Anyone buying or selling a property will appreciate how stressful it can be, especially having to deal with overzealous estate agents. Love them or loathe them, Foxtons is undoubtedly one of the most aggressive agents in London. Personally, I would avoid buying or renting through them but I decided to give them a try when I wanted to sell my property as I was led to believe they operated a slick marketing network.

To their credit, Foxtons was very prompt in responding to my sales enquiry. A Sales Valuer was at my property within a day or two and after signing the sole agency agreement, a photographer was assigned to take photos and a marketing brochure was produced. Whilst the marketing materials were prepared free of charge, they do charge a sizeable 2.5% (3% including VAT) upon sale of the property. There is also a 12 weeks lock-in period.

For the first week, viewings were brisk but it went downhill from there. Agents were meant to provide 24 hours notice before any viewings but few adhered to this. Very often, the agents will give short notice of viewings but not turn up. Frustratingly, they would not even notify me of the cancellation. To put things into perspective, in the first 8 weeks, they scheduled 18 viewings, but only 7 actually materialised. To add salt to the wound, some of the agents come ill prepared. Some even resort to fabricating answers when asked basis questions by prospective buyers.

I have learnt my lesson. An estate agent with snazzy offices that serves Perrier does not necessarily mean they attract quality buyers. Perhaps a local outfit who knows the market might work out cheaper and lead to a quicker property close.