18 questions to ask estate agents when selling a house

Before choosing an estate agent to sell your home, be clear on what they will do and charge. Be a savvy home seller this year and get answers to these key questions to ask estate agents when selling your house before you sign on the dotted line.

Angela Kerr Director, Editor

1. How much will you charge? 

This is one of the most important questions to ask estate agents when selling a house. Estate agents usually charge a percentage fee, which can be anywhere between 0.9% and 3.6% (inc VAT) of the agreed selling price for your home depending on the type of contract you choose. You should aim to get a fee that is 1.2% (1% + VAT) for a sole agency contract. Although for a higher value property, such as those over £500,000 you may be able to negotiate less. So get ready to haggle. Check out our advice guide: Estate agent fees and how you can save in 2023. 

2.  Questions to ask estate agents when selling: Will they offer a sliding fee scale?

Consider asking your estate agent if they’ll agree to a sliding scale of commission. For example, if you think your home is worth about £275,000, you could suggest:

• 1% fee if they sell your home for less than £250,000
• 1.25% if they sell it between £250,000 and £274,999
• 1.5% if they sell it between £275,000 and £300,000
• 1.75% if they sell it for over £300,000

3. Are there any other costs?

Another one of the key questions to ask estate agents when selling is whether there are any other charges. Generally you should expect the estate agent fee will include a valuation of your property, a written description of your property, floorplans, professional photographs of your home, a For Sale board, contacting their list of potential buyers, marketing your house including on property portals like Rightmove, Zoopla and On the Market, organising viewings and usually managing them and negotiating a sale price.

All these marketing costs should be included in the % fee. However what’s included can vary by agent, especially if you choose an online agent so these are key questions to ask estate agents when selling a house. So always check.

In addition to cost, you can easily compare the performance of local estate agents in your area using our Best Estate Agent Finder tool. You’ll see their success rate, how long they take to sell properties like yours and their likelihood of achieving the asking price.

4. Do I need an EPC?

Legally, you have to at least applied to have an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) conducted before putting your house on the market. They last for 10 years so your old one may still be valid. You can check here.

Otherwise, you can save by shopping around for an EPC as it’s cheaper to get EPC quotes from local Energy Assessors directly.

Use our handy tool to get EPC quotes from local qualified energy assessors in a matter of minutes.

5. When do I pay estate agent fees?

Make sure you know when estate agent fees are due to be paid. Online estate agent fees are usually paid up-front or at a later date via a finance agreement. However, this means you’ll have to pay whether your property sells or not. If you’re paying fee as commission you’ll normally pay this on completion.

Your estate agent will usually send their invoice to your conveyancer and they’ll settle the bill out of your sale proceeds before transferring the balance to you.

6. How will you market my home? 

This is where high street agents should demonstrate their years of experience and local knowledge, to inform their plan for marketing your home. When choosing the best estate agent to sell your home, ask them what’s most effective when selling houses like yours. You will of course also expect them to say they advertise with Rightmove and Zoopla – knowing full well most people find properties online, not by trudging up and down high streets looking at agents’ window displays. There is a third portal – OnTheMarket. Agents advertising your home with OnTheMarket will probably put it on the site – which receives 23.5 million visitors – for a minimum of 24 hours first before putting it onto Rightmove (140 million visitors a month) or Zoopla (58 million a month).

It’s worth confirming whether the agent will be conducting viewings and whether they have any other ideas for generating interest in your property. For instance, estate agents may suggest arranging an open house for your property where numerous buyers visit during a specific time period.

Find and compare local estate agents with our free tool: compare fees, success rate, speed of sale and track-record achieving asking price

7. How much is my home worth?

This is one of the most important questions to ask estate agents when selling a house. An estate agent should be able to give you a view on how much your house is worth drawing upon their knowledge of what homes like yours are selling for and why you might set the sale price higher or lower. A good agent will have experience of what features buyers in the area are looking for and be able to tell you whether it is worth making changes to improve the appeal of your home to achieve a higher price. They should be able to impress you with their local knowledge and expertise in selling houses like yours.

It’s a good idea to do your own research first. Get an instant valuation to find out how much your home is worth with our free online tool.

8. How quickly do you sell houses like mine?

And how often do you achieve asking price? These are critical questions to ask estate agents when selling and the agent should have data and evidence they can share with you. Compare the performance of local estate agents in your area using our Best Estate Agent Finder tool – their success rate, how long they take to sell properties like yours and their likelihood of achieving the asking price.

9. Have you recently sold any other properties in the area?

When you’re asking the estate agent Should I sell my house now?, you’ll want to be sure the estate agent knows the local market well and are active in the area. It may be an advantage to you if they’ve recently sold a similar property as they may have a list of potential buyers who would be interested in yours. So ass this to your list of questions to ask estate agents when selling.

10. Questions to ask estate agents when selling: What type of contract do you use? 

There are different types of estate agent contracts and each has benefits and draw backs, so make sure you know what they are and choose carefully.

• Sole selling rights – If your contract gives the agent “sole selling rights” then think carefully before signing. The estate agent in the contract is the only one allowed to sell your home during the period stipulated. And you will have to pay that estate agent, even if you find your own buyer.
• Ready, willing and able purchaser – Do not accept this! It means you have to pay the agent for finding a buyer, even if you decide not to sell.
• Multi agency – You can use as many agents as you like and only pay commission to the one who sells your property. The more agents you get working for you, the more potential buyers you will reach, and potentially the higher the offers you will get – but you will pay higher fees. Using a multiple agency approach depends on what type of property you have and on the state of the market.
• Sole agency – This is the same as sole selling but if you find your own buyer, you won’t have to pay anything to the estate agent.

Most high street agent commission will be on a no sale, no fee basis, so they are only paid if they successfully sell your home.

11. Does your contract include a tie-in period?

Lots of estate agents, even the big high street brands, include a tie-in period. But if you end up not getting on with them or become unhappy with their service you will want to terminate the contract. Make sure your contract gives you the flexibility to terminate without incurring a penalty (the term you are looking for is “no withdrawal fee”), and go elsewhere if you’re unhappy with your agent.  

Check the tie-in period and negotiate this as well.  These vary dramatically between agents but you should not need to be locked in for more than 12 weeks (including your notice period). We’ll say it again, check your contract. See what to watch for in estate agent contracts

12. Will I have any future liability if I take my home off the market and sell with another agent at a later date?

Imagine you were with Agent A, on a sole agency contract. You were not satisfied with their service so terminated the arrangement, served your two weeks notice and were off. Then you sign up with another estate agent – Agent B – and three months later, the sale of your property goes through. Agent B is paid the commission you owe them for selling your home only to be approached by Agent A asking for a percentage as well because they argue the purchaser was originally “introduced” by them.

In these circumstances, there are always going to be arguments about whether a purchaser was introduced to the purchase or not. Avoid this by making sure the contract is clear on what constitutes an introduction.  And when you terminate get a list of introductions made by the original agent.

So read your contract carefully and understand what continuing liability you might be signing up to beyond the term of your contract. Fight any suggestion that you should pay two finders’ fees.

13. Questions to ask estate agents when selling: What happens if we disagree on something?

We hear too often of a home sellers’ relationship with their estate agent breaking down. So make sure there is mutual respect from the beginning and be clear about your priorities and how you want to communicate going forward. If things did go wrong and you found you needed to resolve a dispute with your estate agent we have a guide to help you.

At this stage it is worth checking they are a member of one of the grievance bodies who can help you pursue a complaint should things go wrong. All agents must be a member of either: The Property Ombudsman or the Property Redress Scheme. So make sure your chosen agent is a current member. But be aware, their powers and compensation awards for consumers falling victim to agents not following the agreed code of practise are limited.

Estate agents’ fees aren’t the only major cost when selling, there’s also legal fees. Fear not, we have that covered as well with our great conveyancing quotes tool – Get a conveyancing quote now

14. Who will my lead estate agent be?

Before you sign up with an estate agent, when you’re compiling your list of questions to ask estate agents when selling, find out who your lead estate agent will be and who will be doing the viewings. You’ll want to be confident in all the people who will be conducting viewings and you’ll want to know they’re fully up to speed about your property.

15. When will you conduct viewings?

If you’re using a High street agent, they will often want to conduct the viewings themselves, at least during their normal office hours. But if the viewings are out of hours, you may need to conduct the viewings. However if you use an online estate agent, you’ll usually need to conduct all the viewings unless you pay for hosted viewings. If you don’t want to conduct viewings yourself this will be one of the important questions to ask estate agents when selling.

16. How quickly can my property be up for sale?

Before your house is marketed you’ll need photographs taken, a property description written and a floorplan done. Different estate agents work at different speeds. So before you sign up, ask your estate agent what their typical lead time is for getting a home up for sale. If speed is of the essence this may be a deciding factor for you when it comes to which estate agent to use. So add this to your list of questions to ask estate agents when selling your property.

Any if you do want to sell quickly, then get ahead and put your conveyancer in place asap. We make it easy to with our compare conveyancing quotes tool that will give you instant quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancing solicitors that cover your area.

17. Do I need a for sale sign in front of my house?

There isn’t any obligation to have a For Sale sign put up outside your house so it’s your choice if you have one. A benefit of a for sale sign is that you may reach buyers who may not be searching online so if could increase your reach. But some people prefer not to for a number of reasons. For example, you may not wish to highlight to neighbours that you’re putting your house on the market.

18. Is my property ready to sell, and how can I best stage it for marketing?

Ask your estate agent their opinion on the condition of your property and how you can get it ready for sale is important. A good estate will advise you on how to attract more interest in your property and to make it look as appealing as possible to potential buyers are viewing your home. This could involve giving your walls a fresh coat of neutral colour paint, finishing any odd DIY jobs, and generally decluttering.  See our 12 tips to make your home more valuable and sell faster.

And if you need to get rid of some junk or bulky rubbish, let us help. We have teamed up with LoveJunk, the rubbish clearance marketplace to assist you with your waste disposal needs. LoveJunk finds your cheapest and nearby licensed waste collector or reuser in seconds.

Top tips on finding an estate agent: video

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