High EA fees when selling

QTPie

alexlyne wrote: »

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

You can bet that the "fixed fees" would then go up...

We are paying 1.6% (+VAT) to our EA: seemed reasonable - the quotes we had were 1.5% to 1.75%. I liked the agent that we went with most... although I didn't try to haggle (what am I like...? )

QT

alexlyne

Well, I have just had a call from the ea. She doesn't harf go on about why they're the best ea in the entire universe and beyond! They even go as far as letting potential buys in other branches get to look at your property details. Welcome to the 21st century eh?!
Anyway, she confirms that 95k is a good price, and wouldn't let it go for less than 90K, my expectation was that I wouldn't let it go for less than 85. She also says 110k is pushing it and in reality 105k is a more sensible starting price (why she quoted 105-110 beats me). I will look further into other property areas, I seem to recall that there's a gap in properties between 80-100K, so going in there may make it more attractive.

Haven't mentioned the fees, will wait for other eas to bid their services. I will also discuss the on-line ea option with swmbo tonight. She's very cautious and cynical however, so always difficult to persuade her to think outside of her own mind!

poppysarah

Did she blather on about the bus loads of buyers ready to pay 95k for your house?

alexlyne

Not exactly, just mentioned that she has people looking for properties in ther area.. not mentioning their target price. Close enough though ;-)

alexlyne

EA number two has just visited...

They have given a much more realistic (IMO) valuation of the property - 95K.
This, she said, was very close to the value expected to achieve (somewhere between 90 and 95). She also said that generally, properties put on the market since last November are more accurately marketed now than before, where prices were inflated to allow room for negotiation. The theory behind this is that mortgage cos are assessing property values on surveys much more closely, and there is a risk that if someone puts in a high offer, the valuation will come back lower and a mortgage refused.

She also told us (in our words, not hers) that we'd be really stoopid to sell the property as the area is very popular for renting. This is the first I've heard about it...
It is something we're open to, although it may limit the amount we can spend on a new house. I have just gone to see her at her office (just round the corner) for a list of their current property rentals. Seems like quite a long list, lots of properties in the same price band as ours, and we'd be just another property on there.

If we stick to selling, we plan to market the property just after Easter. At this time, I will request another rental list to see what changes there are, and [STRIKE]demand[/STRIKE] ask for reasons if there is little change, as it'll be this that will be the biggest factor in pursuing the rental idea.


Summary:
EA1:
105K market price
2300 fee (not sure if this is +vat or inc vat)
300 + vat for their preferred hip supplier
Presence: 30ish branches in south wales

EA2:
95K market price
1500 + vat fee
250 inc vat HIP
Presence: 2 branches, both within 10 miles

The future missus saw both EAs, and was definitely more impressed with the second.. the first was trying to hard to be friendly and not talking enough business, also she was selling their high-street office-based property search tool too much, which seems a bit ott when there is an ever increasing proportion of people using the internet to find houses.
EA2 appeared more honest, but they do rely heavily on rightmove and the local press. Is this a bad thing that they are not associated with more property websites?

pingu2209

2 or 2.5% is not unusual in this market.

brightonman123

how about negotiating a sliding scale, as an incentive- 1% if under £100k, 1.5% over £110k, etc..

2%, imo, for maybe taking a few pics and internet listings (done for FREE on gumtree etc??) seems way OTT.#

dont forget there will be solictor (for sales contracts) / conveyancing fees to pay, too!

alexlyne

That's actually something I forgot to mention, EA2 did say that they would reduce their fee if the property was only on the market for less than a month... but didn't say by how much. This seems to be more of an incentive to the seller to sell for a good price, as it would have no benefit to the ea.
As Pingu says, it does appear that the market value for ea fees sems to be peaking now due to trying to stay in business.

googler

brightonman123 wrote: »

2%, imo, for maybe taking a few pics and internet listings (done for FREE on gumtree etc??) seems way OTT.

... but we're encouraging the OP to establish WHAT the EA is going to be doing for his money.... which may be more than this, and may turn out to be well worth 2%.....

googler

"The future missus saw both EAs .... also she was selling their high-street office-based property search tool too much, which seems a bit ott when there is an ever increasing proportion of people using the internet to find houses."

Their "office-based property search tool"? Do you mean their window space?