Not all estate agents are rubbish. In most towns, if you look hard enough, you should find at least one consummate pro.

If you can find this person, you will have found an ally - one that will help to make your move go as smoothly as possible.

In an ideal world, all estate agents will:

• Truthfully advise on price and not overvalue your home just to win your business
• Market your property as if it were their own
• Arrange and conduct viewings, making sure all buyers are properly vetted and ready to buy
• Negotiate the best sale price for your property regardless of the fact that their fee structure does not encourage this
• Keep supporting you and your sale all the way through to completion. Nothing is more disappointing than an agent that disappears after the buyer has been found, only to resurface upon completion with an invoice of eye watering proportions.
• Take the initiative in keeping you totally informed of progress.
• Not pressurise you into using associated services (such as mortgage brokers and conveyancers) from which they earn a referral fee.
• Pass on all offers, not just the ones from buyers that are using the agents associated mortgage brokers.

Given the number of complaints each year against our Estate Agency industry, the real questions are:

1. Will you be lucky enough to uncover a good agent?

2. Are you prepared to pay 1.5 – 2.5%+VAT (i.e. the price of a new kitchen) to find out?