At some point in most valuation appointments, the homeowner asks a version of the same question: how do we choose? Usually they have two or three agents coming round, the numbers are starting to blur, and everyone in a suit has told them their house is wonderful.
I have a commercial interest here, obviously. So rather than tell you who to choose, let me give you the questions I would ask if I were sitting on your side of the kitchen table. Any decent agent will answer all of them comfortably. Evasion is itself an answer.
Ignore the flattery number
The oldest trick in the book is still in print: win the instruction with the highest valuation, then walk the price down once the property has gone stale. It costs the seller twice, first in wasted weeks and then in the negotiating weakness that follows a reduction.
Ask every agent the same thing: show me the evidence. Which sold comparables support this figure, how recent are they, and how similar are they really. A valuation is an argument, not a compliment. If the argument is thin, the number is a bid for your signature, not an opinion about your house.
Get the fee in writing, all of it
Ask for the complete figure including VAT, and ask what is not included. Photography? Floor plans? The premium listing on the portals? Withdrawal fees if you change your mind? Some agencies quote a headline percentage and reassemble the rest as extras.
Our own approach is a single inclusive fee with no sale, no charge, and everything published openly on the fees page. Whatever agent you choose, you want that same clarity in writing before you sign anything.
Read the tie-in
Sole agency agreements bind you to one agent for a period. Eight to twelve weeks is reasonable. Twenty weeks is not, and some contracts run longer still, quietly. Ask for the sole agency period, the notice period, and read the definition of "ready, willing and able purchaser": a clause that can leave you owing a fee even if you never complete. This is two minutes of reading that protects you for months.
Ask who actually does the work
Who takes the photographs. Who conducts the viewings. Who phones you on a Friday with the week's feedback. Who negotiates the offer, and who chases the solicitors afterwards. In larger agencies these can be five different people, one of whom you have met.
There is no wrong answer, but you should know before you instruct. I am a one-person answer to all five questions, which suits some sellers and not others: the point is that you should get to decide with your eyes open.
Ask about the boring part
A significant number of agreed sales collapse before completion, and one of the clearest differences between a sale that survives and one that dies is active progression: the unglamorous weekly work of chasing enquiries, nudging solicitors and keeping a chain informed. Ask each agent what their progression actually involves and who does it. The answer is more predictive of your outcome than anything in the glossy brochure.
The checks that take thirty seconds
Confirm the agency belongs to a redress scheme (The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme), holds Client Money Protection, and is registered where it claims to be. Every legitimate agency publishes this; ours is in the footer of every page. Absence of it is the reddest of flags.
Choose on evidence, contract terms and the person who will actually do the work. The suit is the least informative thing in the room.
What to do next
If this article has raised questions about your own property, the next step is a calm conversation. I can look at the property, the market evidence and the practical choices in front of you, then give you a clear view of what I would do next.
Would a measured valuation help?
For calm, evidence-led advice about selling or letting in Wimbledon, speak directly with Brenchley’s.