Questions not asked often enough to estate agents are ‘What happens if my property doesn’t sell?’ or ‘What if you do not deliver on the service you promise?’.
Most estate agents will overpromise and often under-deliver and will be keen to avoid answering these questions and discussing their contract period.
Every estate agent will sign a contract/agency agreement with you and with this will come a fixed contract period, where during this time the estate agent will have sole selling rights to your home.
In Peterborough, most estate agents’ contract lengths will vary from three to six months and will often have an additional 28 days’ notice needing to be given, in order to terminate the agreement.
So, why is this a bad thing and what are the results of this?
- No accountability – the agent has no incentive to provide a high level of service, as once you are on the market with them, you will not be able to leave to go to another estate agent, even if you are not happy with the service they are providing or the interest they are generating.
- Overvaluations – many estate agents will provide over inflated valuations in order to win business and then will recommend price reductions quite swiftly after launching the property to the market, where limited interest has been received. The seller will have two options at this point – reduce their price having been advised incorrectly initially and now risk not achieving the true market value, or wait until their contract period has ended to use another estate agent.
Here at Newton Fallowell, we operate with a zero-week contract and no notice being required to terminate our agreement. We have confidence in our service and believe that a contract period should not be required, as if we do not deliver then the homeowner should not be punished for this.
This enables our clients to have confidence in our service and ensures that we deliver, as we are not protected by a long contract period and therefore have to ensure we provide the service we promise, as well as provide accurate initial advise.
To start your journey with Newton Fallowell and to arrange a free no obligation valuation, please give our team a call on 01733 808826 or email peterborough@newtonfallowell.co.uk
