is essential to find an agency that will stay open well into the evening, for most people, viewing houses during the day is simply not an option. Another time that the agent should be operating is over the weekends, Saturdays are naturally a prerequisite but it is also preferable to have an agency that is willing to open on Sundays. For the more conscientious it is advisable to ask which staff members work over the weekends, preferably full time workers are the best option.

Understandably as a seller it is important to look at how the agency pricing system is calculated. The best outcome is an agent who operates on a no sale, no fee basis. This simply means that if the agent fails to sell the property they do not receive a penny. Obviously this is preferable to paying for services even if they are not successful.

One of the key responsibilities of any estate agent is to advertise and market a property effectively. This should be the one of the seller's major concerns as it represents how the property is viewed by potential buyers. Most agencies will utilise the normal channels; mediums such as the shops window and local newspapers are still extremely useful for the regional audience. More widely however modern mediums such as the internet and more specifically property portals are a successful way to advertise a property on a national and even an international basis. Before the property is marketed however the agent must take photographs of the house or flat that show it in a good light as well as writing effective literature to entice buyers.

Agents will normally give an indication of the most realistic asking price although this choice is still ultimately the seller's. At this stage the agent should be using their knowledge of the local property market; in this case Witham, to assess the property and compare it to similar properties in the local area. This is an essential part of the process as making the price too high can put buyers off while pricing too low can lose the seller thousands in the eventual sale.

It is hoped that this article has given homeowners a decent idea of the responsibilities that must be performed by an estate agent whilst also explaining the property selling process. This information is not just purely focussed upon the Witham area but instead should be used more widely, in a general manner.

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