Selling without an Estate Agent

lovethymini

I want to try to avoid using an EA this time round, so I'd be really interested in hearing others' experiences - any success stories, recommendations, nightmares?!

I don't have any issues with EA in general, I just can't justify the money they charge.

This could be a good way to save thousands of pounds on a housemove :j

m_13

Are you watching 'Axe the Agent' on BBC1 weekday mornings? Selling without an agent is what the programme is about.

We've sold direct to a HA in the past. They needed a property in our road for somebody whose children were at the local school. They never even saw the inside of the property which was a bit disheartening as we'd put in a lovely kitchen and bathroom.

You can save money but when we sold in 2007 our agent asked for a much higher price than we would ever had asked and told the purchaser that we wouldn't accept below the asking price. I estimate he more than paid his fees as we got 10% more than we were expecting. Things might be different in the current market but as posts on this forum show, a good agent can sell property even in these troubled times.

lovethymini

Thanks and that's a very good point regarding an EA possibly getting a higher price, something to bear in mind.

Our house is actually an ex local authority house anyway, so I think I'll see if our HA is in need of a 3 bed semi next to a school.

I'll definitely be watching Axe the Agent!

benjo

By pure chance we drove past a little cottage with a home made for sale sign at the bottom of the drive, rang the vendor to find out the price which was some 60k (40%) above any other property of the same size/age in an 8 mile radius.

One thought that occured to me was that either the property was some kind of tardis like palace or perhaps the vendor hadnt had the property valued prior to marketing it or if they had, it hadnt been revisited in the year it has been on the market to take into consideration changes in the housing market. Im not sure I really wanted to get into negotiations with a vendor who was (potentially) out of touch with the current housing market.

Of course I could be completely wrong in my assumptions regarding valuations and knowledge of the vendors, but the judgement I made was based on the fact that I am in no way able to value a property in any other way than by comparison to similar properties and this property was 40% more expensive than its next nearest competitor.

My only experience of selling via an estate agent was getting my old house valued (2002) by three estate agents in one day, they all valued it within 5k of each other. The last EA called a 'client', who arrived 15 minutes later, made an offer which we bargained over until we agreed at £500 less than the lowest valuation and we completed 28 days later.

Now someone pointed out that the EA earned 1k for 5 minutes work - but it was, in my view completely well spent money, since he did what I wanted him to do - sell the house quickly for a price that I was happy to accept.

One other thing you might want to factor into your consideration is that alot of the EA fee will be eaten up in advertising if your house remains on the market for a year or so (hopefully it wont), in the long run it might be easier to justify their fees then.

Anyhow, goodluck with selling.

googler

lovethymini wrote: »

I don't have any issues with EA in general, I just can't justify the money they charge.

Maybe it's time to find one who can justify the money they charge.... benjo seems to have found one.

Here's a thought - how do you value your own time? What are you currently paid per hour at your own work?

If you don't hire an agent, why not add up all the time that you spend on arranging a sale board, advertising, plugging it into a self-sale website, phone calls, running viewings, etc etc. Once you're done, come back and tell us how much it all cost you in time and money terms, I'd be interested to see how that compares with any EA fees you've been quoted.

McEvoy1968

There are a few online portals for private selling including http://zungalow.com and http://estatevreate.com - maybe worth a look.

confused31_2

As long as you can get your house on right move i see no problem in not using a agent, we had viewings and not once did the agent do the viewings.

A person will see your house on right move and make the call to make a viewing 9 times out of 10, the estate agent will call you to arrange a viewing.

If they make a offer, the buyer will phone the estate agent make the offer to them for them to phone you, and i personally would prefer the offer made directly to myself.

I can see no logic in todays market of paying a estate agent for 5 minutes work, the only thing i would recommend is to make sure the description and the photographs of your house are good, we had some right dodgy photos done by our x estate agent.

As for prices just look what similar houses went for in the same area and go from there, if you get no offers then reduce the price.

Its a go between service at a very high premium, and remember most buyers like sellers do not like estate agents.

IHS88

Hi lovethymini

In these credit crunching times, it certianly is appealing to try and sell without the need for an estate agent.

Here's my advice...

Don't dismiss Using a traditional estate agent completely. Instead, use an agent alongside selling privately.

Essentially, have a race between you and the agent and see who wins.

If you're around to do viewings and you have a realistic asking price then you have every chance of getting your property sold DIY.

Should you decide to take my advice, be aware of agents charging upfront fees and remember to check their paperwork to ensure you will NOT be charged a fee should you find a buyer privately yourself.

Best of luck!

poppysarah

https://www.houseladder.co.uk
is used by a couple of optimists round here.

ourrac

confused31 wrote: »

As long as you can get your house on right move i see no problem in not using a agent.

Hi

Can anyone recommend ways of getting your house on Right Move without using an estate agent.
I'm just coming to the end of nearly 7 months stuck with a useless e/a who refused to use rightmove, so I'm a bit wary of them now.

socrates

ourrac wrote: »

Hi

Can anyone recommend ways of getting your house on Right Move without using an estate agent.
I'm just coming to the end of nearly 7 months stuck with a useless e/a who refused to use rightmove, so I'm a bit wary of them now.

Perhaps the person who originally suggested it can point you in the right direction