How do you evaluate an agent's fee and service scope in London?

Choosing on headline fee alone could leave me paying extra at the point when a sale becomes difficult. I have proposals for a London serviced apartment expected to sell for around £592,800: one is inexpensive but narrowly defined, while another covers professional images, checking prospective buyers, offer negotiations and coordination through the later stages.

I want each firm to quote against the same written scope. Beyond recent comparable sales, I am looking at response times, who manages the file after launch, how offers are verified and what help is provided if a buyer withdraws. Photography also needs to be defined rather than listed as a single line item.

What measurable questions would expose the real difference between these services? I also want any referral or other conflict stated before appointment, not after an offer arrives.

Ask each agent to price the same scope in writing. Pin down what the fee is calculated on, when it becomes payable, what photography includes, and whether negotiation and coordination continue through to completion. Then get the name or role of the day-to-day contact, their response commitment and who covers when they are unavailable. A low headline fee means little if essential work becomes an extra or is handed between teams.

One missing fact is how the apartment is currently operated. Is the agent expected to explain or coordinate anything connected with its serviced status, or are they marketing it simply as an apartment? That could change what “buyer qualification” actually requires. I’d ask each firm to describe the buyers they would target and the exact information they would establish before recommending an offer.

I’d be cautious about giving too much weight to response-time promises or a quoted fall-through rate. Both can look precise without telling you how a difficult file will be managed. Recent comparable sales are more useful if the agent explains why they are comparable and what happened between listing and agreement.

Also ask how competing offers are recorded and communicated, who has authority to negotiate, and whether the firm represents or receives business from any party whose interests could conflict with yours.

Give all of them one realistic scenario: two close offers, one buyer with weaker qualification, a photography change needed quickly, and a deadline approaching. Ask for the steps, responsible person and likely extra charges. Put the answers into a short table covering fee basis, included work, named contact, offer handling, conflicts and post-offer support. The differences should become much clearer than they are in the demos.