hawthorn Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Have decided to put house on market in westend of Glasgow sometime this year (spring/summer). As its a difficult market I will need the best EA (am prepared to accept a lower price/redecorate). Any recommendations? Would it be better to use a 'proper' EA instead of GSPC? Also is there any way of checking out the financial state of an EA/solicitor - what happens if they go out of business while handling your transaction? I am assuming I will be just another creditor and will have to whistle for my cash in the event of a company going bust. Any advice appreciated K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fflump Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Have decided to put house on market in westend of Glasgow sometime this year (spring/summer). As its a difficult market I will need the best EA (am prepared to accept a lower price/redecorate). Any recommendations? Would it be better to use a 'proper' EA instead of GSPC? Also is there any way of checking out the financial state of an EA/solicitor - what happens if they go out of business while handling your transaction? I am assuming I will be just another creditor and will have to whistle for my cash in the event of a company going bust. Any advice appreciated K Money that solicitors handle for property transactions should go through client accounts and thus be ring-fenced and protected if the firm goes bust. The same goes for tenants deposits in the case of letting agents. As to EA-who sells the most flats in Glasgow-of your type? In Edinburgh I'd never think about not going through the ESPC as they have the widest reach advertising wise. I would have thought if you advertise in the GSPC and possibly also in the Scotsman/Herald you'll have covered most bases? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD Posted February 15, 2009 Share Posted February 15, 2009 Money that solicitors handle for property transactions should go through client accounts and thus be ring-fenced and protected if the firm goes bust. The same goes for tenants deposits in the case of letting agents.As to EA-who sells the most flats in Glasgow-of your type? In Edinburgh I'd never think about not going through the ESPC as they have the widest reach advertising wise. I would have thought if you advertise in the GSPC and possibly also in the Scotsman/Herald you'll have covered most bases? Are you saying that the marketing/admin fee, home report fee and SPC fee that the client would pay upfront (the remainder are usually deducted at time of settlement) are ring-fenced if he deals with a solicitor/EA and not ring-fenced if he uses a 'regular' EA.... or are you referring to client's money as in the money that might be passing between solicitors when actually settling the property transaction? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawthorn Posted February 20, 2009 Author Share Posted February 20, 2009 Money that solicitors handle for property transactions should go through client accounts and thus be ring-fenced and protected if the firm goes bust. The same goes for tenants deposits in the case of letting agents.As to EA-who sells the most flats in Glasgow-of your type? In Edinburgh I'd never think about not going through the ESPC as they have the widest reach advertising wise. I would have thought if you advertise in the GSPC and possibly also in the Scotsman/Herald you'll have covered most bases? Thanks for your reply fflump - gspc have been selling a lot of property in the 'good' times when houses were probably selling themselves (roughly equal with EA's I think) but with a more difficult market I wondered if they would be at a disadvantage. Also gspc are mostly solicitor/mortgage consultant based and therefore possibly having a hard time of it with less demand for those services at the moment. Some estate agents on the other hand have diversity in the form of lettings which I thought may help them stay afloat. Sales are well down and I don't expect them all to survive - I hear that many are operating on a skeleton staff and have cut opening hours to save costs. The trouble is if they are in difficulty they are not likely to tell you! K Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
copper crutch Posted February 21, 2009 Share Posted February 21, 2009 Money that solicitors handle for property transactions should go through client accounts and thus be ring-fenced and protected if the firm goes bust. The same goes for tenants deposits in the case of letting agents.As to EA-who sells the most flats in Glasgow-of your type? In Edinburgh I'd never think about not going through the ESPC as they have the widest reach advertising wise. I would have thought if you advertise in the GSPC and possibly also in the Scotsman/Herald you'll have covered most bases? Not sure if id use this lot, they might swindle you out of all your money. http://www.kayswindle.com/engine/home/stan.../2598/en/41305/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Letting Expert Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Who do you work for Countrywide? The GSPC offer by far the best marketing out there. Yes there are some small firms in the GSPC whom I would never use because they are Solicitors that sell homes. But the larger chains like oursevles are EA's that offer legals. All the big corporates have laid off staff, most of the GSPC firms have laid off legal staff but not the EA staff. In fact I hired someone from SH last week as my sales and letting are now improving. Do not tar all GSPC agents the same... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 Who do you work for Countrywide? Who are you asking? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TTD Posted February 26, 2009 Share Posted February 26, 2009 ... and who's "oursevles"? (sic) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
den Posted February 27, 2009 Share Posted February 27, 2009 In my opinion, the best thing to do is to see who has the most similar properties in your area. I went with Clyde, as they had one on in my street. It meant they could contact the people who had seen the other one, but didn't like it for one reason or another..... Mine sold in 2 weeks, the other one has been on the market for a year! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawthorn Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 Who do you work for Countrywide? The GSPC offer by far the best marketing out there. Yes there are some small firms in the GSPC whom I would never use because they are Solicitors that sell homes. But the larger chains like oursevles are EA's that offer legals.All the big corporates have laid off staff, most of the GSPC firms have laid off legal staff but not the EA staff. In fact I hired someone from SH last week as my sales and letting are now improving. Do not tar all GSPC agents the same... I'm not having a go at GSPC. Just wondered if long term EA's such as Slater Hogg would have more expertise. Also some GSPC's don't seem to have diversified into lettings which might help to keep them afloat in difficult times. Your company appears to deal in sales and lettings - would you agree with this? Is the lettings side of your business increasing as sales slow down? If people don't want to buy they'll have to rent instead so I would think there would be an increase in that sector. By the way what have you got against Countrywide - I noticed you slated them on another thread - are they your biggest competitor ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hawthorn Posted March 11, 2009 Author Share Posted March 11, 2009 In my opinion, the best thing to do is to see who has the most similar properties in your area.I went with Clyde, as they had one on in my street. It meant they could contact the people who had seen the other one, but didn't like it for one reason or another..... Mine sold in 2 weeks, the other one has been on the market for a year! Clyde is one of the EA's I am considering. They are well represented in this area (but quite a few other EA's & GSPC are as well - hard to say who is leader). Clyde also seem to have a strong lettings side as well which I tend to think as a good thing in current market. A couple of estate agents have closed already so I'm a bit wary as I don't want to be paying hips & fees twice! Lucky you selling in 2 weeks - what did you do right? There are some flats around here that have been on for ages and not moving while others have sold for a reasonable price. I wonder if the ones that are not selling are expecting 2007 prices or need to redecorate or something. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just_on_the_market Posted March 15, 2009 Share Posted March 15, 2009 Every EA out there are going to tell you that they are the best. I went with a GSPC agent after moving from c/wide as the new EA was on rightmove and GSPC. Most companies like C/wide, clyde, SHogg A&H only really use righmove but for the same marketing fee I got on both website and in paper. But agree the EA you choose should be an experienced agent that do letting as they will survive. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pyracantha Posted March 16, 2009 Share Posted March 16, 2009 Countrywide were recently described by an EA to me as a Junk Bond. Anyone got any idea just how bad things are for them (and consequently SHogg)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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