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

princessamy86

Not sure what you mean, sorry. In our area, a 1% fee is the absolute lowest that anyone offers, his house was otm for £200k. Realistically, if I reduce 1 person's fee below 1%, then I need to be prepared to do it for everyone. He has had all the marketing, and I've worked hard to try and agree him a sale. Do you think I should not get paid for it if I sell his house? I know it's his choice, but I really think that in the circumstances, he is being very difficult! In any case, I'm a mere sales negotiator who doesn't have the authority to reduce fees at will! He's already had a fee reduction.

princessamy86

The vendor should of course be wondering if he's been pitched right if he's got offers of only £500 under full asking!

With regards to this statement, as I said, the original offer was £10,000 under. I did what my job requires me to do, and negotiated the price upwards. Honestly, I can't understand why you would then think that we had priced him too low?? People are on here ALL the time, complaining that agents are overvaluing, and now you are saying we may have undervalued?! I think this is a prime example of how you just can't win.

Mutton_Geoff

1% fee is the absolute lowest that anyone offers

Therein lies the problem! As a "mere sales negotiator who doesn't have the authority to reduce fees" you don't really have the tools to do your job properly. How about this idea ..

Ring vendor, say "it would be silly to lose this deal for the sake of £500, as it means so much to you, how about we go halves, you drop £250 and we'll reduce our fee by £250".

Your agency earns £1,787 plus VAT instead of zero and a deal is done. Your invoice to the client says "1% plus VAT" with a discount of just £212.77 pre VAT (the client thus paying £250 less). The "fee" is still 1% plus VAT but you've offered some kind of special discount so word doesn't leak that you sell anything less than 1%.

The goodwill from the vendor will far exceed your £212 cost and presumably you do sell houses for around £175~£180k requiring the same level of marketing for an equivalent fee?

Take the above deal to your boss, see what they say. If you worked for me, you'd get 10/10 for initiative, something not often seen in your industry.

MissMotivation

It was quite common years ago for an agent to reduce their fee to acheive the sale......IMO EA's are too greedy for their own good now and can't 'see the wood for the trees' !

If any of my negotiators lost a sale for the sake of £250 then they would be out of a job!

princessamy86

It's been to my boss...and got rejected out of hand. I did try!

MissMotivation

princessamy86 wrote: »

It's been to my boss...and got rejected out of hand. I did try!

Sorry, I re-read my post and it did read a little harsh.

At least you tried!

alared

I would guess that the lowest 1% fee wouldn`t apply if the property was valued below a certain level,there would then be a minimum amount.

What happened to me recently when I went in enquire about a valuation for my house is typical of EA.
"Can you come and value my house please"
"Certainly,what`s the address"
"How much are your fees?"
"How much is your house worth?"
"Eh,----isn`t that what your coming to do"
"Well our fees go on the value and which AREA and whether we`re the sole agents and whether it`s paid with or without VAT and whether we do the HIP,which we could throw in if you do pay the VAT but have us as sole agents"
"Forget about it"

princessamy86

That's ok! He's kind of a grumpy old man, I think he sees me as the office junior or something. I think he might be kicking himself in a few months time, but as much as I'd like to, I can't force him to accept anything!

princessamy86

alared wrote: »

I would guess that the lowest 1% fee wouldn`t apply if the property was valued below a certain level,there would then be a minimum amount.

What happened to me recently when I went in enquire about a valuation for my house is typical of EA.
"Can you come and value my house please"
"Certainly,what`s the address"
"How much are your fees?"
"How much is your house worth?"
"Eh,----isn`t that what your coming to do"
"Well our fees go on the value and which AREA and whether we`re the sole agents and whether it`s paid with or without VAT and whether we do the HIP,which we could throw in if you do pay the VAT but have us as sole agents"
"Forget about it"

No we don't do it like that, we have 3 levels of marketing, vendor gets to choose which and the fees are % of selling price- 1% for basic, 1.25% for mid level and for 1.5% I will prostrate myself at your feet and give you gold level marketing

chickmug

RobertoMoir wrote: »

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.

Totally agree and the OP's (princessamy) fault for giving so little detail:D

So the cases I recalled were simple - a greedy seller or a 'tough' negotiator both sides trying to outdo the other. Both sides as stubborn as mules.

I've even had wifes on the phone (don't tell my husband I called you though) to ask me if I could talk sense into their husands. Never the other way round.