Different agents will give you different answers on this very important question. There are some that will tell you that a home owner knows their home the best so is therefore the best person for the job. Our experience shows that this is the wrong approach, we have found that an experienced salesperson who has researched your home and location is definitely the best placed to present your home.
Selling a home is a very emotional experience. You may have spent years in your home and have lots of memories, happy and sad. It is natural to be attached to your home. It will be awkward for buyers to ask you the questions they really want to ask as you show them around your house, relaying all the lovely memories that it holds for you. Your buyers will not want to offend you. Naturally, they will hold back on querying something that they fear will upset or cause offence. Your buyers will not feel comfortable looking in cupboards, drawers, and behind curtains, and inspecting your home with you looking over their shoulder. Generally, your buyers will feel awkward and are less likely to relax with you conducting the viewing.
On the other hand, an estate agent can help them feel welcome and relaxed. Your buyers will feel free to ask any questions they may have and will be more comfortable having a good look around your home. This is so important. Your buyer needs to feel like they can live in your home. They need to visualise themselves living there and see how they would use the space. They need to be free to openly discuss ideas and opinions with each other there and then. This is so much easier for your buyers when they have the freedom to look around your home and are comfortable asking questions without fearing they may offend. That is why we believe it is vital for your estate agent to show your viewers around.
Of course, it is true that you know your house best, however, a good estate agent (like us), will spend time with you finding out about your home. They will ask you questions to uncover how it feels to live in your home. Not just simple practical questions like where the stop tap is located but deeper questions to uncover why your home is so special. This is the type of information is priceless and can help a viewer connect to your home when dropped into the conversation during a viewing.
Good salespeople are trained, experienced and know how to show your home off to its best. They will pick up on buying signals from your viewer and work with these, dropping in snippets of information that presents your home to its absolute best and makes your buyer feel welcome. Making a buyer feel at home in your home is key. This is much easier for the buyer with the estate agent there rather than you – the homeowner.
You are also far more likely to get honest feedback from your viewer there and then if the estate agent conducts the viewing. Often wanting to be polite, a buyer can tell a homeowner what they think they want to hear and not what they really think. Whilst it is nice to hear lovely things about your home, it is really important to get honest feedback. Feedback can give you insight into what your buyers really think. If there are consistent comments about a particular issue, the feedback allows you to make tweaks to your home or marketing to address such issues. Feedback allows you to respond to buyers’ needs and ultimately gives you a better chance of selling if you listen and act on it.
When considering which agent should sell your home, make sure you understand each agent’s viewing strategy. If your agent is keen for you to show your viewers around, ask them why. It is of course easier for an agent to ask you to do this as it uses up less of their resources, but how then do they justify their fee? In the long run getting the viewings right really can mean the difference between achieving a sale or not. This is why at Alexander Gibson we conduct all our viewings, no matter what day or time. We have the experience and the knowledge to ensure we present your home in the best way possible. We get to know you and your home on a deeper level so viewers really get a feel for what it is like to live in your home. We ensure that the buyer is made to feel welcome and that they are free to ask as many questions as they wish. We want them to feel like they’ve come home. We know that this extra time, care and attention really makes a huge difference.
If you are thinking of moving home and are wondering which agent you should choose. Have a look at our Choosing an Agent checklist here
For more advice on selling, see our other blogs