Foxtons

Estate agents don't have a great reputation at the best of times and after renting with these guys for 18 months, they do nothing for the industry. Pushy salesmen, no-shows, hidden charges and rude staff all make for a hugely unpleasant experience.

Everyone knows that Foxtons are b*stards. There's even a Flickr group dedicated to spotting their minis, which - having used one asterisk already in this review - i'd probably better not name. But hey, they're estate agents, and they get the job done (albeit for a vast fee). They had by far the best selection of houses when I was buying for the first time and in a purchasing process they held on in there for their commission, grudgingly helpful to the last. That said, their new Angel office is just the sort of vulgarity that seems to be encouraging the council to ditch the Mall. Foxtons, then - can't live with 'em, can't kill 'em.

Foxtons have something of a reputation in London - and it's not a good one. Their suited-up estate agents can be seen driving round in the green Mini's with punk style graffiti on the side. Slightly odd for an estate agent to have punk designs on a Mini but I guess it makes them want to attract a younger market.

Their agents tend to be overly aggressive and argumentative, even for estate agents. They will find properties for you that they know you can't afford in the hope that they get a bigger commission from you. No, Foxtons, I don't want to get a flat that's more than £125p/m over my absolute maximum. I'm not stupid.

Strangely though, when showing you a flat, they will be very laissez-faire about it, despite being 40 minutes late for your appointment, even though they could have walked there in 20 minutes. They don't exactly win you over with their sales technique.

The only good things about Foxtons is their selection of houses and flats. Check their website. Most of the places are expensive but the range is pretty impressive. All the years of ripping down other estate agents signs must have helped.

If you do find a place at Foxtons, make sure you only see the one flat and don't look at anything else, otherwise they'll be phoning you up and emailing you all the time, giving you rubbish flats that no one else wants.

Foxtons like to think that they are a very swanky and exclusive estate agents. It's true, they has some sort of a monopoly on property in areas of London, and so they can normally find the kind of property you are after. However, rumours of dirty tactics and too charming agents put off a lot of people.