Estate Agents Fees

Pupster

Useful stuff..thanks guys.

KrissCriss

about estates agency fees , do they take into account the value of the property?

kazzy

it is a percentage(ie 1%) of what you sell your house for .So if you sell your house for £300,000,the estate agent will charge £3000 plus VAT.

Pupster

The Halifax are wanting to charge 1.8% thats a whopping £3,300 for my house....has anyone ever suceeded in knocking them down to anything civilized??? Out of the 3 valuations.....1 of the guys was a total 'deadleg'...complete waste of space.....and the other just didnt convince me he gave a damn. The Halifax were very 'on the ball' and almost convinced me.....but.........thats is a huge amount of money when you need every penny!!

Doozergirl

Dealing with Halifax estate agents was the worst experience I have ever had, buying or selling. Much to do with the staff in the branch local to me at the time, but "feedback" came through a call centre who were completely clueless and would talk to me about people who had visited weeks ago.

However, at the time, we got them to 1.5% because we had an account with IF (part of Halifax). Probably worth opening an account for the discount.

Also, like we said, independents is where you are likely to get the best deal. The difference in 0.1% is in the hundreds already, I'd see what your experience is as a buyer as these are the people your potential purchasers will be speaking to, not the valuations manager that you will have seen.

Pupster

Thanks.........my mortgage is with the Halifax....they valued my house in November 2004 for a re-mortgage and valued it then at £10,000 more than they say its worth now......how mad is that????

Doozergirl

I had to re-read that! They normally undervalue for remortgage but the other way round?

Have you told them that your mortgage is with them? Perhaps they will negotiate further especially if you give anecdotal evidence of a 'friend' that got them to 1.5% (I still think you can should go for lower than that if you try some more agents )

Pupster

Just got off the phone from the Halifax ..... I tried to get them to drop the percentage on the fee but they were having none ot if. Didnt even get to say what I would find acceptable......just got bombarded with a load of crap!! Feeling a bit battered now in fact...she wouldnt budge a flamin' inch!!! Even told her she was just turning business away...she didnt care!

Pupster

Is there any reason why we cant go with more than one at once?

Ian_W

No, but joint agency agreements almost always cost more - each agency will want a higher % if they make the sale. Quite often, although it does vary, 2%+ is the norm for joint.

Look at it from the EA's viewpoint. They incur expenses in marketing your prop [photos, prop details, press ads, rightmove or other websites] and you only pay them if/when/after they sell your prop. If they have sole agency they incur those exes but have the exclusive right to sell your house for at least a minimum period.

If you also go with another agency/s they still incur those costs but don't have exclusivity, in other words if the other agency sells it - they lose money.