We’ve all been there.
Your latest refurbished property is ready to go on the market, the professional photos have been taken, the property has been staged, the estate agents have been out to conduct their valuations, but you still haven’t decided if the estate agent is going to do the viewings, or you are!
Your colleagues are saying to leave it to the professionals and get on with finding your next property project, but your mam is saying you should go for it because she believes in you!
So, what do you choose?
Is there a right and wrong decision?
Will it have an impact on the sale of the property?
Here at Ashdan Estates, we have done and experienced both sides of the coin. So, we thought we would make a list of the pros and cons of each decision and stop you from pulling your hair out!
Keep reading for our opinion on whether it’s best to have an estate agent conduct a property viewing, or if you could be a budding estate agent in your spare time!
Pros
- Estate Agents have the best local knowledge – you may think because you grew up around the corner from Mrs Smith when you were a kid that you have the best knowledge of the area, but do you really? Sure you have an idea of the local area and you’ve done your research before buying the property, but do you know exactly what a 3 bed semi-detached house sells for compared to a 2 bed detached at the end of the road? Do you know how to effectively showcase this knowledge to potential buyers?
- Estate Agents take away the stress of viewings – instead of you having to keep going back and forth to the property multiple times, they can take all of this on and do this for you whilst you carry on with other important tasks. If you’re workday is already jam packed with other activities which need your attention, why do you want to be going back and forth to the property and breaking up your scheduled day when this is an already established activity which estate agents do every day?
- The Estate Agents have the knowledge and background of each viewer – whether you’re only looking for cash buyers, those with a mortgage in principle already or those with no chain, the estate agent has this knowledge already as its gathered when the individual books the viewing. This information is not gathered by yourself and therefore only given to you either at the viewing or once the viewing has been booked. If you have a set criterion, you want to stick to this and only show the property to those that meet your criteria. If they don’t why bother with the viewing?
Cons
- They don’t know the full extent of the refurbishment works, you do – because you have been at the property every day, or at least every other day, during the refurbishment process, and you know exactly what work went into the property. So, when an individual viewing the property has a specific question about the refurbishment works or what wasn’t changed, the estate agents don’t have that knowledge, unless they have specifically asked for it. Leaving a potential buyer with unanswered questions is not good!
- Some estate agents just open the door – we’ve all been to viewings where the estate agent showing you around the property isn’t actually showing you around. They park themselves against a window or door frame and allow you to wander from room to room by yourself. This is fine if that is how you work best and find this the easiest way of viewing the property and recording the work that needs to be done. However, if you’re selling a property, do you really want the same to happen to your potential buyers?
- It can be impersonal – the estate agents are friendly and smiley when at a viewing, but to them it’s a job. They receive commission for the sale of the property but at the end of the day they still receive a salary. As property developers and investors, selling the property is a must in order to move onto the next one. For us, it’s important to get a sale or rental and as such, doing the viewings yourself may make it more personal for the individuals viewing, and it goes back to the first point, whereby you can explain everything that has been worked on or replaced.
As you can see, there are various reasons why it’s a good idea to get an estate agent to conduct viewings, but there are also compelling reasons why it may not be the best idea.
Ultimately, the decision is up to you, and should only be made by you. You know exactly what work went into the property and can voice this when asked questions by the potential buyers, but if your day is already busy, do you want to add more tasks to it?