A Guide to Property Agents in the United Kingdom

If you are moving abroad to the United Kingdom and are interested in purchasing property to live in you will likely want to get your self a British property agent. You will need to know what type of property agent that you want to work with and need. There are three basic main types of property agents to be found in the UK. They are relocation agents, solicitor agents and estate agents. While those are the main three you will also encounter letting agents which are agents that specialize in rental properties.

In most of the United Kingdom, estate agents handle the buying and selling of all property. However in Scotland solicitor agents are more common. They offer a place where buying, selling and conveyancing can happen all in one place. When property is said to be sold by private treaty is means that is was sold by either an estate agent or a solicitor agent.

Relocation agents are sometimes known as buying agents or home search agents. Relocation agents are a good choice if you are an overseas buyer and your have a pretty good idea of what you want, where you want it and how much you want to pay for it. The relocation agent will look for what you specify and then act as a buying agent to negotiate a better deal for you. Sometimes they even arrange financing, surveyors and more. Their fee is usually around one to one and a half percent of the purchase price. If you are in London then that fee will jump to two percent. There is also an upfront retainer that you will have to pay that will be between GBP 500 and GBP 2500 and covers a six month search. This retainer will be deducted from the fee when you purchase a property. The fee is nonrefundable if you do not make a property purchase.

Estate agents are the British equivalent of US real estate agents. There are nationwide chains of estate agents with local offices. There is not a nationwide listing of property though so each agent guards their listings. You can find estate agents simply by looking in newspapers, the internet or in free magazines that they have out. Note that estate agents do not have to be licensed or trained in any way in the UK. It can sometimes be difficult to muddle your way through the crooks in this low reputation field. Some agents have affiliations with certain lending institutions and insurance companies and will push their services even when it is not in your best interest.

While Scotland has its own estate agents, solicitor agents are more commonplace there. Solicitor agents are not affiliated with any financial institution and provide independent advice. As a result, the process of property buying get fewer complaints and takes a lot less time and is less expensive in Scotland than in the rest of the UK.