You actually have 3 ways to start your property search:
Estate Agency
PRO perfect if you have a particular area in mind; you deal with only one persons; they make an initial selection for you; you can build a sort of fiduciary relationship with the agent; they can combine multiple views and take you around with their car.
CONS their clients are the
vendors so they don't really work in your interest; they try to sell
first all the undesirable properties in their portfolio; if you are not
clear from the real beginning they show you a lot of non relevant
properties;
My experience with London agencies:
Foxton is the most expensive for buyers (there is no actual commission for buyers but it's well known that it's pretty much added to the property price). They have almost 40% of the properties on the market in their portfolio so sometimes it's an obligatory choice. Very polite agents.
Green and Co young and keen. Affable and not too pushy. Fresh and good service.
Pembertons
No transparency whatsoever. Felt screwed over for a good 3 times.
Arrogantly pushy without Foxton manners and politeness.
Faron
Sutaria very professional and not insistent at all. You have the clear
impression that they deal with only certain type of properties
Jorgensen
Turner they tend to communicate a lot by phone or text messages, a bit
'old style' service. They deal a lot with still underdeveloped areas,
like Kilburn.
KFH they tend to deal mostly with new or just refurbished properties. This reflects their type of clientele.
Marsh and Parsons they deal mainly with large and therefore relatively more expensive properties.
Barnard Marcus: they have often purpose built block and council houses properties in their portfolio.
PRO good if you are flexible about the location; you can compare different types of properties very quickly; you can immediately discard what you are not interested in.
CONS you need to know where and how to look,
you have to deal with a lot of agents, agents tend to be less nice and
transparent; more time consuming.
My experience with websites:
Zoopla it's the most known. Use the Map View and Hide command to immediately discard what's not relevant for you. You can also check similar properties already sold on the same street.
Rightmove the
phone app is very user friendly and it comes very handy if you are
strolling on a nice neighborhood and you want to check the price of the
properties in that area.
PrimeLocation similar service than the
other two but very often you can find there properties that are not
listed on Zoopla or RightMove.
Broker
PRO perfect if you don't know London very well; he/she go to see the properties before suggest them to you; he/she deals with the not always transparent agents; you might save lots of time and good money.
CONS she/he gets a commission, sometimes + expenses.
The Alternative Way in London: CityWest Homes
CityWest Homes is a management organisation (ALMO) of Westminster City Council. They manage over 21,000 properties which include council tenant and leaseholder homes. If you are interested in one of their properties you should subscribe to their newsletter.
Areas covered: Westminster, Queens Park, Bayswater, Maida Vale, Marylebone, Paddington, Pimlico, St John's Wood, Soho, Covent Garden and many others.
What did I do?
1. I first looked online to get the pulse of the market and then focus on a quite broad but specific area.
2. I've then identified 3-4 agencies and spoke with the respective agents.
I
answered all their questions about our position (first time buyers or
in a chain? Mortgage or cash buyers? Have an agreement in principle and
with whom? etc...) and then send clear instructions by email.
3. With each agent I've shortlisted 3 to 5 properties and went to view all in once.
4.
In case none was as interesting as expected we've waited a week to for
other interesting properties coming up on the market and then start the
process again.
5. Ultimately we've found 2-3 properties correspondent
to our needs and put some offers. More than one got accepted and for
one of those we negotiated he final price.