Would you lose a sale for the sake of £500?

alared

billyboy11 wrote: »

Alared,,
Lets hear why you are so bitter against estate agents... Obviously they must have upset you at some point....

Not bitter,just stating well know facts about EA, that they`re overpaid for what they actually do.

I`ve only ever owned two houses and only used an EA once,so I`ve no axe to grind.
Second house bought direct from the builders.

billyboy11

alared wrote: »

Not bitter,just stating well know facts about EA, that they`re overpaid for what they actually do.

I`ve only ever owned two houses and only used an EA once,so I`ve no axe to grind.
Second house bought direct from the builders.

I don't disagree they are overpaid, but i do think, if you have the right agents,, they are invaluable...

Also my theory is that the solicitors should get the larger commission/fee rather than the estate agent... Their work is more important and i feel they would do a much better job if they were earning more..

And if they worked harder then the whole process could halve in time,, I am sure !!

RobertoMoir

chickmug wrote: »

I can sympathise with the OP as I have found intransigence with both sides and have seen sales falling apart due to relatively small amounts. I have found it is usually a 'man thing' trying to be Macho and show off to their spouse.

Some have seen sense and come back at a later point - a few days or few weeks later but to find it too late. So it is beholden on the EA to talk sense into people when these situations arise. If the EA can't get agreement on the phone they need to tell them how it is in writing.

How many times have I dealt with a vendor who had been very cocky about a rush of early viewings so tighten up on the price they will accept so losing the chance of a sale. Then six months later, when the price is down well below the initial offers, they say how much they regret not having taken the earlier offer.

Of course what we don't know is whether that £500 is the usual stuff you lose in negotiation or if it's a further £500 after a big price reduction was already given and
the straw that broke the camel's back, so to speak. You have to draw the line somewhere.

oneeye1

alared wrote: »

Not bitter,just stating well know facts about EA, that they`re overpaid for what they actually do.

hear hear

Mutton_Geoff

We don't know the full story. In any other way, £500 is a huge sum of money. It's more than a national average weeks wages before tax and if the vendor has already been pushed to their bottom line, surely it's their call?

I had a similar situation a couple of years ago (as vendor) and had the agent (acting on my behalf) telling me I would be a fool not to accept the purchasers final offer, (also £500 below what I'd established as bottom line). I asked them to reduce their £3,000 fee by the mentioned £500 and the deal could be done but they refused to entertain this, and fortunately, acting in the interest of the person that instructed them and paid their fee, they came back with the requisite offer in half a day.

One thing about the current recession that pleases me are the amount of shiny suited clipboards that are facing hard realities again :rotfl:

hamblettamaud

i don't see it as intransigence on both sides. only the seller has the option really of being intransigent. the buyer only has the option of "if you don't like it, shove off".

that's the way it is when the seller makes the final decision. so get over it.

Strapped

alared wrote: »

Not really they were only guided by greedy EA`s who get a %.
The higher the value the more in their coffers.
Vendors are hardly likely to turn round to an EA and say "you`ve guessed the price wrong,please reduce it".

Actually, the more sales, the more in their coffers. So the lower the price, the better, as it's more likely to sell!

Jakg

alared wrote: »

How can an EA justify charging a % of the house price.
There is no more work attached getting details of a £200k than a £300k property.

It encourages them to sell for as much money as they can rather than just handing out discounts to get it sold.

princessamy86

I seem to have opened a can of worms! Offer was £500 under asking price, so I would say that the valuation was pretty accurate. I had already negotiated with the buyer to up their offer, the vendor just wouldn't compromise. I couldn't offer to reduce the fee, as it was already the equivalent of just 1%, as the vendor had already negotiated the fee down at the beginning of the process. He has been on the market for 2 weeks-you just can't win with some people!! Also for all you posters who think we earn too much, I work for minimum wage and no commission, so it's not all a bed of roses! I wasn't really trying to say anything apart from some people are always going to be really difficult, and I'd like to think that if I had managed to agree the sale, it would have been worth paying 1% of his (quite large) asking price. I did work on it pretty much all day and got the buyers up to £500 less than asking price, from an offer of £10,000 under the asking price! Some people just have unrealistic expectations, believe me I wasn't trying to have a go at anyone or anything, just thought it was amusing!

Mutton_Geoff

I couldn't offer to reduce the fee, as it was already the equivalent of just 1%

if I had managed to agree the sale, it would have been worth paying 1% of his (quite large) asking price

Don't those two statements contradict each other?

For example, to me "quite large" is £750k, so you'd be looking at a 7% hit on your fee. If, in your area, £250k is "quite large", then it's still only a 20% discount. Depends how much the business is worth, but my (extensive) experience with agents is that most can't "think outside the box". The vendor should of course be wondering if he's been pitched right if he's got offers of only £500 under full asking!