EA Fees - This is a Rip Off right?

owitemisermusa

googler wrote: »

There's another thread running where folks are suggesting "Why don't EAs do flat fees rather than percentages?"

Here, the agent quotes a flat fee, and apparently, folks still aren't happy....

Hmmmm....

I think you missed the point of most posts above, it's the SIZE of the fee that's got people's backs up!

In_debt_5

googler wrote: »

There's another thread running where folks are suggesting "Why don't EAs do flat fees rather than percentages?"

Here, the agent quotes a flat fee, and apparently, folks still aren't happy....

Hmmmm....

It's not the fact that they want to charge a flat fee it's that they want to charge approx 3.8% of the sale price. I am all for flat fees because at least you know how much it will costup front.

Mozette

If you're south Birmingham try Clive Tanner. I've used him twice; (once buying, once selling & buying) decent bloke and charged a flat fee.

Doozergirl

googler wrote: »

There's another thread running where folks are suggesting "Why don't EAs do flat fees rather than percentages?"

Here, the agent quotes a flat fee, and apparently, folks still aren't happy....

Hmmmm....

Is that how much flat fee marketing costs then is it? 3.8% to have the fee upfront? Anyone with a brain cell would appreciate that it should be cheaper with an up front fee because the risk to the EA is lower and all the timewaters have to actually pay a fee as well as those that actually sell.

Fair enough that someone selling a house for the first time doesn't know how much it should cost but even the OP has a really good idea that they are being ripped off and everyone agrees yet you use that as some kind of weird soap box to justify something in an unrealted discussion . It was a discussion; we're not trying to change the world but there is a benefit to both EAs and vendors on having an upfront fee structure. Having a flat fee instead of a % fee is not necesssarily the same as having one flat fee for everyone.

The common purpose of this forum is to try and save money. Your comments are backed up by seemingly nothing except your own self interest. 3.8% to sell a property when everyone else charges around half that or less. Fair? Who cares? googler uses it as an example to show us that flat fees means ridiculous expense. I might use you posts as evidence to generalise and say that all EAs are self serving :rolleyes:

googler

Despite what you seem to be reading into it, all I was commenting on was the variance between two threads. One asked for flat fees where EAs were quoting %, this one the EA quoted a flat fee and the immediate response from 3 or 4 posters was to compare it to a percentage!

This is an aside from the issue of whether the flat fee is too high/too low or whatever.

I'm not trying to justify anything, or using it as an example for anything, just commenting on the different attitude between two (fairly recent) threads.