High EA fees when selling

alexlyne

Just had our first valuation on our property last night. I wasn't there for it, but my fiancee saw the ea.

Firstly, the fees were fixed at £2300 :shocked: (payable on completion)
Secondly, she reckoned our property could be put on the market at 105-110K (but we couldn't expect to achieve this)

So from this, I have the following points.
1. The property is realistically worth 90K at best (IMO), If I had an offer of 95K then I would bite the hand off!
2. If I sold for 95K, 2300 fees is bordering on 'staggering' according to Marcus the ex-ea.

We do have another couple of eas lined up for valuations, but in the meantime, I expect this one to call me to find out what I think. Do I go straight in with 'yours fees are horrendous', or shall I keep quiet until all quotes are in and negotiate then?

Also, this ea woman was asking how much we would be willing to sell the house for. Is this important for them to know?

Let me know if any more info is needed!

Thanks
Alex

poppysarah

Interview them all.
Then pick the best one who'll actually sell it and negotiate down on the fees.

MissMotivation

It does seem a little high considering that if you sold at 95k the fees would be over 2% but some agents do fix their fees below a certain value. Obviously you don't know at this stage what the other EA's are charging so it would be wise to get all the quotes and then make a decision.

If you think the property is worth 90k then to market the property at 110k seems excessive, depending on what the other agents say maybe you should consider marketing it at 99k?

She was probably asking what figure you would accept to see how flexible you were. In this market agents have to be careful what properties they take on the market, for example, last week I had somebody wanting to list their property with me and wanted it on the market at £199,950 but catergorically stated that she wouldn't accept a penny less than £195,000 (nothing had sold in the area above £185,000) needless to say that I declined politely!

ukcarper

100k 2% + VAT = 2300 2% not unusual should be able to do better

Doozergirl

ukcarper wrote: »

100k 2% + VAT = 2300 2% not unusual should be able to do better

It's unusual in most places. To put it in perspective, it was a special offer but I paid that much commission when I sold a house for 440,000! The 'countrywide' agents round here put 2% on their contract (different brands under the countrywide banner so check!)

if it's costing that much and they're all coming in at that then I would seriously consider House Network. In fact I'd seriously consider House Network anyway for any potential FTB property. As long as you are motivated to sell, the fact they charge an upfront fee shouldn't matter when the total cost comes in at less than 500 pounds (it was 199 plus VAT to market then 199 plus VAT on completion when I used them last)

I'd happily tell your EA friend to go and whistle, frankly.

ukcarper

I did say he should be able to do better I wouldn't pay 2%

alexlyne

Once all quotes are in (got a total of 3: 2 regional, 1 local all use rightmove), I can compare the rates between them. I guess at this stage that the fees are going to be pretty similar, but I will want to see what I can do to reduce them a bit (1.5% absolute max, for example)

Not sure about sellin via on-line ea. I have had a quick look, and whilst they advertise property in all the same places as the high-street eas, they are less prominent to the lay-FTB and possibly seen as being more risky, even though all eas need to do is introduce buyers to sellers.

Robert_Sterling_3

Pity the poor milionaires buying a property ...

Estage Agent's fee.........£20,000

Stamp Duty £40,000

Total £60,000 :eek:

alexlyne

Well they should have used this ea, fees of 2300 fixed woulda been a bargain for any tightwad millionaires!

Doozergirl

alexlyne wrote: »

Not sure about sellin via on-line ea. I have had a quick look, and whilst they advertise property in all the same places as the high-street eas, they are less prominent to the lay-FTB and possibly seen as being more risky, even though all eas need to do is introduce buyers to sellers.

If someone likes the look of your house they will come and view it regardless of who the EA is.

I've used HN three times successfully, was never short of viewings and not one of those potential buyers batted an eyelid over my choice of EA - the process is exactly the same - see a board or see it on the internet, call the agent book a viewing. Like it? Call the agent, make an offer.

The same service, just not dressed up as something it isn't. You get a floor plan as well which is better than most EAs and a really good tool for a buyer. It's without the high street shop (which is not where the majority of buyers find the house anyway) and that makes it much cheaper - as well as the fact that you don't end up paying to support the EA in paying to market the houses which are overinflated, don't sell or have vendors with no intention of selling.

Conrad

She needs to know what price you have in your mind to determine whether they will likely be able to sell it. There are an amwful lot of time wasters out there with very unrealistic price expectations.