The Internet and Websites
The internet is a valuable tool in estate agency and a good agent will be well-versed in adopting the right technologies available to ensure that your property is marketed to the world wide web.

A good Bristol agent will be advertising your property on top notch property portals. The potential for persons who may not necessarily be registered as an interested buyer with your agent to show interest in your property will be greatly enhanced if your chosen agent is IT-savvy.

Take a look at the estate agents' own website and ask yourself if it looks professional enough for interested parties to want to conduct a property search on the site. Satisfy yourself that the search facility works well and that the search results are adequately presented. Are the full property details presented well and are all associated images of decent viewable quality?

Most importantly, is the site speed quick enough? A slow performing, inefficient and difficult to navigate website where pages and images take a long time to download will challenge the patience of most visitors who will be quick to leave the site and never return.

Estate Agents Commission Rates Explained
Most sellers are unaware of the different commission rates that Bristol estate agents will charge to sell your property. It is a fact that not all Bristol estate agencies charge the same rates and there’s a good reason for this so don’t make your decision on price alone.

Some Bristol agents may quote standard rates but upon appraising the property, may determine that the property may be more difficult to sell than usual because it’s in a bad area or in a poor state of repair warranting more effort on marketing costs and effort. Conversely, some agents may quote a lower than normal rate if they think that they can move your property easily and quickly.

Some Bristol estate agents may not have the overheads of larger firms who have made high levels of investment in high street offices, top-level staff training, sophisticated computer systems and professional marketing materials and resources.

That’s not to say that cut-price commission rates will deliver cut-down levels of customer service and professionalism because you can sometimes experience inadequacies when dealing with larger chain firms too.

Cut price Bristol estate agents usually require a higher turnover of stock in order to survive and they are therefore less likely to be concerned about securing the best price for their clients. The net amount of the post-sale proceeds in your pocket is surely more important than the percentage fee your Bristol estate agent charged in commission.

Advertising Your Property
Advertising in traditional newspapers is being gradually eroded by the modern use of the Internet and by estate agencies in Bristol having and promoting their own web sites.

If a modern day buyer is looking to buy a property in the Bristol area, they are very likely to search for properties on the Internet

Check Out Their Website
When you are researching Bristol estate agents it is well worthwhile taking a good look at their websites. There are some questions to ask: How easy is the agent’s website to find in a search engine? Is it presented in a professional and contemporary manner? Is it informative? Can you search the property stock easily? Are the property particulars written up in a concise and informative fashion, in good English? An agent’s website can tell you a lot about the standard of service you can expect from them.

Lettings
When choosing a selling agent it could be advantageous to select an agent who also manages let properties.

Letting agents have long term buy-to-let property investors permanently on their books who buy regularly from them. They know the agent and they are likely to make quick decisions and reliable offers.

These investment buyers prefer to buy through that agent because it is easy for them to let out their new investment quickly after purchasing your property.

Many tenants also register to buy. Good letting agents build strong relationships with their tenants and are in a good position to help them buy one of their own selling clients’ properties.

Communication
Too many estate agents only communicate good news which is quite easy to do.

A good estate agent will be in frequent contact with their clients and will not be short in advising you if anything needs to be done to improve your chances of achieving an effective sale transaction.

Ensure that the estate agent you choose to represent you in the Bristol area is good at communicating.

Low Fees and Low Quality Versus Higher Fees, Higher Quality
In order for low priced agents to be able to compete with larger concerns in the area of Bristol, it should always be worthwhile to speak with those agents and hear what they have to say. Let the higher priced agent have a chance of explaining the merits of using their services and expertise in handling your Bristol property transaction before making a decision on price alone.