NAEA (National Association of Estate Agents) membership: (Herne Bay & Canterbury branches) One of the most important aspects to consider is whether your agent is a member of the National Association of Estate Agents, which sets down a stringent code of conduct and provides extensive training for its members. The National Association of Estate Agents requires members to pass an exam before membership is available. The exam, which requires 150 hours of study, covers law relating to residential property sales, practice relating to residential property sales, property appraisal and building construction. Members must carry Professional Indemnity Insurance. Members holding client accounts (e.g. for holding landlords' rent) must be part of a client money protection scheme insuring that clients' money is secure.
Through David Clarke (Herne Bay Branch) you will benefit from knowledge and professional advice before, during and after tenancies. We provide all our clients with a personal service not matched by corporate organisations. Our qualified ARLA member lettings Negotiator will be happy to help you answer and understand all aspects that you need to know and then you can make an informed choice, as to the services available and which, strategy is most likely to achieve your financial goals.
When you are choosing a selling agent, do make sure you choose one who also does letting. Letting agents have long-term buy-to-let property investors permanently on their books who buy regularly. They know the agent, and they make quick decisions and reliable offers. They prefer to buy through an agency that does letting because it is easy for them to let out their new investment. Also many tenants also register to buy. Good letting agents build strong relationships with their tenants and are in a prime position to help them buy one of their own selling clients’ properties. It also means that should you decide to rent your property out instead of selling it the same agent can handle both - whichever comes along first!
Buyers overwhelmingly prefer to work with local experts, whom they regard as 'in the know', so choose a well-established local agent. David Clarke has been established in the area over 40 years.
Beware! It is well known that some agents deliberately over-value in order to impress you to secure your instruction, so don’t fall into the trap of simply choosing the agent with the highest valuation. An inflated price attracts the wrong buyers to your property and the right buyers never see it, resulting in the property going stale on the market. This often leads to the property falling below its true market value.
Does the agent accompany all viewings? It is incredible that so few estate agents provide accompanied viewings. Apart from the obvious security issues, only when agents accompany buyers around a property can they probe, listen and understand what the buyer really wants. Agents who develop a picture of the buyers’ preferences, in addition to those few key ones that were registered, tend to have a much higher viewing/sale ratio and do not frustrate their clients with unsuitable viewers. (Our policy is to accompany all buyers around a property wherever possible, and provide prompt and constructive feedback).
Professional photographs entice more buyers to inquire about properties. David Clarke use professional photographs to display your property to its best advantage. The photographs are displayed on the internet and all property brochures.
Make sure you choose an agent who advertises properties similar to yours in the local press. Chances are that they will already have a large pool of buyers who have enquired about similar homes to yours. However, be wary of the agent who promises to advertise your property every week with a postage stamp sized ad! A local High Street office is also essential for buyers that do not have the Internet or just prefer a one to one service.
Make sure you appoint an agency that has close ties with a stable and efficient financial services provider who can help buyers with their funding. This can be pivotal in clinching a sale and making sure that it sticks.
PropertyLive.co.uk is the only property search site that's regulated, protected and run by a professional body of fully accredited agents. Each member belongs to one or more of the National Federation of Property Professionals associations, which include the NAEA - National Association of Estate Agents and ARLA - Association of Residential Letting Agents. Members have joined their respective associations to demonstrate their commitment to professional standards in the property industry to which they can be held accountable. Buyers often use the internet when looking for a property, so you need to be sure that your property is found and promoted - quickly and easily. An agent might have a great website, and that's fine, but do they promote their website on Google and other search engines. Buyers are directed to your property when they search using the search engines such as Google. David Clarke are on rightmove.co.uk, have a comprehensive Internet marketing strategy and are well represented in Google and other search engines.Download Herne Bay branches company brochure Download Adobe Reader
