Which is the Best Estate Agent in East Dulwich?

[tyor]

Could surely do with some feedback from members about their experiences with East Dulwich Estate Agents. We are looking at selling and are in a dilemma on which agent to go with. We have narrowed our choices of possible agents to KFH, Haart, Pedder & Foxtons. However, out off all of them only KFH has offices in the areas we are looking to move to: I understand this is a key factor to consider in a chain sale. Is that true? We were initially warming up to KFH, however, the feedback on them from previous threads on the forum has given us a cause for concern. There have only been 2-3 positive feedback on them against a rash of negative ones. Particularly against Alistair the Sales Manager. Nothing beats word of mouth references.

With the high demand for property in ED, I'm pretty confident of a quick sale. It's getting a property in our area(s) of choice and within our budget that's got us a bit concerned.

Haart appears good but without a big enough network for a quick sale and support in purchasing. Also, I understand from a previous customer that their exclusivity period is 15 weeks. Though, I'd assume this can be reduced.

I like Pedder a lot. They seem local to South London with a big South London network. They are quite aggressive (in a good way) with their sales pitch. It doesn't surprise me, since they are the newest on the block. Has anyone used them? What was your experience and how supportive were they in chain sales (i.e, helping you get a property to buy)? As with Haart & Foxtons, they also do not have offices in areas we are looking to buy.

As for Foxtons, I'm not really sure where to place them. I tend to feel that they are more interested in larger valued properties (which is ok in a profit driven envirionment). However, as a potential customer I expect to feel equally as important as the vendor selling the ?2mill property.

A neighbour who tried them out for a valuation said it took ages to get an appointment for them to come around.

I know quite a few members have mentioned Winkworth, Jackson & Spencer Kennedy as being good. The question is, how supportive and proactive are they in helping sellers find a new home.

Thanks

[sedamp]

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[Mustard]

What area are you trying to move to?

[mrsbee]

I highly recommend No Flies - they were great and even though they don't have an office and it is all internet based our flat sold in a week at asking price.

When I was selling I didn't even consider that who I sold with would impact upon what we bought - in this market you need to register with all agents in the areas you are looking at and keep in touch with them regularly so they think of you when a property comes in.

[strae]

I recently sold in SE16 to move to SE15/SE22 and sold via KFH partly because I thought that would help me get the best out of KFH in terms of my onward purchase. I thought the sales team in SE16 did a passable job in selling our old place, but the teams in SE15 and SE22 were hit and miss. SE15 team was attentive but in patches (they were simply overwhelmed with demand, and did not really treat my case as any different despite having full visibility on my sale and therefore that I was a "real" buyer). SE22 team was mixed.

I can unfortunately confirm that my experience with Alistair (Manager) was terrible: basic failure of courtesy, high pressure sales tactics plus employment of every dirty trick in the book to try and obtain higher bid. On the other hand, Dominic H (Sales Agent, who has subsequently left, hopefully for better pastures) was a real gentleman and nearly redeemed the whole situation.

In the end I bought via Winkworth, nainly because they had the highest number of listings in the area (many of which never made it either to the internet or the window) and because they took us seriously. Once engaged in the purchase, I found dealing with them straight forward and that they did do a decent job to help buyer and seller to get over the finish line. In this market, that is a valuable skill I think because buyers are clearly in a much weaker position relative to sellers.

My opinion, FWIW, is that modern estate agents (except maybe Pedder) share information but little else and so there is very little goodwill generated from keeping a sale and purchase with one group. My observation was that in the end, I was better off choosing the best agent in both places (as measured by number and quality of listings) rather than finding one group that could offer both.

In terms of your last question, I don't think any of the agents are really in a position to help you with your onward purchase unless you already have a very specific set of properties in mind (i.e. every house of the left side of this street) and this fits into where they are currently surveying for potential sales. As each house now being sold is probably being surveyed by 3-4 agents, the fact is that no agent can really be sure of new business unless they have won the mandate/listing.

Based on my experience in buying, if I was to sell a house in SE15 today, I would probably choose GJM (Becky Munday) because they are local specialists and because Becky is trustworthy, honest and a pleasure to deal with.

If I were to sell in SE22, I would consider Pedder (Eloise) or Winkworth (Ayesha).

[millsa]

It took us 18 months to sell in SE15 and buy (various reasons, houses falling through but mainly because of masive incompetence of an agent called Luke at Truepennys) etc so I know every single estate agent in the area way too well!!! Please PM me if you need to talk, I haven't got the energy to write but I think I could really help.

Have had a really bad experience with Truepennys whose agent lied to us so much we ended up losing a dream house, and if it wasnt for that the whole saga would have lasted three months, not 18!

Remember to negotoate the fee - we managed to go down from 1.5% to 1% which made a huge different in the end

and don't go with Foxtons, their fee is just offensive and they are very pushy

[tyor]

Thanks for the feedback.

[SuzieK]

From a buyers point if view, Don't go with Foxtons!

We bought in the se22 area a few years back and Foxtons messed us around and, I felt, were just out to rip us off. We had to keep chasing them after we put an offer in and they were incredibly rude. In the end we pulled our offer.

Haart on the other hand had lots of advise and arranged viewings quickly and kept us in the loop every step of the way. I felt really comfortable buying through them and trusted their advise.

[monica]

From a buyers point of view, do try Winkworth SE22. I bought my property with the team and had a lovely experience. Dominic Barry and Oliver were amazing.

Peddar were also very helpful.

Good Luck

[Fuschia]

Haart offered us virtually no tie in

[muffins78]

I just need to throw my tuppence worth in regards to Foxtons, who I bought with a few years ago. I found them excellent, my purchase was urgent for various reasons. I spoke to them, explained my situation, gave them more information than they required but to demonstrate the urgency - they didn't fail to deliver. I was petrified that the seller would pull out of my purchase, and it was made clear to the seller at the time to not accept my offer unless they were certain that they would proceed. The whole thing went smoothly, Foxtons kept on top of everything and the seller was very informed along the way of my predicament. It all went through without a hitch and I was grateful to all involved. If the salesman who helped me then was there now, I'd have no hesitation using them if I was to sell.

[strae]

monica Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> From a buyers point of view, do try Winkworth

> SE22. I bought my property with the team and had

> a lovely experience. Dominic Barry and Oliver were

> amazing.

> Peddar were also very helpful.

> Good Luck

Would agree with Monica about Dominic and Oliver. The team in general at the LL branch were all a pleasure to deal with.

[jarnac]

Another vote for No Flies from me. Myself and many others have recommended them on this forum before - very rare for an estate agent - they must have the most personal recommendations. I am just deciding if I should sell or rent an investment property at the moment but one thing is for sure if I sell I will use Brendan and Tony at No Flies. Even if all the other estate agents were 0% fee I would still pay No Flies fee as I really think on my previous property sale they got me top price and through excellent communication made it totally stress free.

[pigglemarex]

I definitely recommmend Winkworths. From a buyers perspective they were very good dto deal with - pro-actively calling up as soon as something we wanted came on the market. Asked for feedback etc. Which is good from a sellers perspective as gets buyers in that are actually interested in your house rather than just getting numbers through the door and gets it sold quickly. Believe me having to dress your house up every weekend is a PAIN!

The asking prices seemed 'punchy' to me but its a sellers market and people are seemingly willing to pay top dollar in the area. So they will def get you a good price - they eeked every last penny out of me!

They also have the most listings in the area - I got bored calling loads of agents every week and stuck to the ones with most listings at the time, Winkworths and Haart.

I highly recommend Dominic Barry - I think our vendors were very happy with him as well. He got the deal sorted quickly and chased solicitors up etc (which is half the battle of getting a quick completion.)

Re not having a top dollar mansion - the first rung on the property ladder is mental all over London at the moment and the agents do not have to try very hard to sell. They should be biting your hand off and you should get the fee reduced if you can. 1% is good.

Most houses/flats in the area are under offer before they even make it online!

Re using an agent that is in the area that you are buying in - did not help us even though they promised it would.

[tyor]

Lots of very helpful insight from everyone. Thanks!!! Think I'm in a much stronger position now to identify the good and honest Estate Agents and the ones to steer clear of. I just wonder if all of them make an effort to monitor the ED Forum and participate. Most especially the ones that seem to have a bad reputation and a growing list of dissatisfied customers who are ED forum members.

[powercow]

We sold our house in East Dulwich last summer and reached a record high figure for our road, which came as a complete shock to us (bonkers price!). The agents we seriously considered using were Acorn, Foxtons and Winkworth. In the end we dismissed Acorn because they didn't have enough similar properties on their books and Foxtons because they won't negotiate on their fees (2.5%), whereas other agents would (we ended up paying 1%). And I liked Ollie at Winkworth.

Winkworth were brilliant. We had a buyer within 10 days. Although different staff did viewings, they were all gen'ed up on the property, features, selling points etc. A particular shout for Ayesha, who ended up being the person who ensured the completion went through on the agreed date. When our buyers were being slow and there were issues with the top end of the chain, she was the only one (out of all the agents and solicitors involved) to take control.

(We bought our new house through Harvey and Wheeler...the words "chocolate" and "teapot" come to mind).

[chica1]

Roy Brooks or TruePenny. Both provide that personal touch and good at communication esp Roy Brooks.

[hellosailor]

Winkworths SE22 branch as others have said, have found them a pleasure to deal with and very knowledgeable.

[strae]

powercow Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> We sold our house in East Dulwich last summer and

> reached a record high figure for our road, which

> came as a complete shock to us (bonkers price!).

> The agents we seriously considered using were

> Acorn, Foxtons and Winkworth. In the end we

> dismissed Acorn because they didn't have enough

> similar properties on their books and Foxtons

> because they won't negotiate on their fees (2.5%),

> whereas other agents would (we ended up paying

> 1%). And I liked Ollie at Winkworth.

>

> Winkworth were brilliant. We had a buyer within

> 10 days. Although different staff did viewings,

> they were all gen'ed up on the property, features,

> selling points etc. A particular shout for

> Ayesha, who ended up being the person who ensured

> the completion went through on the agreed date.

> When our buyers were being slow and there were

> issues with the top end of the chain, she was the

> only one (out of all the agents and solicitors

> involved) to take control.

>

> (We bought our new house through Harvey and

> Wheeler...the words "chocolate" and "teapot" come

> to mind).

To second Powercow, I think our purchase would have fallen through if Ayesha had not taken it by scruff of neck.

Yes, we can't claim we got a bargain by any means (so they earned their fee I'm sure) but also, quite frankly there were lots of points in the transaction where we were ready to give up and she talked us back from the edge...

[citylover]

I gave clear instructions to Foxtons regarding how I wanted them to go about the selling process, and they ignored my wishes as they couldn't care less, they want their commission and that is the driving force there.

[drivalmupul1970]

Hey there! There are still many good estate agent London based that can help you. Try to look for their background such as how long they have been in the business and what do they have to offer you that other agents don?t. Anyway, good luck!