The HomeOwners Alliance has claimed that a good estate agent can maximise their value to a vendor by selling a property for thousands more than the agent’s own asking price.
The Alliance, which is one-third owned by conveyancing business ULS Technology, has named Britain’s best agents in a league table, saying that the one that comes top is achieving on average £36,000 over asking price.
For its finding, the Alliance used ULS’s estate agency comparison website, www.estateagent4me.co.uk
The Alliance’s findings may stir controversy over the art of valuation and attracting buyers, while there is also a debate as to whether online/hybrid agents are motivated to get the best price given that they are generally paid on listing rather than sale.
The Alliance named Roy Brooks, of East Dulwich, London, as the UK’s best-performing agent, achieving an average of almost 6% above asking price over the past six months, equating to an extra £36,064 on average.
It said that in Bristol, top-rated agents get £12,000 over the asking price, and in Birmingham the best agents secure an extra £5,700 on average for their customers.
At the other end of the spectrum, however, it said many agents in central London are agreeing sales at 10% lower than the original asking price – equating to over £700,000.
Paula Higgins, chief executive of the Alliance, said: “When listing your home on the market it may be tempting to instruct the agent which gives you the highest valuation.
“However, by using the EstateAgent4Me tool, sellers can find out which agents are prone to over-valuing properties and which are successful in achieving or exceeding their asking price.”
Felicity Blair of Roy Brooks said: “It’s great when an independent body affirms that you are doing a good job, and this news from HOA is exceptionally rewarding.
“Thank you for providing a tool to help sellers identify agents that are most accurately determining values, as we believe this is key to a successful sale.”
A spokesperson for the HomeOwners Alliance told EYE that the EstateAgent4Me tool analyses data from over 18,000 agents and that agents with less than 2% market share in their localities are excluded.
Asked how it can be certain that a particular agent has sold a particular property, we were told that the tool matches its data with Land Registry records using the address “and a combination of other factors”.
The Land Registry does not record which agent was involved in any transaction.
The HomeOwners Alliance chart showing Britain’s best performing agents in terms of getting over the asking price:
| Estate Agent | Location | Average selling price | Average % of asking price | Average value added |
| Roy Brooks | East Dulwich, London | £657,855 | 105.80% | £36,064 |
| Wilson Heal | Amersham, Buckinghamshire | £695,000 | 104.30% | £28,653 |
| Cockburn | Mottingham, London | £329,750 | 109.40% | £28,280 |
| Christopher Edwards | Pinner, London | £358,452 | 107.90% | £26,279 |
| Simmons & Sons | Basingstoke | £383,746 | 106.90% | £24,856 |
Local charts from the HomeOwners Alliance, covering some of Britain’s cities:
Birmingham
| Estate Agent | Location | Average selling price | Average % of asking price | Average value added |
| Wolfs | Harborne | £192,450 | 103.1% | £5,787 |
| Shakespeare’s | Hall Green | £230,000 | 101.2% | £2,727 |
| Evans | Kings Norton | £137,500 | 101.7% | £2,300 |
Bristol
| Estate Agent | Location | Average selling price | Average % of asking price | Average value added |
| Andrews | Bristol | £250,000 | 105.2% | £12,357 |
| Elephant | Bishopston | £399,950 | 102.6% | £9,986 |
| Hollis Morgan | Clifton | £237,750 | 103.8% | £8,708 |
Coventry
| Estate Agent | Location | Average selling price | Average % of asking price | Average value added |
| Loveitts | Coventry | £149,659 | 101.1% | £1,610 |
| Shortland Horne | Walsgrave Rd, Coventry | £150,000 | 100.9% | £1,365 |
| Whitegates | Coventry | £125,000 | 100.9% | £1,115 |
Leeds
| Estate Agent | Location | Average selling price | Average % of asking price | Average value added |
| Preston Baker | Roundhay Rd, Leeds | £245,000 | 101.7% | £4,095 |
| William H Brown | Headingley | £159,714 | 100.7% | £1,120 |
| Linley & Simpson | Horsforth | £162,881 | 100.1% | £168 |
Liverpool
| Estate Agent | Location | Average selling price | Average % of asking price | Average value added |
| Venmore | Liverpool | £73,986 | 106.8% | £4,711 |
| Sutton Kersh | Cotton Street, Liverpool | £45,000 | 110.6% | £4,296 |
Manchester
| Estate Agent | Location | Average selling price | Average % of asking price | Average value added |
| Harrisons | Urmston | £220,000 | 101.3% | £2,823 |
| Thornley Groves | Manchester | £166,119 | 101.3% | £2,103 |
| Springbok | Manchester | £108,250 | 102.45% | £2,587 |
Newcastle
| Estate Agent | Location | Average selling price | Average % of asking price | Average value added |
| Pattinson | Chillingham Rd, Newcastle | £109,967 | 103.5% | £3,733 |
| Bailey & Co | Jesmond | £239,409 | 100.9% | £2,360 |
The methodology on this will be key. Very easy to achieve exceptionally misleading results.
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So Auction estate agents who have low reserves or ‘offers over’ agents, or agents who actually value poorly will come out top….
Agent swho get less then asking price should be commended for ‘testing the market’ for their clients…
If we had a decent body who could use the figures to make onliners look bad it would be ok,,,but nobody of any use ( sellers) will even see this in the public domain.
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“Commended for ‘testing the market'”!!??
When (except with unique property) did this become a good thing to do?
With the greatest of respect, are you a proper estate agents or a memeber of the public?
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The methodology is here, Chris:
hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-selling/how-estateagent4me-works/
Potentially more flaws than the Sears Tower, I would suggest…
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Which? Magazine did a comprehensive analysis of original marketing price v sale price achieved over a 12 month period from August 2015 to August 2016 published this February;
http://www.which.co.uk/news/2017/02/estate-agents-who-overprice-properties-costs-sellers-4-3bn/
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What tosh.
I keep saying this and actually for once, PIE, I think you need to take some responsibility behind your reporting…
Proving which agent can achieve more over another is IMPOSSIBLE. You would only be able to do this if we all had exactly the same stock, marketed at exactly the same time in exactly the same parts of the country.
In fact there are so many variables that this data is way off the mark.
PIE, you know our industry by now, you know it needs transparency. Perhaps you could assist by not reporting supposed ‘accurate data’ like this?
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Please excuse my bluntness, The innumerable factors affecting asking price and sale price make this ‘survey’ a complete and utter load of unscientific, pointless b*ll*cks.
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Yes. Agreed. I perhaps should have reduced my rant to exactly that 🙂
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Who calls their estate agency “Cockburn”?
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Maybe we all should – their name’s on that list – is yours…?
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Joke’s on you. It is actually.
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Or is this a list of agents that undervalued?
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http://www.estateagent4me.co.uk pick selected random data so their results are not accurate
They contravene ASA guidelines and therefore are liable for prosecution.
They need to supply source data on how they arrive at their figures.
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