Top 10 Questions to Ask Your Estate Agent When Selling Your Home

21st April 2023

We understand that selling your home can be a stressful process, and you may feel like you’re somewhat in the dark about what is to come – which is why our Devon estate agents have looked at some of the top questions you should ask your agent to ensure you are kept in the loop through every step of the selling process.

How Long Are Homes in the Area Usually on the Market?

While many variables can influence how long a house is on the market, such as condition, asking price, desirable features and external economic features, your agent should be able to give you a rough idea of how long similar properties have taken to sell, using their own sales data – which we are happy to do upon request!

How Quickly Will My House Be Up for Sale?

There’s a lot that needs to happen before your house can go to market, including valuation, photographs, property descriptions to be written, and much more. We can give you a rough timeline of how long it will take us to get your home ready to go on the market, which will allow you time to get your home ready for potential buyers.

Have You Sold Similar Properties to Mine?

We understand that every property is unique and will therefore go through its own individual sales process. But similar to the previous question, we can look at similar properties to yours and give you examples of properties we have sold in the area.

How Can We Stage Our House for Viewings?

Following on from the last point, choosing the right estate agent is important as there is more to do than just list your property – they are there to find you a buyer. As such, we may make some suggestions on how to get your home ready for sale, which could include things such as decluttering, depersonalising and tidying up the front of the house to ensure a good first impression is made. Additionally, considering home improvements that add value to your property is a great way to increase your chances of a quicker sale!

What Should the Asking Price Be?

It is worth remembering that many factors go into determining the valuation of a property, which can include:

o   The location

o   The size of the property

o   The condition of the property

o   Notable design features

o   The state of the housing market

To help remove the guesswork, you can fill in our valuation request form and one of our agents will be in touch to book your bespoke valuation.

How Well Do You Know the Area?

Insider knowledge can go a long way when it comes to selling a home, as being able to answer questions about the local area to potential buyers, without hesitation, could be the difference between making and breaking a sale

As the market leaders in the South Hams, we know the area inside and out, so you can rest assured our knowledgeable and experienced staff will be able to market your home in the best possible way.

How Do You Conduct Viewings?

Understanding how the view process is going to work is key to selling your property. Viewings are vital to selling a property, but we understand that they need to fit in with your daily life, particularly if you are currently living in the property you are trying to sell. Typically, people will view a property between two and four times before putting in an offer, so we want to ensure viewings happen with minimal disruption.

Together, we can establish the best approach to getting your property viewed, but we very often say that having just the agent and the person or persons viewing the property makes for the best form of viewing. If you have young children and/or pets, we would advise, if possible, making arrangements so they are not in the property during the viewing.

How Will You Communicate with Me?

We will be in contact throughout the selling process, so having clear channels of contact is key to ensuring the process goes as smoothly as possible. If you have a preferred method of communication, be sure to let us know sooner rather than later so we can update our records accordingly and ensure we can get in touch when we need to.

How Will You Market My Property?

Your home needs to be presented to potential buyers in the best possible way, so making sure your agent is doing exactly this is something that needs to be asked. Having both an online and offline presence will maximise the number of eyes on your property, as well as ensuring they are being seen by the ‘right’ people.

We have an in-house team solely dedicated to promoting our clients' properties in a wide range of publications, as well as a notable online presence on both our own website and through other portals, such as Rightmove and OnTheMarket.

How Will You Handle Offers?

When you receive an offer on your property, your agent should help you to negotiate for the best possible price. On average, a first bid is 5-10% lower than the property’s asking price, so it would then be up to your agent to handle the offer, report feedback to the potential buyer and then handle the next round of negotiations to get the best possible price for your house. This is where our experience comes in, so we can handle all of the negotiations for you, as per your guidance. If you’re not satisfied with an offer, we can relay this message and encourage a counteroffer.

If you are looking to sell a home in the South Hams, please get in touch with your local branch and see for yourself why we are the most trusted agent in the area!