Is your estate agent a sausage dog asks Alex Goldstein

Full of energy, passion for your home and keenness to show you what other sales they have accomplished. They want your business.

However some agents overplay their hand with unrealistic promises and this is where one needs to not let them run amok.

If this happens, you need to put them quickly back on the lead before your sale gets completely out of hand.

Estate agency is a people and emotions business. If you have the enthusiasm for a property you will go a long way, but it is the detailed eye in the end that will count.

From the outset it is useful to know who specifically is handling your sale, your key point of contact in the office, who is conducting viewings, what information is being put online, which team members will see your home, how can you improve your property to be more saleable etc.

After the initial joy at securing your instruction, the key is to agree a direction to go in with the sale and timeframes. It is at this point that the agent needs to be fully committed, but calm and focussed on what they need to do.

I have always maintained that estate agency is a people and emotions business. If you have the enthusiasm for a property you will go a long way, but it is the detailed eye in the end that will count.

Offer them a sensible fee. Many agents are commission orientated and if you remove their reward at the beginning by stamping down on their fee, your sale won’t go the way you intended.

Equally and most importantly, if the agent can’t negotiate a sensible fee for themselves to stay motivated, how well do you think they’ll fare when it comes to negotiating an offer for you?

The road to success is a longer and harder one than in years gone by and keeping agent motivation is important. The hours one needs to put in currently to get transactions over the line is at times daunting, however keep the agent on side as it is a team effort and it really does go both ways.

It continues to amaze me how much your personal rapport with an agent really does make to a transaction overall. If you have a client who is fun to deal with and everything is good humoured with smiles all round, even if they can be a bit demanding you will go further to please them. Now let’s imagine if this situation was reversed.

As with Basil and Barney, you need to know what your agent is proposing from the outset and ensure their initial enthusiasm for your home doesn’t dwindle when the next treat comes their way.

By being that friendly, light touch and communicative client, your sale will excel. However when Tinker and Trixie the two local moggies, aka the solicitors, come prowling, that is when to let Basil and Barnie off the lead!

Alex Goldstein is an independent property consultant in Yorkshire and London. www.alexgoldstein.co.uk. tel: 01423 788377.