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Reputation

The Estate Agent Magazine Helping sellers & landlords choose the right estate agent

Tips on ‘Pricing it Right’

MEET

How View Agents can help you find an estate agent

David Sansome

What are the qualities of a

Managing Director

successful estate agent?

Estate agent interview

Preparing your home for sale/letting

The role of a seller

Every home is unique Get an insight into the thoughts and views of a successful estate agent

Check out some tips in getting your home ready for viewings

Get some tips of what your role is as a home seller or landlord

Reputation The Estate Agent Magazine - 2022

PRICING IT RIGHT

Do your own research Use a property portal and try and nd some comparable properties on the market or recently sold/ let. However, this is ONLY a guide, as market conditions vary and no two homes are identical. You will also need to take into account that the ‘asking price’ is not the ‘sold/let price’.

Pro Tip Call in an expert This is the best option. Agents sell/let homes for a living. An experienced local estate agent will be able to guide you on a price range & should back that up with comparable sales/lettings.

Priced too high? You may not attract as many buyers/tenant viewings and may stay on the market longer, this may lead to potential buyers/tenants thinking there’s something wrong. On rare occasions, you might nd a buyer or tenant who really wants it. You also have more room to negotiate.

Priced too low? You may sell/let it faster but your goal would be to get as much as you can. Look for a happy medium. There is a misconception that if you receive an asking price offer early on, that you’ve priced it too low. In many cases, it simply means you priced it right. Remember, the right estate has the skills to negotiate the highest price for your home. If you require help choosing an estate agent, you can use our free concierge service, contact us at valuations@viewagents.com and we’ll help you choose an estate agent

2 - Reputation The Estate Agent Magazine - Feb/Mar 22

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Contents 2

Pricing it right

Meet David Sansome

Preparing your home

Role of a seller

Area Spotlight

Meet

10 Choosing an estate agent

DAVID SANSOME

Preparing your home for sale/letting

From the CEO We are excited to bring you this edition of View Agents Reputation Magazine. We hope we can offer home sellers and landlords some additional information in helping them select their next estate agent.

Domenic Versace

Human VS Technology. Prop Tech expert, Simon Whale, delivers a very insightful perspective on how technology is shaping the real estate industry

The Role of a Seller

CEO View Agents

What is View Agents? For home sellers & landlords We help sellers and landlords search and choose an estate agent to sell, let or manage their home. Visit viewagents.com For estate agents View Agents is a reputation management platform speci cally for estate agents. Helping estate agents Collect, Manage & Promote reviews & reputation. Our goal is to help agents grow their business and improve their online reputation.

CHOOSING the right estate agent

SUPPORTED BY

ARE YOU AN E S TAT E A G E N T ?

kerfuffle.com CONTRIBUTORS

Interested in your own reputation magazine?

Get in touch sales@viewagents.com

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“All

Sansome & George Head Of ce 41-43 Winchester Street Basingstoke, Hampshire sansomeandgeorge.co.uk 01256 807 111 Of ces in: Basingstoke, Tadley, Mortimer, Bramley, Kingsclere & Theale What makes you di erent from your competitors? Having been in the industry for over 20 years and managed Estate Agency branches and teams for a majority of that time, I understand the pitfalls of the system and ways I can maximise the prices we achieve for clients using Professional Photography and extensive marketing methods. I’m passionate about estate agency & put my surname behind our service and I’m proud to not trade using a Franchise.

DAVID SANSOME

What do you recommend to sellers/landlords in preparing their home prior to marketing? There are 5 points I suggest to clients prior to marketing their home, making sure you maximise natural light, moving furniture from blocking windows, remove unnecessary blinds or curtains from darker rooms. A fresh coat of paint can go a long way in making your rooms stand out and look clean, making sure to keep neutral, lighter colours. Clear clutter, nothing makes a room look smaller than having too many, unneeded items in a room, make sure it's clutter-free and a natural ow through the house. Fruit or owers are a great way to draw colour to the rooms, as well as heightening senses through smell. Making your pictures stand out online and nally remember the season, make sure if its spring that any remnants of Xmas are away, no one wants to look at pictures in march with a Xmas tree in the living room.

HAMPSHIRE I enjoy playing Hockey, watching Reading FC and organising

Our teamwork helps us deliver results

“

What are some important questions a seller or landlord should ask you on a listing presentation?

fundraising events. David Sansome Managing Director dgs@sansomeandgeorge.co.uk 25 years estate agency experience

“

BASINGSTOKE

it’s using my experience

to generate the best price possible and reduce the stress and time of sale

Why should I instruct you? Where will you market my property? How many years of experience have you got in Estate Agency? Are you an independent Estate Agency?

How much of a team e ort is it when selling or letting a home? It's very much a team game, from administration / professional photographer to the sales team and sales progression. Our teamwork helps us deliver results!

What is the best thing about being an Agent? I love seeing clients' journeys from buying their rst home and moving up from there. This job is about maximising your worth to a client, any agent can sell a property, it’s using my experience to generate the best price possible and reduce the stress and time of sale.

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letting your property?

TO BOOK A FREE, PROPERTY VALUATION What is the best way of valuing a home? We have invested in a state of the art valuation presentation system. It provides a personalised interactive client presentation, with on-market and sold comparables plus an overview of market trends and analysis, this communicates the key reasons to instruct Sansome & George over a competitor.

After negotiating a sale, how do you seal with after-sales? The after-sales is very important, some agents will leave a sale in the draw and hope solicitors will work together to get the sale through. This can be disastrous! At Sansome & George, we work with ASAP Sales Progression, who assist our clients and oversee the sale till completion. Being experts at what they do, they have increased exchanges.

How important are reviews to your business? Reviews are becoming ever so important, this is an opportunity for the public to see previous clients’ experiences both good and bad. Many people will decide on whether that agent is the right one for them based on previous experience reviews.

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Be fair and open

“

What constitutes a great marketing campaign and how do you execute it?

We market a property for 2/3 weeks across all our o ces sending brochures to our buyer database and extensively online. We use local marketing via our o ces and property paper and our extensive online and social media marketing to ensure no stone is left unturned to nd that right buyer or tenant.

What are the main di erences in a Landlord managing a property on their own as compared to using a managing agent? We oversee the compliance and ensure your property is compliant. Our ever-increasing legislation, failure to be compliant, cannot only land you with a large ne but in some cases a prison sentence. Knowing how to manage tenants, chase arrears, oversee maintenance takes time. Use our years of experience to help you avoid headaches.

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always do what you say you are going to do

“

CLICK HERE

What advice would you give to someone thinking of starting a career in Estate Agency? Work hard, listen to those around you and ALWAYS do what you say you are going to do. The clients pay your wages!

How important is having a good reputation in this industry? It's paramount to have a good reputation, a good reputation instils con dence into the general public and trust, which is important when dealing with one or in some cases their biggest asset. How much emphasis does your agency place on sta training? Sta training is how good agents become great, without training and passing on wisdom and knowledge, the younger generation agents won't improve or become better. It takes a certain person to be a good agent but the training and importance placed on that, is what takes them to the next level.

What is the key when negotiating a house sale/let? Listen to all parties, get all the information and be fair and open.

top tips to 8 prepare your home for selling/letting

Your home needs to be well presented, ideally, look better than the competition, and have a neutral theme to appeal to more buyers/tenants tastes ‘Your goal is to present a tidy house that’s lled with natural light, feel spacious and practical' In fact, in most cases, to make your home appealing, you don’t need to spend loads of money. Some simple changes can make a big difference between your home sitting unsold until you eventually reduce the asking price or your home selling almost immediately for the full asking price.

5. Smells sells! Research suggests that smells in uence buyers, therefore use this to your advantage. Placing fresh owers in the kitchen and/or scented candles such as vanilla or cinnamon and even ‘cake baking’ smells have an impact. However strong or over-powering smells will put off potential buyers such as: pets, bins, cooking & smoking. Remember to air the house before each viewing.

PRO TIP

6. Back to basics Buyers want to visualise your home as their home. The function of some rooms can change; a spare room used for storage can become the of ce or a second TV room. Certain rooms hold a greater perceived value, think about converting rooms back to their original use. Remove furniture that looks too big for the room; clutter that isn’t essential to the function of the room will free up valuable space and help make your house looks bigger. Consistent light ttings, ooring and curtains also help.

Think of it as a business transaction, where you are making business decisions.

1. Deep clean the house Make sure it’s done properly, if you do, then you are already a step ahead of your competition. Include dusting, carpets & garden if you can afford it. Try your best to keep it clean & tidy until sold or let!

2. De-Clutter Have a clear-out. This will make your home look larger and a place that buyers or tenants can imagine themselves living in. Make sure there is a clear ow when walking around your home. Try doing a walk-through, as though you were on the viewing.

3. Complete outstanding DIY Small jobs left undone make a huge difference to the potential buyers/ tenants. When they can see you care and look after your home they may offer you more as they can see additional value.

4. First Impressions DO count!

7. Depersonalise your home Think of your home as a show home. These are effective sales tools as they are always anonymous. Buyers/ tenants want to imagine themselves living there, creating their own story. This can be dif cult if overwhelming evidence of you or family are everywhere. Remove some family pictures, trophies, children’s artwork. Your house needs to look lived-in without looking like anyone actually lives there.

8. Neutral tones

Potential buyers/tenants will be judging your house even before they knock on your door! Make sure that the external appearance

Natural light is great, bright rooms appear more spacious than dim/ dark ones. If necessary, use table lamps in rooms that need

is well-maintained and cared for; the outside needs to look as great as the inside. This includes the garden, driveway etc -a tidy, lawns mowed, litter removed and so on. Walk up & down your street and compare it to your neighbours.

a little lift. Colour is personal, it’s best to go with neutral colours instead of highly individualised interiors. Creating a blank canvas helps buyers imagine how they would live in it and it will appeal to more tastes.

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FEATURED REVIEW 7 - Reputation The Estate Agent Magazine

IT’S NOT EVERYDAY YOU SELL YOUR HOME. HERE ARE 3 TOP TIPS TO HELP YOU UNDERSTAND YOUR ROLE AS A HOME SELLER

Viewings

Most home buyers will look at several homes before buying one. You will have competition. Ask your estate agent what they think you need to do to your home prior to the rst viewing. Keep it clean and tidy. There may be occasions where the agent will call you at the last minute for a viewing, where possible be exible. As you will be having potential buyers walking through your home, keep all valuables in a safe place and out of view. If you have pets, it would be advisable to keep them outside as there may be buyers who may not feel comfortable around pets, especially if the potential buyers have children with them. If you have kids toys or obstructions around the house, make sure it is safe to walk around.

PRO TIP

Communication

Always keep the agent up to date on any changes. For example, if you go away for the weekend or you go away on a vacation. This will help the agent if there is a last-minute viewing and they’re trying to get a hold of you. In this situation, it may be advisable to leave a spare key with the agent. If you are planning a family event and you do not want the agent to conduct a viewing, try and give the agent plenty of notice. If you make any changes to the property let your agent know. For example, if you install a new boiler or you x a leaking roof. This will help the agent when asked speci c questions by a buyer. The key to any successful sale is open communication

Ask the estate agent whether it’s best you remain in the home whilst they conduct the viewing. If you do remain home, allow the agent to do their job, they are the experts. Unless the agent asks you to, don’t walk around on the viewing with them, it may make buyers uncomfortable.

Negotiating

Most home sellers have an emotional attachment to their homes. Potential buyers won’t have that attachment, to them, your property is seen as a piece of real estate. Therefore, if the agent submits a low offer, don’t take it personally. The negotiation for your home can vary widely. In some cases the negotiation is straight forward or take weeks of back and forth negotiations. Always keep an open mind and remember that an experienced agent will know how to negotiate for you.

The key to any successful sale is open communication 8 - Reputation The Estate Agent Magazine

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Role of a SELLER

AREA SPOTLIGHT BASINGSTOKE

HAMPSHIRE Basingstoke is an old market town that expanded in the mid-1960s as a result of an agreement between London County Council and Hampshire County Council. It was developed rapidly after the Second World War, in order to accommodate part of the London 'overspill' as perceived under the Greater London Plan in 1944. Basingstoke market was mentioned in the Domesday Book of 1086, and it remained a small market town until the early 1960s. At the start of World War II, the population was little more than 13,000.

Famous people who lived in the Basingstoke area

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE (SALES)

Harry Styles - Singer

£350,000

Liz Hurley - Actress/Model Andrew Lloyd Webber - Music Clare Balding - TV Presenter

AVERAGE HOUSE PRICE (LETTINGS)

Sarah Ferguson - Duchess of York

£1,170 P/M

Richard Adams - Author Katy Brand - Comedian

9 - Reputation The Estate Agent Magazine viewagents.com

Choosing an Estate Agent

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For most of us, our home is the most expensive asset we will ever own. Therefore, it’s important to choose the right estate agent and know you’re in safe hands.

1. Not all estate agents are the same Choosing the right estate agent is a very important decision, there are differences between all estate agents. Carry out your due diligence before choosing, here are some examples of how estate agents may vary: • Levels of service • Marketing ability • Knowledge / Experience • Professional bodies & quali cations • Fees • Track record

2. Do your research View Agents has over 17,000 estate agents listed and over 350,000 estate agent reviews. It is a comprehensive estate agent search platform, that helps you compare and choose. We advise you to invite more than one agent so that you can get a good understanding of what makes each agent different. If you have dif culty choosing, email us at valuations@viewagents.com and we can recommend agents to you.

3. Ask questions & feel comfortable In some cases, a home sale can take several months from listing presentation to completion. Therefore your relationship with your chosen estate agent is important. You need to feel comfortable communicating with them and make sure you ask plenty of questions. Remember, if your property is being let and then managed by an agent, then that relationship may last several years.

4. Select an agent to sell or let/manage your home Once you’ve weighed up all your options then you will need to select an agent. The agent will then place your property on the market and the marketing process will begin. Good luck!

11 - R e p u t a t i o n T h e E s t a t e A g e n t M a g a z i n e

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We recommend David Sansome from Sansome & George if you’re thinking of selling, letting or require property management Click here to FIND OUT MORE

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