No Wonder Estate Agents Get a Bad Name

It’s hard to believe, but this, I promise you, is an actual advertisement from an estate agent in London.

‘Walsingham Place, Clapham. We hadn’t made it as far as the bedroom when the perfect buyer sprang to mind. So we called like a shot. And just as we thought, they loved the house. So, viewing, great offer, exchange and completion without the house even going on the market. That’s local know how - better results in action.’

I presume the agency in question didn’t charge their client for this supposed service. The reason that anyone uses an estate agent is so that we can determine what the market will pay for your property and subsequently achieve the best possible price. We have a vast database of potential purchasers and it is only by approaching all of these people, plus advertising the property on all the major internet portals, that one is able to establish the market value of a property. By showing one person around, without any marketing whatsoever, you are obviously in no position to advise the client that this is the best price that they are likely to achieve for their property, because you haven’t established what the market value is. Frankly, if this is all your agency is going to do, there is no need to instruct an agent in the first place. For estate agency to be better appreciated as a profession, using advertisements such as this is probably not the best way of going about it. I despair!