1. How do I value my property?
2. Can I advertise with Property Broker as well as using an estate agent?
3. Does it work?
4. What happens when someone agrees to buy my home?
5. What about security?
6. Would it help if I had a survey done?
7. How does the service provided by Property Broker compare with that offered by an estate agent?
8. Where does Property Broker advertise?

How do I value my property?

We believe that a property is only worth what someone is prepared to pay for it. That will depend on how keen the owner is to sell and how eager the purchaser is to buy. If you ask an estate agent for a valuation all they will give you is a personal opinion that is more likely to be influenced by how desperately they need your instruction than any accurate reflection of market value. We frequently hear from people who have had 'valuations' from several estate agents only to find that they differed by tens of thousands of pounds and that in the end they had to make up their own mind! Ultimately whether you sell through an estate agent or through Property Broker it will be you who decides what price you are prepared to accept, and that will of course depend on your own personal circumstances. What you do need is an assurance that your home has been advertised widely and fairly and that is exactly what Property Broker will do.

When you advertise your home with Property Broker don't be tempted to ask an unrealistically high price just to 'test' the market. It won't work. We occasionally hear of people who advertise their homes privately at a higher price than with an estate agent. This is pointless, you won't get any enquiries and won't know if the messenger is working. It is far better to ask a price close to the one you will accept. Although buyers often put in an offer lower than the asking price you are under no obligation to accept. However once someone has visited your home and fallen in love with it you are in a much better position to achieve the price you want. We know of many instances where a property has been advertised at a 'low' price, the response has been tremendous and the seller has finally achieved substantially more than the asking price. Remember the more enquiries you get, the more information you have about the value of your home.

We can assure you of one thing - Property Broker works! If you advertise at the right price, you will sell your home.

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Can I advertise with Property Broker as well as using an estate agent?

Yes, most definitely you can, although we would always recommend that you try Property Broker first. Indeed many of our customers turn to Property Broker because their estate agent has failed or is not performing as they promised. Not surprisingly estate agents feel threatened by Property Broker and sometimes try to suggest that you cannot advertise privately at the same time as being under contract with them.

Property Broker is not an estate agent. We don't interfere with negotiations and we don't benefit from the proceeds of your sale. Advertising with Property Broker is exactly the same principle as putting a postcard in your local supermarket. No-one would suggest that Sainburys is an estate agent!

The 'Office of Fair Trading' produces a booklet entitled 'Using an estate agent to buy or sell your home.' Copies are available free from the 'Office of Fair Trading' via their website at www.oft.gov.uk

On page two of the booklet it states;

Sole Agency
'The estate agent you appoint is the only agent with the right to sell your property. As you are not an agent, if you find a buyer  yourself you don't have to pay the estate agent's commission.

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Does it work?

Yes it most certainly does. We receive letters, e-mails and phone calls every day from people who have successfully sold through Property Broker, and those are just the ones we hear about! All of our testimonials are absolutely genuine and are from people who have indicated that they would like to help spread the good news. More than half of our new customers now come to us by personal recommendation from a friend or colleague. 

To read an article from The Guardian click here

The best endorsement of all came form the BBC last summer. The producer of BBC2's 'All the Right Moves' wanted to do a feature on selling homes on the Internet. Their researchers contacted people who were advertising on all of the private sale web sites that they could find, and yes, you've guessed it, the only site that produced consistently good results was Property Broker. Consequently almost the whole of one program featured happy customers who had sold their homes through Property Broker.

We were also featured on Carlton TV's 'Get Online' series last autumn, and we have been covered in numerous national and regional press articles.

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What happens when someone agrees to buy my home?

Once you have agreed to sell your home the procedure is exactly the same regardless of whether your buyer was introduced by an estate agent or via Property Broker as an estate agent performs no legal function. You could do the legal side of selling a property yourself. There are books on do-it-yourself conveyancing in your local library. But unless you are really confident that you know what you are doing, it is best to leave this to the professionals. Solicitors and licenced conveyancers know the problems that can arise, can ask the right questions and are insured against making professional mistakes. They can also sort out your contract and will liase with your buyer on your behalf. Fees vary and it pays to shop around. Property Broker has negotiated a competitive package on a 'no sale, no fee' basis through local solicitors in your area. The cost for a sale is from £325 + VAT + Disbursements. Disbursements are payments that a solicitor makes on your behalf to other people. Disbursements are standard costs and do not vary from solicitor to solicitor, examples include local authority searches, land registry fees and stamp duty. If you would like to take advantage of this service please contact us by e-mail or phone.

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What about security?

The issue of personal safety or security is one usually raised by estate agents who are anxious to deter people from selling privately but the concerns raised are based on myth more than reality. Consider the following facts;

• The only contact details published on our web site are telephone numbers nominated by you and/or e-mail addresses. Anyone intent on mischief would have no idea if the number called would be answered by a twenty stone truck driver or a martial arts enthusiast. On the other hand estate agents invariably publish the road name and even identify the property number on occasions. Also estate agents readily hand out particulars of properties to people walking in off the street.
• The only people who would be able to visit your home to view would be those specifically invited by you and at a time to suit you. Property Broker never reveals specific addresses to anyone. We have heard of estate agents sending people to view homes without even telling the owners. This can never happen with Property Broker.
• The Property Broker 'For Sale' board works in exactly the same way as an estate agents board. It carries our telephone number and web site address. When we receive enquiries from a board we only reveal the basic details, price, number of bedrooms etc. If the caller wishes to know more we give them the contact number nominated by you. We never tell anyone to call at your home.
• There have been two tragic cases reported in the press involving personal security and the sale of property that we are aware of. In both instances estate agents were involved and had failed to carry out the most basic of checks. When you consider how many classified adverts are placed each week in local papers for cars, washing machines, and anything else you care to name, you can only conclude that any risk involved must be minimal.
• We do recommend that you always ask for the name, address and contact number from anyone interested in viewing your home, and always make sure you are accompanied by a friend or relative when a viewing takes place. Just as you would if the buyer had been sent by an estate agent.

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Would it help if I had a survey done?

Having a survey done could certainly save time and disappointment in the future by bringing to light any defects with your home which might jeopardize your sale. Many sales fall through when a prospective purchaser has a survey done which reveals a fault which requires remedy. You may have read in the press about the possible introduction of 'sellers packs'. This is not legislation yet but could come into effect later this year. In anticipation of this change and considerably in advance of it Property Broker are able to offer a complete survey service which not only provides a complete report on the condition of your home but also includes an independent valuation which will be acceptable to mortgage lenders. The most exciting aspect of this service is that the survey can be transferred to your buyer and carries with it a guarantee against all defects not identified in the report. What is more you only pay £50 for this facility, the balance of the cost is paid by your purchaser who would be expecting to have a survey done in any event. When this idea catches on, as we are sure it will, all of the properties advertised on Property Broker will carry a full guarantee against defect and will have already been valued by a mortgage lender. Click here for more details.

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How does the service provided by Property Broker compare with that offered by an estate agent?

• Estate agents take photographs of your home free of charge as part of their service
  Property Broker does that too.
• Estate agents advertise your property on the Internet
  Property Broker does that too.
• Estate agents have a list of buyers waiting for property
  Property Broker has hundreds of registered buyers who will automatically receive details of your property if (and only if) it matches their requirements.
• Estate agents provide a 'For Sale' board as part of their service
  The Property Broker board is free and works in exactly the same way. Sometimes a board is all that is required to sell your home, it seems silly to pay an agent thousands of pounds to advertise their company in your garden.
• Estate agents advertise in property papers
  Property Broker advertises in the Evening Standard probably the most widely read paper in London.
• Estate agents operate on a 'no sale, no fee' basis
  That's great if you don't want to sell your home. Not much good if you do. The fact that you have paid a fee to advertise with Property Broker reassures prospective buyers that you are sincere about marketing your home.
• Estate agents charge thousands of pounds in commission
  Ah, got us on that one. We don't charge any commission at all on the sale of your home. In fact we charge less than the price of an evening out and still make a profit.

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Where does Property Broker advertise?

As I am sure you realize, a property web site is only of any use if it is visited by genuine property buyers. There are many so called 'free' sites on the Internet but are they able to deliver results without advertising? Naturally Property Broker can be found on all major search engines and ranks highly under search words like 'London property' or 'Private Sales'. Search engine ranking is a science in itself and something we have learned a great deal about over the last eight years.

Relying on search engines is not all we do however and traditional advertising is still very necessary. Property Broker advertises in the Evening Standard, Homes and Property, The Metro and The Mail on Sunday.

Our properties are also advertised on Multimap.com and HotProperty.co.uk together with numerous other sites that link to these.

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