How to sell a house Estate agents and finding the best

Estate agent

Take time to research estate agents in your area

Typically, people rely on two main criteria when deciding to instruct an estate agent – they’ll pick the agent which either charges the lowest commission rate or offers the highest valuation. However, you should never choose an agent based on either of these marketing tricks.

Research estate agents

To find the best agents to value your home, you'll need to spend time researching and monitoring which agents are selling property locally. You can do this by looking in your local newspaper, driving around your area and talking to friends, family members and neighbours.

Which? members can also find estate agents recommended by other Which? members in their area using Which? Local.

Once you've identified the agents which have sold properties similar to yours, call into their offices. Firstly, visit as a buyer interested in properties like your own, so you can talk to the staff and see how happy you would be if they were selling your property.

Property market knowhow

There are some estate agents who have no idea how to sell in a slow or falling market. In a slow market, choose only an agent which is selling property similar to yours and ideally was in business during the last falling market in the early 1990s.

Try to find three good agents as this gives you a good spread of views and then invite each to give you a valuation of your property so you can decide on your favourite. Visit the previous page of this guide for more on working out your house price.

Before they visit, think about what type of services you want from an agent and any extras, such as virtual tours of properties on their website or an online sale tracking system, it might offer.

Estate agent checklist

When they visit, ask them the following questions:

  • How many similar properties have they sold? At what price?
  • How many viewings and how long did it take to sell the properties?
  • How many buyers are looking for properties like yours?
  • Are they a member of either the Property Ombudsman (formerly known as the Ombudsman for Estate Agents) or Ombudsman Services: Property? All estate agents must belong to one of these Office of Fair Trading-approved redress schemes. You can check on the schemes websites whether an agent is a member.
  • What price would they market your property for? What house price would they expect you to get? What price would they value your home for a ‘quick sale’?
  • Who will do the property visits?
  • Can you have a copy of the agency's contract?
  • How and where will it promote your property? Which property websites will the property be advertised on?
  • What are its charges – and when do you have to pay?

Estate agent charges

Charges range from 1% to 2% for ‘sole agency’ – i.e. you give one agent responsibility for selling your home, or from 1.5% to 2.5% to sell on a multiple agency basis (more than one agent is appointed to sell your home).

Some agents offer a scaled-down service that is charged at a ‘fixed price’, which is payable upfront whether your property sells or not. This service usually includes producing property details, promoting your property online and sometimes – but not always – in the local newspaper.

Don’t forget - agents are negotiators, so try to negotiate their fees.

Need mortgage advice?

We believe you should seek independent mortgage advice before taking out a mortgage. The Which? Group offers an independent mortgage advice service, Which? Mortgage Advisers, that looks at every mortgage from every available lender. You can also find an independent mortgage adviser using the Unbiased website.

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