estate agent fees nearly 2k is this fair?

baron777red

hi were thinking of selling and have contacted some local estate agents to come rounds to value the house, we live in west midlands DY5

one of them has quoted me his fees on the phone before coming round, and they are

£125 + vat - payable upfront
£300 + vat - for a HIP
£1250 + vat - if it sells

which is nearly 2 grand, is this the going rate or is it expensive

i hav read on this forum that you should expect to pay about 1% of the price the house sells for, and i think the property will be valued at about £105,000 and probably sell for £100,000. we bought it 3.5 yrs ago for £100k

thanks

baron

QTPie

Unless something has changed recently, I would avoid paying an "upfront charge" (we aren't for selling ours - been on the market since November, currently "under offer" for the second time). A charge if you pull out of the contract before the initial term (normally about 12 weeks is normal - ours was £550, to cover marketing costs).

HIP sounds about right (at £300 + VAT). That is about what we paid, but some people have got them cheaper. Yes, you would pay this shortly after the property goes on the market.

EA fees are normally a percentage of the selling price of the house (they should be, they shouldn't be fixed) - so it SHOULD depend on what yyou sell your house for (not the asking price - since that may be higher). £1250 is 1.2% of £105k which sounds VERY good to me.

We are paying 1.6% on the sale price of our house (of £420k): that is an EA fee of £6720 (+VAT!)! And somehow I doubt that our house was harder to sell than yours. Our house was actively on the market for 8 weeks (five weeks first time, 3 weeks second time), 3 viewings, 2 offers, 1st offer fell through - partly through the EA's incompetance :rolleyes: :mad: ). For which they will get £6720... thank you very much! :rolleyes:.

They are just the costs of selling your house, UNLESS you choose to do it yourself.

Get valuations (and details of fees and Ts & Cs) from AT LEAST three estate agents.

QT

MissMotivation

1% is cheap IMO! I would ring round several EA's, get some valuations booked and find out what they offer you for what they are charging. I'm also in the Midlands and I would say an average of 1.5% is the norm.

It's all very well going with an agent that charges 1% but if they don't do anything but the basics for that then it's a false economy!

googler

Leaving out the admin fee and HIP fee, what are they doing for their £1250 or 1.2% or so?

If it sounds like they're going do a lot of pro-active work for you, it's a good deal. If it doesn't, and they're going to sit on their thumbs in the office waiting for the phone to ring, it isn't.

Get 2 or 3 alternatives to tell you what they do. If you find someone who's going to do a lot more than the others, you might find yourself willing to pay more!

You get what you pay for.

You don't get what you don't pay for.

Robert_Sterling_3

Where I lived Estate Agents charged 1.75% for sole agency or 2.0% to 2.25% for Joint Agency.

Home_Swap_Advice

The fee's that you will be charged will vary depending on which area you live in. 1% may sound about right to some people but it may seem very cheap to others.

You will find many agents charging up front fee's now as the market is very tough and they need cash flow. However, as a result, you can end up paying less than if they charged a percentage.

I would agree with the advice about a couple more vaulations. Also, there is no harm in trying to negotiate with them about the fee.

baron777red

thanks for the advice, i have got 2 agents coming on wednesday and another on saturday, so i will see what they have got to say for themselves

googler

As someone said, what seems cheap in one area of the country can seem expensive to others. If all the agents in one area are undercutting each other, and advertising 0.5% and 0.75%, anyone charging more than 1% will look expensive. If the norm in another area is 1.5%, it'll look like a bargain

If someone from the USA, Canada or South Africa looked at this thread, their jaws would drop. 5 or 6% is the norm in the USA, and I think, in Canada too. Agents over there probably wouldn't even get out of bed for less than 3 or 4% ....

I spoke with someone who used to be a realtor (estate agent) in South Africa a couple of years back, and she mentioned 7.5 - 8.0% as the norm over there......

Count your blessings.

david29dpo

I live in DY7, Which agents are you thinking of using?

domcastro

1% is cheap. The cheapest I found was 1.25% sole agents

domcastro

Also not being rude, but you won't get 100k for it

I just bought house for 205k
It was last bought in Jan 2004 for 200,450. They also have built a single storey extension with new kitchen and had a dropped kerb done.

I think you should expect 75 - 85 max