estate agent fees

zebusi

Hi all,

sorry if no -one knows but I'm in stanley, co durham area - am about to put my property up for sale but don't have time to get lots of estate agents in - i have one quote at 1% fees (property approx 110-115 k), anyone know cheaper?

My boyfriend has been quoted £1400 to sell a one bed flat - approx value 60k which i thinK is ridiculous in north tyneside, depending upon what he was offered that's going to be over 2% commision - estate agent said no negotiation, that was the price take it or leave it, thing is they are probably one of the better ones in the area so....

Thanks for any advice.

adg1

I understand you may be busy but do spend time on selecting your agent. Surely you can take an afternoon off work and line up 4 agents to visit one after the other?

A house is generally the most expensive thing someone owns and trades in a lifetime. Why would you not shop around to get the best deal but also find the agent you feel will do the most work for you?

Remember also that the cheapest fee does not necessarily mean that you will get the best service or indeed sell your house at all - they could be the most ineffectual agent in the North East.

You'll only be able to guage that after you have met with a few agents.

zebusi

appreciate your response and having owned and sold houses in the past i recognise the enormity of this - I was merely asking if anyone had any tips of who to approach with regard fees then I will make my decision as to others to value the property, in my experience people looking for houses in this small village tend to register with all agents so in terms of the buyers the house would have the exposure whoever it was placed with, hence cost been a deciding factor

Gwhiz

Why not just phone 3 or 4 and ask them their fees!

Fire_Fox

Ring round and ask or change your title so it includes the area!

delmar39

1% is probably the cheapest you'll get. I'm paying 1.3%, but paid that little bit higher for an EA who has a good reputation locally and I have to say they have been excellent. Finding a good EA is extremely important so agree with the above comments re getting at least three to quote. The quote you've had may be at 1% but are they trying to sting you for an expensive HIP or solicitor? Whilst you may be keen to crack on with this look through the local property paper and see which ones stand out. Those who have loads of properties aren't necessarily the best either as they'll be busy busy busy leaving no time to put effort into selling yours other than putting an advert in the paper and on the net. We rushed in with our first EA it went pear shaped so we gave notice and put a lot more effort into our second one. Negotiate a low notice period just in case you need to get out quick - ours was 2 weeks down from 12 weeks luckily for us.

zebusi

my my - all the hostile exclamation marks....
simply asked to see if anyone had experience lately and maybe negotiated lower fees
Fire fox - i don't reply to threads i can't help on, doesn't stop me reading them though

Gwhiz

zebusi wrote: »

my my - all the hostile exclamation marks....

:rotfl:I really hope that was a joke - or else you have no chance in life!

googler

As previous poster said, it's a big transaction - can you really NOT afford to take the time to see a few agents? You may be working, but I'm sure you get either the weekend off, or days off during the week if you work weekends..... and if your local agents can't/won't meet you evenings or weekends, then shame on them.....

What's 'ridiculous' about £1400 to sell, especially if, as you say, the agent is one of the better ones......?

Mgreen17_2

I think people go a bit bonkers on this site and get to a state where they expect everything to cost them nothing.

1% on the property of that value is a good rate. If the agent is doing an ok job just be pleased with it.

I sold a place in Henley at £550K and i took me a lot of phone calls and agent visits to get someone to do it for 1%, and even then it was under certain conditions...

zebusi

googler wrote: »

As previous poster said, it's a big transaction - can you really NOT afford to take the time to see a few agents? You may be working, but I'm sure you get either the weekend off, or days off during the week if you work weekends..... and if your local agents can't/won't meet you evenings or weekends, then shame on them.....

What's 'ridiculous' about £1400 to sell, especially if, as you say, the agent is one of the better ones......?

As a percentage of between 2-3% i thought this was really expensive for a relatively low value flat when my fees for a property worth double could potentially be less

oh and i don't expect to get anything for nothing - simply want to make sure i'm not been overcharged as do all on this site i presume