estate-agency

An estate-agency has a window display with photos of houses for sale.

Definition

1. Noun (countable):
   • A business that arranges the sale, purchase, or rental of property, especially houses and land: "estate-agency" refers to a company or organization that acts as an intermediary between buyers and sellers or landlords and tenants of real estate.

Usage Examples

• (The business arranged the rental of a flat.)
• (She is employed by a company dealing in high-end property sales.)
• (We hired the business to market and sell our property.)

Advanced Usage

• "to run an estate-agency": to own or manage a business that deals in property transactions.

  • After retiring from law, he decided to run an estate-agency in a small town. (He became the owner or manager of a real estate business.)

• "estate-agency fees": the charges paid to the business for its services in arranging a property deal.

  • The estate-agency fees were 3% of the sale price. (The cost of the agency's service was a percentage of the transaction value.)

Variants and Related Words

• Estate agent (n): a person who works for an estate-agency and handles property transactions.

  • The estate agent showed us several houses that matched our budget. (The professional from the agency arranged viewings.)

• Estate (n): a large area of land, often with a large house, or all the property owned by a person.

  • The family estate included several farms and a mansion. (The land and buildings owned by the family.)

• Agency (n): a business or organization providing a specific service.

  • The travel agency booked our flights. (The business arranged travel services.)

Synonyms

• Real estate agency: a common alternative term, especially in American English, for a business that deals in property.
• Property agency: a general term for a company that manages or sells real estate.
• Realtor: a person or firm that is a member of a real estate board (often used interchangeably with "estate agent").

Related Idioms

• "On the agency's books": having a property listed with an estate-agency for sale or rent.

  • That house has been on the agency's books for months without any offers. (The property is listed but not yet sold.)

• "Agency exclusive": a property listing handled by only one estate-agency.

  • We signed an agency exclusive agreement to ensure focused marketing. (We agreed that only one agency would sell the property.)