Buyers
05/02/2026
With National Estate Agent Day coming up on 26th February, we wanted to share a bit more insight on what our day-to-day involves and dispel some of the myths around estate agency.
Read on to find out about what our team is doing to help you achieve a successful sale.
“Estate agents just stick it on Rightmove and wait.”
Myth: Selling a property just means uploading photos onto their website and portals like Rightmove and OnTheMarket, and waiting for the phone to ring.
Reality: Marketing is only one part of an estate agent’s job. Although getting the photos and description of a property right is important, these alone won’t sell the property.
A good estate agent uses their knowledge and experience of the local market to appraise your home and strategically price it, pre-qualifies buyers, manages viewings, negotiates offers, and progresses the sale through to completion.
Often, your sale or purchase (or both) will be part of a chain of moves, which is also the agents responsibility to keep up to date on and feedback to you where there could be potential issues. This is particularly important when choosing a buyer. If you have multiple offers, the biggest offer isn’t necessarily always the best as you might be overlooking someone who is ready to move now – e.g. a first-time buyer with no home to sell.
“Agents inflate valuations to win instructions.”
Myth: Agents give you a higher valuation for your home than is realistic, in order to win the valuation.
Reality: Although there may be some bad actors out there who are purposely overvaluing in an attempt to win more valuations, in the long run constantly overvaluing will result in slow sales, or even no interest in the property at all.
Overpriced homes generate less early interest, meaning that your property will sit on the market for longer. The longer that your home is on the market for, buyers will begin to wonder why there hasn’t been any interest, which will then result in lower offers later.
If agents price correctly from the first day, then the final sale price is often higher. A trustworthy agent should be basing their pricing on recent comparable sales, the demand from buyers in their market, and competition from other properties that are currently listed.
The best agents don’t tell you the highest number, they tell you the number that will actually get you moved, because the goal is to achieve the best possible outcome. For example, we currently achieve an average of 99.4% of asking price for our sellers.
“Once an offer is agreed, the job is done.”
Myth: “An estate agent’s job is finished as soon as an offer is agreed between the buyer and seller.”
Reality: Once a sale is agreed, this is often when the real work begins. Between the offer and completion, there is a lot that needs to happen.
After an offer, surveys and mortgage valuations take place which is typically when issues arise and renegotiations can happen. Sometimes, buyers can panic and chains can wobble, but through frequent follow-ups, issues can be resolved sooner than later. A good sales negotiator can spend well over 50% of the working day dealing with sales progression, contacting solicitors and other parties in order to get the sale completed.
“Agents push for a quick sale to get paid faster.”
Myth: “Estate agents just want a quick sale so they get their commission faster, even if it’s not the best offer.”
Reality: Rushing into agreeing a sale could create more problems further down the line and create more damage for an agent in the long run. As an estate agent, if you rush a deal which later falls apart then you wouldn’t get a fee, have wasted months of time and caused reputational damage to the business.
Good agents don’t want a rushed sale, they want a secure sale. Achieving a secure sale means properly qualifying buyers, checking mortgage agreements and proof of funds, assessing the strength of the chain and fully managing the process through to completion.
As we mentioned earlier, sometimes the highest offer isn’t the best one for your moving goals. The fastest buyer isn’t always the most reliable.
Buyers
Buyers
