We recently asked a client Melissa to tell her story about selling her flat in Glasgow and share her feedback and experiences. Here is how it went.

Tell the readers about yourself first of all:

I am Melissa Mulholland I am a 34 year old IT analyst and I work in Glasgow – I am originally from Aberdeen and moved here for university at 18 years old. I have stayed ever since and Glasgow is now definitely my home.

Why did you want to sell your home?

Really I actually didn’t want to sell my flat – I loved it and worked really hard to get the money to buy it in the first place as well having put a lot of extra money into improving and making it a nice place to be. I was sad to sell it really but I arrived there as a single person and now I have a partner well actually fiance and a dog as well so although it was a good sized flat it wasn’t really practical for us all anymore and we needed more space.

What kind of property was it?

My Flat was just on the outskirts of the West End and it was a one bedroom flat with a dining kitchen.  It was a traditional tenement style home that I had added a new bathroom two as well as  new heating system and replacement windows.

How did you first find Murphy and Forrester?

Me and my partner had seen a flat that we wanted to buy and we initially asked the agent who was selling that flat to value our home because we were already in touch with them.

When they came out to see us we discussed valuation but I didn’t feel the figures were quite right and I thought their approach was a bit too focused on a quick sale. It just didn’t feel quite right so I asked another agent my friend had used to come and give us a second opinion. Those two valuautions were about 40% apart and so by this point I was totally confused about what to do. I was speaking to My solicitor about noting interest in another property and we got onto my flat and I said I didn’t really know what to think. They mentioned Lewis at Murphy Forrester had been good in the past so try giving him a call which I did.

After seeing two other agents why did you pick Murphy Forrester as your estate agent?

I felt that the process was much more considered than with the other two agents who just wanted to list the property on rightmove. Lewis explained the way a valuation is calculated as well as the percentage over valuation that is usually achieved for each kind of property and why. I was given the free choice of what to list my flat at as well as how to present it but I was given recommendations and these were backed up by research and examples of previous cases.

I felt this was a much more considered approach and that Lewis had really thought about the process and focused on achieving the best outcome for me. I also liked that it was a one point of contact set up. The other agents both had an online portal to manage their clients and although Murphy and Forrester had that too in reality I dealt directly with Lewis and we did the whole thing directly by phone and whatsapp. We regularly spoke in the evening and at the weekend because my work makes talking 9-5 really hard.

How did the sale process go?

At the start we ordered a home report and a professional photographer visit, these were done on the same day which was efficient. Once the home report was done I received a draft and I reviewed it jointly with Lewis. We discussed some areas that we need to smooth over and addressed those after which the survey was updated. The photos and video were really good but there were a couple of photos we changed up. Once that was done I felt really everything was as good as it possibly could be.

We went live on the market very quickly after that and I had a total of 18 viewings over about two weeks. Some of the viewings I did myself but I actually didn’t like doing them  because two of them really put me on the spot about what price I wanted. After the first ones Lewis took over them for me. We had only three blocks of viewings which again was quite efficient. I did the initial three one night after work and then the remaining ones Lewis did for me on the next  two Saturdays whilst I was out. We did get  a total of 6 offers, one initial offer and then 5 offers at a closing date. I was really happy that it progressed quickly and I had an accepted offer in just under three weeks.

How did you feel about the price?

I was over the moon with the final price for the flat. I really believe the flat sale was maximised and no more could have been done to get a better price. It was also completed a lot faster than I expected. My first offer was lower than I would have been able to accept but Lewis told me from the outset it was normal to reject some offers before you accept one and just to trust and follow his process. We sold the flat for 28% over the home report which was way beyond my expectations and it was more than my initial estimate too.

What about the fees

The fees were really competitive – the first agent I had spoken to took an “incentive” fee structure which basically increased their commission the higher the sale price went. Initially I thought that was sensible but when I calculated it out I realised that if I got a good price for my flat the estate agency fee would have more than doubled. When I questioned it they said it was their “incentive” to do well and I just felt that if you need to double your fee to do a good job then than isn’t the right fit for me. I believe in always doing the best job you can so I didn’t like that. The other agent I had out would have had a slightly lower fee on sale but their home report was almost twice the price and they had a set up cost too which I didn’t have with Murphy and Forrester. Overall I am happy with the fee I paid. It was fair and not excessive and was more than offset by the extra money I got for the flat compared to what I expected.

Do you think there is anything we could do better?

Ah that’s hard – no nothing springs to mind but If it does I will let you know! I recommend all my connections to you so just keep up looking after people!