Make sure your estate agent is fully loaded
Property consultant Alex Goldstein on why you need the relish when selling your house
Over the festive period, I thought I would visit that well known burger chain run by several chaps. I don’t go there very often so it was a bit of a treat. I stood at the counter examining the extensive menu looming over the heads of the serving staff. I was quite overwhelmed by the choice, so asked the server for some help in working out what to order.Firstly, he offered me a standard plain burger, presumably thinking that a novice like me would want to keep it simple. There wasn’t much not to like about it – standard burger, standard price, but overall it just wasn’t quite going to hit the spot. It was a bit boring and I was looking for something more, bearing in mind this was an infrequent visit and I wanted to make the most of the experience.I was then offered a plethora of tempting extras, and, like an excited child at the pick and mix, I took the whole lot, piling on the cheese, the relish, the onions, the pickles, the salad and the extra sauce. I ended up with a “fully-loaded’ burger” lip-smackingly good and oozing with excess.What struck me was the price. To get all of these extras didn’t cost very much more. It was excellent value for money and boy did it hit the mark. It got me thinking that burgers and estate agents have a lot in common because most of us only move house occasionally, we don’t need to choose an estate agent very often. So when we do have to decide which agent to plump for, we need to remember that we don’t have to settle for the standard version. Instead, we need to look out for one that is “fully-loaded”.After all, your home is one of your most important assets, so you have got to get it right. Just opting for the bog-standard version isn’t going to make your home stand out from the competition and more importantly, you will not feel satisfied with the end result.In my scrumptious burger, it was all about the extras being eaten together with the patty that made it so delicious. So with your estate agent, you need to look for the extras which are collectively going to make all the difference to your sale.Ask yourself for example, do they use professional photography? Do they conduct a well-targeted social media campaign? Do they offer an enhanced presence on the property portals? Do they accompany the viewings? Is there single point of contact at the office who knows your sale inside out? What about the marketing, is it any good? Is the front of house team outstanding? What about superior sales progression?Getting this “fully-loaded” service won’t cost you a lot more, but it will mean that your sale goes with a bang and, more importantly, your agent will keep focused and motivated to get you the best deal that they can.Once you get your property to the under offer stage, the hard graft really cranks up a notch. The entire team around you should be hard at it in the house sale, preparing, building up and packaging your sale, so that your buyer feels that not only are they getting something special with their new home, but they are getting excellent service to go with it.The key with this phase is not to keep your buyer waiting and to get the “burger” out of the ‘kitchen as quickly possible, otherwise it is at risk of going cold.Like my burger, you want your home sale overflowing with mouth-watering extras that are going to draw in those hungry buyers. So when you choose your estate agent, ask yourself: “are they the fully-loaded version or not?”