Choosing an estate agent. Any advice?

Try for personal recommendations from someone you trust. Its not really the person who visits who makes the sale....its the professionalism of the whole team.

Whoever you sign up with, make sure that you're not tied into them for more than a short time. If they're useless, you don't want to be stuck with them for months!

Years ago, I had one, who was so bad, that I 'fired' them by stating that they had breached their contract. They had tried telling me that I was the one who was breaching it by cancelling early, but when I pointed out all the things they'd done wrong and their total inefficiency they really didn't have a leg to stand on and backed down!

Do they all charge the same percentage? There can be a large variation. Check on Rightmove how many properties each has. There is a website called Getagent which gives reviews.

All the estate agents are usually competing for all the prospective sales, so make sure that you are not tied into a long contract, as Squiffy said. If they really want your business, they will agree to a reasonable percentage charge, and a contract of weeks and not months.

Thanks for the replies.
I don’t really know anyone who’s sold around here to ask for a recommendation. We’re a fairly new estate so not a lot has gone on the market yet.

Two charge 1% and have a12 week contract.
One will charge .8% but with a 14 week contract.

I went on getagent GrandmaMoira but was a bit put off that they wanted my email address and name. Am I going to be inundated with spam if I give them those details? I have an aversion to putting my personal stuff out there more than I really need.

There’s not a lot around like my little house. Most of the properties are much bigger. They all seem to have a fair number of those on Rightmove.

I once managed to sell our house myself. We lived on bus route and a passenger saw my 'for sale' board, came to see us and bought the house. That was quite a saving even in the 1970s.

A few years ago, OH had to wind up his late brother's estate and chose Haart to sell the house. That was the branch in Grays, Essex and they were brilliant; so helpful and professional. Everything went as smoothly as could be desired.
Consequently, when we very recently sold our own former home (in a different area), we used the local branch of Haarts. Once again, everything went far more smoothly and quickly than we had imagined possible. They were great - kept us in the loop every step of the way, just made everything so simple. Without looking up the figures, I can't remember what their % commission charge is but it didn't strike us as outrageously high. That sale, of a ramshackle old terrace, in need of repair and TLC, was achieved in 5 days.
No hesitation in recommending Haarts.

Go onto Rightmove for your area. Have a look at how the three individual estate agents present their properties.
Some will take care in photographing the rooms and gardens to the best advantage. Some will take snaps that do not do the properties justice.
Read the descriptive notes. Are they really selling the property?
Most house hunters look at the internet ads first, the most popular being Rightmove. So it is important that the internet listing is enticing.

I was put off one agent who quite frankly was 'up his own **'. He was very proud of his photos but on checking them on other properties he was selling I found them to be all badly taken - on one a Grandfather clock looked in danger of falling down. He also takes a long time to remove the 'For Sale' signs down which makes it look as though he has most of the market in this small town.
The one I chose was a family firm and ended up buying through them too. They were excellent and always kept me up to date with progress.