If you are thinking of selling your property and you are not sure what sort of estate agent to use you will probably start by doing a little online research. I usually tackle tasks that are new to me by doing quite a lot of research and although this review is a long read I hope you might find my journey useful. Estate agents are a new concept in Scotland so I was not quite clear what they do. Having never sold a house in England before, I started by getting 3 different local high street agents to visit and give me a quote. I was quite stunned to be quoted between 3 and 4 thousand pounds to sell a pleasant but rather humble 3 bed terraced house at under £150k. Some agents included the solicitor’s fee in the quote as they insisted I use theirs. There was no room for negotiation with any. My target market was a young family and my best selling point was that the house was right next to primary and secondary schools which had just become the most sought after in the town and families were queuing up to get into the catchment area. None of the agents seemed interested in looking round the house. One told me I should rip out the perfectly presentable family bathroom and put in a wet room. (Probably not a family man?) One told me I could rely on her to be very strict as she really knew her job and that expertise is what you pay for. I asked her what she meant by strict and she explained that if anyone asked to view the property on for example a Saturday afternoon she would firmly tell them “absolutely no way. You either come on a Wednesday evening at 7.15 or not at all”. Feeling confused I bluntly asked her how that works saying - I pay you nearly £3,000 to sell my house and when someone asks to view you tell them no? She seemed startled by my question but went on to explain that she would stack viewers on one weekday evening at 15 minute intervals so they saw people coming and going and that creates a “Buzz”. It’s this buzz that sells a house. It is quite hard to go against someone who obviously makes a living out of their expertise but common sense kept telling me this did not sound right. All the agents asked what the mortgage was and then pitched their suggested selling prices just above that so around £134k completely disregarding the three other houses in the row that had sold in the previous months for £160k. I am not a wealthy person and every penny counts. After they had all gone I thought long and hard about their advice. I did research online about prices (which is sadly really all that agents do). I also rang friends who were house hunting and asked them if they were ever told they could not view at certain times or on certain days. They told me that it happens all the time especially for weekend viewings. If the house was a unique mansion on a cliff or something you would be forced to go along with the agent (however awkward) ...but for a bog standard terraced house in an area of street after street of terraced houses, a family who could not view at weekends - probably the only time a family with two working parents could actually view together – would surely do what I suspected. My friends confirmed that in those circumstances they all just moved on. Sale lost. The agents lack of interest in actually looking round the house made me think that they had more or less decided on their strategy and price by looking at the internet. I felt confident that I could decide a price myself and could always come down. Apparently at this sort of asking price people always start by offering 10k less. I also felt I had time to do the viewings myself. So I decided my next step was to investigate internet estate agents mainly because they were so cheap in comparison. I started by making a chart for myself on a large piece of cardboard and began to research each agent (online or not) using these questions. I recommend you ask yourself the following:- 1. What do the reviews say about this company? Search independent review sites. 2. What pricing model do you want? What do they offer? Do you want to: • pay upfront for the selling of your property? • pay per month for listing on property websites like Rightmove, Prime and Zoopla? • split the fees, so you pay some up front, and some when you sell • pay a commission when it sells • a combination of the above. • Do they have a No Sale No Fee option? • What is their fee structure? Do they include VAT? 3. Does it include a solicitor’s package? Do they force you to accept their solicitor? 4. How long does the marketing package last for? how much does it cost to renew? (often very reduced) 5.Will you be tied in (not allowed to use other agents) if so for how long? 6.How long will it take them to....Verify me, collate information, prepare a floor plan etc and get it live online. From initial enquiry to live....how many days? For example 3 days max or over 7 days 7. Are they members of the Property Ombudsman? You can check their membership at https://www.tpos.co.uk/find-a-member 8. Will they manage all buyer enquiries and negotiations? 9.Will they verify the viewer .......before viewing? before offers? Not at all? 10.Will they provide a For Sale board? Free? Will they erect the board? Free? 11.Will they provide an EPC if you haven’t already got one? Cost? Time? 12. Do they visit to take photographs? Included or extra cost How many photos do they list or allow you to list? Have a look on the online portals to compare the quality and style. 13.Do they visit to take measurements and prepare a floor plan? Included or extra cost? 14.Will they give you advice on how to present/dress your property? 15.Will they conduct the viewings or will you? Do they give you the choice? How flexible are they regarding evenings or weekends. 16.Are they available to help you with queries and problems along the way? Is there any extra charge for this? 17. What are their opening hours? For you? For viewers? Do they answer messages/calls promptly? For you? For viewers? 18. How long has the Online Estate Agent been trading? 19.Which online portals do they list with? Rightmove? Zoopla? Prime? 20. Do they let you write your own description if you prefer? Alternatively do they help you construct one if you think you can’t ? The upshot of all this was that after discussion with various online agents I decided on a price of £158,000 listed the house with Turtle Homes (who scored the highest on my chart by a long way) and paid an upfront fee of less than £200 ! including one extra (a wooden board for outside). I had to wait for a chap to come and measure up but it was on the market within days. I had masses of advice from Richard and Laura who were always at the end of the phone spoon feeding me through my first sale. I had a steady trickle of viewers never more than 2 viewings a day and accepted an offer from cash buyers for £148,000 within twenty days. I asked all the viewers if Turtle had tried to peddle them a mortgage or been difficult to get hold of. Every viewer told me they had been easier to deal with than most agents, very polite and prompt and had never tried to sell them anything whatsoever. I found and used a local one-man-band solicitor where I could pop in and speak face to face. Turtle prepared the memorandum and did all the paperwork as any agent would do. I don’t see how I would have had any more care or help from a high street agent. It is possible that if you felt your target market was very elderly people, they might feel more comfortable going in to an actual building rather than looking on a property portal. So to conclude I would very much recommend Turtle Homes. Their reputation is all they have and I think that makes them keen and interested and on the ball. If you feel confident about taking the reins yourself and if you have time to do your own photos and viewings you can save thousands. The unnerving bit is worrying if they will be honest or helpful or annoy viewers etc and that is where I hope this review will be helpful. Believe me I am thorough and I was very needy and they were brilliant. You can hardly lose by giving them a try.