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                                    colebrooksturrock.com | page 13CHOOSING THE BEST ESTATE AGENTWhatever the motivation for considering a move, knowledge is power, so we recommend you do some research when choosing an Estate Agent. Make sure that they belong to a professional body such as the National Association of Estate Agents or Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. Make sure they know the market and have long experience of sales in your area of your type of property.Homes are most owners’ most valuable possession, so why take a chance on their sale? All our managers have long experience in the areas they work in and are recognised as true local experts. Make sure the agent you choose is solely focused on the purpose for which you engage them i.e. to market and sell/let your home at the best price the market will deliver. Referral fees are a scourge of Agency, where some agents are so entrenched in cross-selling other services, that their primary role becomes almost secondary.Agents who target their staff to refer both sellers/landlords and prospective purchasers/tenants to financial service providers, solicitors, insurance brokers, removal companies, utility packages and much else may see your instruction as simply a means to exploit a new group of potential customers to their referral services. Colebrook Sturrock take no referral fees whatsoever. Our staff are focussed on providing the service you should expect.THE RIGHT ASKING PRICEMost homeowners want to achieve the highest price/rent that the market can deliver. So do we, as our commission is dependent upon doing so. But your property price/rent has to be sustainable and justifiable against the competition to have a realistic chance of securing a good level of interest - resulting in a secure sale/let, rather than one where the successful bidder is fretting from the moment their offer has been accepted.This is all-the-more important for sales if you have a family home where mortgage funding is likely to be required by the purchaser. Lending sources are more nervous than ever that the loan being sought is sustainable against the evidence their surveyor has been able to find to support the agreed sale price. An owner, the agent and the buyer may all feel that the price agreed is fair, but if a surveyor disagrees, this can mean a lost sale, heartache and the prospect of re-marketing when other unsuccessful bidders may have lost interest. So BE WARY of high valuations by agents who are over-estimating. Ask to see evidence the agent is relying upon to justify their valuation. USE PROFESSIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY TO SHOW YOUR HOME AT ITS BESTA home that is visually appealing is bound to secure more interest than one that is untidy, chock-full of clutter or has evidence of last night’s supper on show in the kitchen, and towels strewn around the bathroom.We work with a limited number of professional photographers to ensure your home stands out from the competition, so make sureyour family are on-side to help and ensure that cars are off the drive, the lawns and beds in the garden have been tended, and bins are out of sight!GETTING READY FOR THE FIRST INSPECTIONS The smell of baking bread or fresh coffee may be arguably the best first impression to aim for but be aware that this may raise suspicion amongst savvy purchasers. Such efforts will certainly be undone if you haven’t addressed the other elements that serve as deterrents, namely visible wall cracks, marks and stains, and children’s toys and pet clutter. Acres of family photographs may mean a lot to you, but should be reduced, along with personal toiletries in the bathrooms.Feedback is important and listen out for recurrent themes, be they a pet smell, comments on cleanliness or simply the price. To achieve a sale, you should act on any of these promptly.
                                
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