Who is an Estate Agent in SW9
Who is an Estate Agent in SW9 is a United Kingdom term for a person or business that arranges the selling, renting or management of homes, land and other buildings, although an agent that specializes in renting is often called a Letting Agent. Estate agents are mainly engaged in the marketing of property available for sale and a Solicitor or Licensed Conveyance is used to prepare the legal documents.
Origin of Who is an Estate Agents in SW9
The term originally referred to a person responsible for managing a landed estate, while those engaged in the buying and selling of homes were "house agents", and those selling land were "land agents". However, sometime during the 20th century "estate agent" started to be used as a generic term, perhaps because it was thought to sound more impressive.
The role of Estate Agent in SW9
In principle, the estate agent has to do relatively little, apart from selling the property to you. In practice, most estate agents do a fair amount of work:
Co-ordinate the paperwork in respect of the seller - this is usually quite simple, as all property in UK is registered, so the proof of ownership is in the hands of the public registry.
Refer you to a lawyer who speaks your language. The lawyer (more about this below) will prepare a contract of sale, usually in both your mother tongue and in UK language
Ensure that permission for the sale will be forthcoming from the local authorities. This is normally a formality (I have not heard of any instances where this has been refused), and must be granted, in the first instance, from the local mayor, and also from the county authorities (who almost always take the word of the local town hall). Arrange all transfers of utilities (electricity, gas, water, etc) into your name. This requires a reasonably good knowledge of the UK language.
The estate agent must be qualified. They have to pass a number of examinations in order to carry out their profession. Due to the language barrier, most of the qualified estate agents are UK, although a growing number of foreign-owned businesses employ a qualified UK person. Who is an Estate Agent in SW9.