Forum Topic

Estate agent

A friend of mine has finally decided to sell his house in Central Chiswick after renting it out for years.  Any recommendations on a suitable sales agent based on personal experience?  Sensible realistic pricing, professional approach. No approaches from actual agents please. And it really is for a friend, not me! I’m not going anywhere… seems the market is a bit slow.

Susan Engel ● 809d23 Comments

A simple "Thank you all" would have been the right response from M/s Engel.

Denis I. Fox ● 802d

She comes on here asking for recommendations for an Estate Agent, which come forth. None are accepted and she asks about a different one. Now she's telling us all what's required of a good Agent, as if we didn't know. It seems that we all recommended the wrong one..

Michael Brown ● 802d

So, there you have it. They're all brilliant - or useless!

Bruce Hammal ● 802d

I think the current market isn’t that good. And my friend is living abroad. A good agent brings credibility, ability to show the house repeatedly,  assess would be purchasers and negotiate. Agents aren’t perfect, but a good agent is worth their fee.if they value correctly and can market skilfully to the right buyer. I knew a situation where when the owner died there was a misguided attempt by the heirs to put a sign in the window with their mobile phone number.  Sensible buyers gave them a wide berth, and they got a succession of chancers who weren’t serious and probably didn’t have the money.  It was pretty chaotic.

Susan Engel ● 802d

No agent is required in this seller's market especially for the sum of 1.5% since the majority of Chiswick houses are  beautiful and will sell themselves.Owners can quickly establish a buyer's status and is not selling their own property:  many are even cash buyers.Simply exchange lawyer details and set an exchange date eg within one month of your lawyer issuing the draft contract.Don't give away 1.5% of the sale proceeds.

Tony Antares ● 803d

Just asking for a friend!

Carl Johns ● 803d

I think there are more estate agent awards than hair salon awards.Local this,local that,regional this,regional that,national this,national that. Then The Sunday Times Awards, The ESTA’s, The UK Property Awards, The Negotiators All-Agents Awards, British Property Awards, Best Medium Sized west London Estate Agent in the w4 postcode Award.And then you have the pay to enter awards where you fill out a form pay your entry fee and cross your fingers.

Julian Pavey ● 803d

We can recommend Chloe Venetia Jackson at Knight Frank in Chiswick. She’s very prompt with communication; very good at qualifying prospects; great advice and very knowledgeable of the locale. Works hard and seems to have a strong relationship with both buyers and sellers. Good luck to your friend.

Joanna Lovatt ● 803d

HARPERS OF CHISWICK won The BRITISH PROPERTY AWARDS 2022: GOLD WINNER as can be seen from ChiswickW4.com on 11th September 2022.Bina Pandit

Bina Pandit ● 803d

Very helpful responses - it seems that Whitman is a bit marmite.  Loved by some and not by others! Anybody tried Harpers of Chiswick? Operates without a shopfront but have heard good things.

Susan Engel ● 805d

Although my experience is as a landlord with managed let, Andrew Nunn are one of the most efficient & pleasant service providers  - across any industry - that I have ever worked with.  My experience with Whitman's was the worst.

Catherine Smith ● 806d

Chris from Whitman is very good

Tim English ● 806d

Dexters were Brilliant for us.

K. Gdaniec ● 806d

Whitman & Co 🏠✔️

Julian Pavey ● 806d

Andrew Nunn is excellent

Michael Good ● 806d

I would recommend Andrew Nunn - Whitmans were useless when we were selling.

Fiona Campbell ● 806d

I'd recommend Andrew Nunn - on South Parade.  Another local agent.  They'll give you a realistic selling price (and achieve it!) rather than giving you an inflated one to get the commission, and then reducing the price or having the property languish.  We used them to sell our father's house in 2021.  We'd have used Whitman if we hadn't used Andrew Nunn (same approach to realistic pricing).  Other estate agents we looked at seemed to be staffed by inexperienced sales people who didn't know the local market

Andrzej Kowalski ● 807d

I can't add to the recommendations for Whitmans having had no personal experience but I would definitely endorse the notion of using local independent firms as opposed to the big chains.

Jeremy Parkinson ● 808d

And another vote for Whitman's! Chris is a proper local and knows Chiswick and environs in amazing depth. They will work hard for you but are realistic in setting expectations, unlike some branch agencies of larger companies.

Bruce Hammal ● 809d

I would also recommend Whitman & Co. from personal experience.

Mark Edwards ● 809d

Whitmans seem to be real Chiswick.  Ask for Chris.

Vivienne Cox ● 809d

Sold within 10 days. 22 viewings. 3 offers.

Michael Brown ● 809d

Local independent, Whitman & Co. I used them to sell a year ago. Fee was 1.5% of sale price..

Michael Brown ● 809d