To Be Accompanied Or Not, That Is The Question...

To Be Accompanied Or Not, That Is The Question...

Date Published 03 January 2019

To Be Accompanied Or Not To Be Accompanied?

That is the question... which as a seller you will have to decide when choosing an estate agent.

Many local agents like myself firmly believe that an accompanied viewing service should always form part and parcel of what is on offer by an estate agent. However with the rise of the online only estate agents, and some local agents offering a ‘skinny' version of their service there are a number of options available where the estate agent does not accompany the viewings, rather you as the seller show your own home.
To that end I thought I would pen a few pearls of wisdom saved up over my 15 years of showing home hunters around that may shed some light when you, as a would be seller, consider what's right:

'I know More About My Home Than Any Agent Does'
This in fact is true. There are no estate agents in your area who know your home better than you do. My advice here is to take a step back, as conducting a viewing is not just about knowing the most about a property, it's also the one chance to have a buyer walk away with a mind to putting in an offer. As with many things in life, it's not a case of simply telling a buyer absolutely everything there is to know about the house, there is also the fine art of what not to say, when to say it, and most importantly HOW to say it. This takes time, experience and practise, which the average seller does not have. Your estate agent is your homes experienced and professional PR Rep! Sure the owners of Marks and Spencers could be in all of the adverts and do the announcements, as they know the most about the company, but it's their PR team who take all of that knowledge, and combine it with the right approach to make it not just a chocolate pudding, but an M&S Chocolate pudding…

'I really liked him, but she was a total nightmare…'
You can't get on with everyone! Selling a house is no different. When a potential buyer and seller meet, and have to deal directly with each other its human nature for opinions and personalities to sometimes clash. A clash of personalities is much less likely to happen when you are specifically there to be liked by the people your meeting, and also to be the consummate professional no matter how rude someone is. An opinionated guest in your home is much less likely to be accommodated by you, than by a third party who is paid not to take offence!

'I Swear To Tell The Truth, The Whole Truth….'
I have been on literally thousands of viewings, and one thing that almost always happens at the end of them is I ask what the person viewing thought of the house. Why do we ask? There are two reasons, firstly I want to know if they are interested in buying the house, and secondly I want to know if they are not, then what put them off not only so I can give my client some feedback but to be given the chance to overcome their objections to change their minds. On the same note, I can also tell you that I learnt very quickly that if I ask that question in front of the seller if they are home, then the answer is always the same: 'Yes its lovely, we'll be in touch…' That's because buyers rarely offer honest advice when speaking to the seller direct. If you want some honest feedback about your home, and some good constructive advice from people who are out looking directly at the houses you are competing against then you need an estate agent to carry out your viewing appointments.

My firm advice is that if you want to get the best price for your home, and not miss out on a buyer who makes the effort to enquire about viewing then you should only use an estate agent that offers accompanied viewings as their standard level of service. Any option to add it in simply means your getting something the estate agent does not really want to do, and any marketing service without this is simply costing you money down the drain.

For some further advice on the marketing of your home please call me on Plymouth 206040.

Lee Whitelaw
Novahomes Company Owner.