Finding your buyer is only half the battle

In what is still a challenging market, finding a buyer has become only part of a professional estate agents remit.

Today the conveyancing process has become a minefield of problems to be overcome relating to property title, building control, cautious lenders and even more cautious surveyors.

It is the agents job to guide their client through this minefield which is a “specialist” job in itself.  That is why at Lindsay Fyfe & Company our sellers are allocated at the date of agreement a dedicated, experienced and committed individual who is office based and will progress your sale from agreement to completion keeping you fully informed along the way.  This senior person is trained with the ability to foresee problems before they arise. 

With the onset of online and fixed fee agents, probably based in call centres in England, there is no possible way without local knowledge and experience that they could offer the best advice, saving anxiety and money for you their client.

At Lindsay Fyfe & Company we qualify all offerers, check all chains and recommend only those buyers that have the ability to proceed to a satisfactory conclusion.  We are proud that our “fall through rate” is one of the lowest in the industry saving our clients the expense and disappointment of re-marketing.

According to findings published by national house buyer, Quick Move Now, a little over 28 per cent of national house sales fall.  A deeper look at the figures shows that of those house sales that fell through, the biggest factor was the sale simply not going forward, a problem that affected 26 per cent of the uncompleted deals. This was followed by the buyer being refused funding by a lender, which was the case in 21 per cent of fall throughs, and a buyer trying to negotiate on the price late in the day, which accounted for 21 per cent of issues. 

Other issues that stopped sales from being completed included the buyer simply changing their mind and not wanting to continue with their purchase (16 per cent), or pulling out because of issues with the property survey (11 per cent). 

My view is very simple.  Anyone selling a property is entitled to sell it for the best possible price.  They are also entitled to choose to sell with any agent they wish.  However, as with most things in life, you get what you pay for.  Choosing an experienced, skilful and professional firm over the online only or fixed price agents will almost always cost a little more but will always deliver a lot more both in terms of sale price and quality of advice and service.  Your property is generally the most expensive asset you will ever own and you only get one chance to sell it. 

Choosing the right estate agent is the single most important factor in achieving a successful home sale.