Why is selling a house so expensive?

baileysbattlebus

boyse7en wrote: »

A quick straw poll of people in my office, my parents and some of their friends and a few friends (only 20 people so not a very thorough survey)

If you want to sell a house, where would you go? Everyone said Estate Agent
If you want to buy a house where would you look?Local paper and estate agents.
Have you heard of Rightmove? Only 6 out of 20 had heard of it

I know that this may not be a valid statistical sample, but it does indicate that the traditional EA has a role to play. Not everyone has internet access, and some of those that do are still not very knowledgeable about its uses.

Users of this site are, but virtue of being here, pretty internet-savvy and may believe that the rest of the general population are the same, but they're not.

I have to agree with you, most people I know have never heard of Rightmove either -

one thing about Rightmove is how out of date it can be - 2 years ago when my daughter was looking to purchase her first house, I showed her Rightmove and she thought it was brilliant. Except when she rang the estate agents to view the properties she wanted to look at - every single one of them was sold, she did this for a few weeks and got really fed up with it all. So it was back to going round estate agents offices.

I know this won't be the case now, the market is so slow that it should be bang upto date - but 2 years ago it certainly was for her, in a fast moving market it was as good as useless. I know it's not the fault of Rightmove but the EAs using it.

huntersc

1% for solicitor's fees? I've always paid a flat fee.

As for Rightmove, you can always pay an agent to list your property for you, give them £500 and get them to stick the details on the site and then pass on the enquiries to you. You'll easily find an agent that will take a few quid to list your property for you. Especially in times like these.

IHS88

Hi Si

Why no have a go using an online estate agent or save even more and use a private sales website?

Try, Little House Company, Houseweb, House Simple theres a few others I'm sure too.

Typical online agent fee £500 - £1000

Private sales site - £99

You'll have to do the viewings in both instances.

I'm not so convinced of being featured on Rightmove anymore.

Too many out of date ads and its impossible to tell which of the properties listed are done so from motivated and realistc vendors who are perhaps open to negotiation.

Afterall, in a downturn who wants to waste their time viewing properties whose vendors still believe they'll get last years prices???

And from what I can see, vendors using the "online only" route seem more realistic with their expectations.

Even though some of these sites dont advertise on rightmove, dont be put off.

They are being searched by "real buyers" who've discovered that its only the "determined sellers" that are trying alternative ways of selling.

For the low cost, I'd give an online agent or private sales site a go. Infact why not try using a few at the same time. Still cheaper that your solicitor

Dont ask me for a recommendation as I havent had a property to sell recently.

Good luck Si, hope you beat the agents (solicitor in your case) at their own game!!!

pawpurrs

I think the OP is in scotland hence Sols and not EA. Bit different up there.
Personally in this market, I think you need all the help you can get and a Good EA (yes I do know some) are invaluable, not only in helping to get a purchaser but also in helping to get to the exchange of contracts stage, that can be harder than finding a buyer.