Recent experiences of Estate Agents

[goodlizzie]

17 years ago we sold our last property privately so we have only bought through agents.

I don't think I'm quite up to the job at present as my job is very inflexible in terms of being able to take calls during work time etc.

Can anyone share good experiences with local agents please?

We will be putting our 4 bedroom house on the market very soon and have had a couple of valuations this week.

I'm wondering which ones seem proactive with buyers and push the sale along efficiently without bullying.

Both agents who came round mentioned something about 'soft launching' - or something like that - whereby they contact prospective buyers already on their books in order to test the market before they put it on their website and other property websites - anyone got any experience of this please?

Thank you.

[chris_i]

We bought back in December and dealt with Matt Laninge who works as an independent under the name "the property expert".

As first time buyers we were really impressed with him. I obviously can't speak for how he is on the seller side.

[goodlizzie]

Thank you chris_i

[gumshoe]

We recently sold our one bed in ED with No Flies (https://no-flies.co.uk/) - there?s a thread on them on here, but wanted to mention them again because couldn?t recommend them enough - so helpful, really proactive and overall a fantastic agent and a real credit to the area.

[damzel]

I'd highly recommend Pickwick Estates. Paolo went above and beyond to get our purchase over the line when everything was conspiring against us in December! Good comms too - very responsive, which to me is extremely important. Good luck

[goodlizzie]

Thanks gumshoe and damzel. Great to hear the positive experiences.

[speedbird]

I can highly recommend Connor at Truepenny's. I have experienced several estate agents in Lordship Lane and none have had the values, honesty and integrity that I have very recently experienced with Truepenny's. I would never use Winkworth again, they're like car salesmen since the last Manager left. Two others I've used were nice but didn't work terribly hard to actually conclude sales.

[E.d.se22.london]

On the sell side, good experience with KFH & Pickwick.

Have not had good experiences with Truepennys and would not recommend (v. poor communication which at times was bordering on misleading), but perhaps that was just us as the poster above rates them.

[SpringTime]

I'd avoid soft launches. PM me if you like.

[philosophie]

We haven't sold round here yet but we bought through Pickwick (with mixed feelings). On the tenancy side (which surely translates into how they handle sales), we've had terrible experiences with both Daisy Lets and Winkworths. Another time with Haart who were pretty communicative and decent - no complaints.

[wanjieru]

As a landlord who made the mistake of renting through them, I am currently having a really horrible experience with Winkworths.