Estate Agent Recommendations

I have used Sebastian Roche at Honor Oak and they have been vey nice and helpful. Did a good job and not at all pushy or annoying, but i am sure others have had different experiences of them.

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Another rec for Stanfords. Bought my first property with them and they were great, hassle free and polite. Friend has just sold his through them and has had similar positive experience .

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I’d recommend Pickwicks , we’ve just sold with them. They sold our place within a week and were competively priced compared to others like Pedder, Winksworth, KFH etc.

Paolo who came and did the valuation was really friendly and down to earth, didn’t get the pushy, arrogant marketing pitch that we did from many of the others.

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Who is your agent, Mary?

We’re with Emoov.
We’ve now booked agent visits with Stanfords (because of comments on here) and CKB. I’m going to look into Pickwick and Sebastian Roche. Thanks all for the recommendations. I’m thinking Sebastian Roche might too Honor Oak focused for our area, but will give them and Pickwick a ring.

Surprised about people’s experience with Sebastian Roche. Maybe they’ve changed in the last couple of years. Seemed completely disinterested when I approached them about selling our flat. Granted it’s not a 4 bed Victorian house but someone should teach them about lifetime value.

Not only selling though. More than once I tried to arrange a viewing with Sebastian Roche and was completely ignored. Doesn’t really make me want to use them for any future sales.

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I agree. That kind of attitude may have been one or two lazy employees but can put you off using a company forever. When we moved to our house 18 years ago we had previously tried to view another house through Mann & Co. They kept saying either they couldn’t get hold of the vendor or they would ring back and never did it went on for weeks and made me wonder if they’d ring fenced it.

Acorn damaged our wall with their Sold sign. And were rude about it.

And just this morning I spoke to the rudest estate agent EVER. Haart’s. They have had a Let By sign at a neighbouring house for over a year and not only refuse to take it down but were obnoxiously rude. Apparently - Madam (with a sneer) - you’re the only person who has ever complained about a sign being left up and Haart’s ā€œhas them all over the placeā€ and ā€œall along Lordship Lane and they stay thereā€. When I said I’d report it to Lewisham he told Madam to go ahead and he looked forward to hearing from them. Ye Gods How to win Clients? I don’t think so

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I bought a house through Mann & Co, Sydenham High Street. They wouldn’t accept an offer (at asking price) until we’d seen their own in-house Mortgage Broker who then asked us about our financials in a clear conflict of interest.

We already had a letter of intent from HSBC but Mann still insisted we see their broker even though they had no better rates.

Mann also messed around with a counter offer which turned out not to exist - though that may have been the seller too.

As a buyer, KFH in Forest Hill were most helpful and straight forward when dealing with an offer (we lost).

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They are legal obliged to pass on offers to the seller- no matter what they are. They also cannot legally request you deal with thier broker- don’t accept this kind of nonsense. I never give agents any more information than legally required to, it’s all a fishing trip.

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Believe me I told Mann & Co to stop messing around but they were very improper. The mortgage broker didn’t try too hard when we said we rates were better on the high street and he knew they were beaten, but it was still an unnecessary waste of time and a conflict. We told them nothing - you are right it was fishing, and not just 1 staff member either.

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We sold with Property World (Sydenham) who were brilliant from start to finish, no idea what the experience would be for a buyer with them… we bought our property at the other end of the chain via Pedder in FH and they very nearly drove me to a breakdown, patronising (also insisting we speak to their broker), rude, aggressive, belligerent. I would never give them any business in any capacity.

If we’re being honest estate agents of all tribes don’t really have the best rep, do they! No wonder moving is stressful!

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The previous incarnation of Emoov did not do a very good job.

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We bought our house a year ago through KFH in FH. I would not go near them. The estate agent who showed us the house was super friendly and the moment our offer was accepted his personality changed and he became super cold. His intentions were so transparent and he was just plain rude.

We viewed several houses with property world and really liked the estate agent, he was a good sales person and from an interested buyers perspective can definitely recommend them.

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We also viewed several houses with Benjamin Matthews and he was also very good. Can definitely recommend him from an interested buyers perspective

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Any more recent updates on good/bad estate agent experiences and rates? One-bed flat on Wood Vale which I could show myself if needed.

I just sold with Stanford’s I used them for a sale and purchase about 15 years ago too, and both times they were excellent.
They secured an offer on our house on the 6th viewing (went on market mid Oct 2020, and the offer was made early Dec) and worked really hard throughout to keep us and the buyers on board in what was a complicated chain. They were noticeably better than others involved. Fee was 1.% plus vat.
From a buying perspective, I had a really poor experience with Peddars - two phone conversations to arrange viewings on 3 flats, but despite promises no one ever got back to me so I wasn’t able to view. I may well have made an offer if they’d just sorted it out.

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I’d recommend Pickwick. We just bought with them and, as mentioned above, the estate agent Paolo was great throughout. He was generally very responsive, despite things being very hectic with the stamp duty holiday, and much more straightforward and up front to deal with than other estate agents we encountered. He was even praised by the solicitors after we had exchanged for helping get things over the line. If we were to sell and wanted to use an estate agent, rather than PB, we would definitely use Pickwick.

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Have read all posts on topic with interest and trepidation. I need to sell my mother’s house as she’s in a Care Home and although 3 bed semi would need a lot of work done on it. Would Stanford’s or Sebastian Roche, whom I’ve previously spoken to, be the best to approach as got to have someone reliable who can proceed quickly and professionally. Or is this too much to hope for?

I bought my flat through through Stanford’s over 30 years ago on the recommendation of a friend who was already living locally and wouldn’t hesitate to use them again. I think I am right in saying they have been in Forest Hill longer than any other estate agent.

I’d recommend Stanford’s. We bought through them last year and they were great (which is something I never thought I’d say about an estate agents!). We dealt with Chris there who was genuine, responsive and incredibly helpful throughout the process. He was in the Forest Hill branch at the time but has since moved to the Hither Green one. If we ever sell we’d do it through them based on our experience.