When you take the plunge and decide it’s time to move house, you want to get things speeding along as quickly as possible.

That’s why knowing you’ve chosen an estate agent that you can trust to work with you well is a critical aspect of the whole process.

Real estate agents probably have the worst reputation of any industry specialist, and you need to be sure that the one you’ve chosen for the most important sale and purchase of your life can be trusted to do a great job. After all, you want peace of mind when the house removal is underway.

Here are some of the clear signs that you’ve hired a dud to help you out with moving house, and it could be time to rethink your strategy before you pack your things and sort out storage.

They never answer your calls

If you’ve hired an estate agent and you can never get hold of them, you’re not going to be confident that they’re responding to potential buyer enquiries either. If your estate agent is ignoring you, the chances are they are just as bad at returning purchaser calls requesting to view your property.

You aren’t seeing your property advertised anywhere

If your estate agent has promised you a centre spread in the local paper, an online promotion and other media advertising, yet you can’t find your property in any of the places they’ve agreed to advertise, chances are they have been selling you a poor service, which is all talk and no action. Time to move on to a better firm that can help you with moving house and selling your home faster!

Nobody is coming to view it

No matter how courteous, responsive or great at advertising your estate agent may be, if the final output isn’t a large number of viewings for your property, you’re wasting your time. As soon as you get the impression that your property isn’t reaching the right number of potential movers, it’s time to switch and find someone more committed to helping you sell your property.

Potential buyers consistently tell you the property is overpriced

If every person who comes to view your house is suggesting that it’s overpriced, the chances are it probably is. While estate agents may encourage you to sign up with them by giving you the best quote for pricing your property, if it’s out of the general market pricing range, you won’t sell it. Indicators will be a number of low offers, or seeing other properties in the area going for much less than your asking price.

You hear horror stories from other customers

Estate agents rely on positive reputations, and one of the things you can count on is, if a firm has let someone down just as the moving van pulls in to the drive, you’ll get to hear about it. Talk to friends and family to see how your chosen real estate agent racks up on the reputation stakes before you make your final decision, and save yourself potential misery if you are let down in the longer term, when you’re desperate to move house.

Moving house may be stressful, but by choosing a reputable and effective estate agent, you can reduce the potential stress by a lot. Shop around and look out for signs to make sure you’re on to a winner.

Do you have any other tips to share? Let us know in the comments.