Estate Agent fees

helen5352

Having read lots on this forum about estate agents fees I thought I was fully prepared for them to come and value my house and tell me what percentage their fees would be. I have had four agents round who have all quoted me fixed prices which has sent me in a little bit of a spin, below is what I've been quoted, can anyone advise?

Based on an asking price of 70k

EA 1: £800 + VAT - doesn't include local paper advertising (advised to budget extra 200)

EA 2: £1000 + VAT - all in, with the option to leave free of charge after 12 weeks.

EA 3: £1450 + VAT - doesn't include newspaper advertising and was quoted 45 per advert.


I've discarded EA 3 already but have no idea as to whether EAs 1+ 2 are offering reasonable deals.

Also can anyone advise on whether to use a smaller agent with a more personal service or a much larger agent, I can see pros and cons for both.

Any advise would be appreciated!!

MissMotivation

Is Newspaper advertising a deal breaker for you? Which websites do agents 1 and 2 use? How many properties are they marketing and how many, locally, have they sold?

I wouldn't choose an agent based on their newspaper advertising cost unless they don't have a particularly large internet coverage TBH.

If you can't get your head around the fact that they've quoted a fixed price, convert it to %

Agent 1.....approx 1.14% (If sold at £70,000)
Agent 2......approx 1.42% (if sold at £70,000)

princessamy86

MissMotivation wrote: »

I wouldn't choose an agent based on their newspaper advertising cost unless they don't have a particularly large internet coverage TBH.

Or unless it's a bungalow/retirement type flat as these buyers are often fairly reliant on property finding through the newspaper. Based on what you've put, I would go for EA 2 but I think you need to give careful consideration to missm's post as it's very sound advice!

Cannon_Fodder

Less than 1.5% is good value - if it sells.

EA3 will tell you the failings of the others, and why its necessary to charge more - but to not include adverts for over 2% is very expensive. Think you are right to ditch.

Seek opinion of family and friends for their reputation in the area.

Small, as in 1 man band?
Much larger to the point of impersonal ?
Small, as in regional/multi-office?

EA2, so you don't get any surprises from "(budget £200)", would be my choice as long as not too big.

adg1

Why not register as a buyer with the same EAs and see what type of service you receive when you aren't paying them a fee. This will tell you a lot about an EA.

You want to feel comfortable that the EA you chose will do their utmost for you and get your asset sold as fast as possible.

Advertising is important to sell a house, as as much advertising as possible. So EA1 should be discarded. EA2 seem to be offering the best deal to you. Why not have a couple more agents round? Its only an hour of your time and it'll give you a good image of all types of EA. Maybe the percentage agents will provide you with much more advertising and legwork than the fixed fee agents. Given how important getting a property on RightMove etc is nowadays, I'd say thats worth a few extra bob.

Can EA2 (or 1 or 3 for that matter) give you any comparables they have sold in your area recently? Do they know their buyer-base (already registered buyers on their books that are actively looking).

helen5352

Thanks for all the valuable advice, it has definately got me thinking and has confirmed a few things in my head. For example, EA1 (the larger agent) said that I should have at least 5 ads in the local paper. I did wonder why on earth I would need this many as I am targeting first time buyers or developers who would probably predominantly use the web and like princessamy pointed out, I'm not selling a bungalow or retirement property.

The 'larger' estate agent (EA1) has a few regional offices and is the culmination of a merger between two fairly large agents in the area and headed up by a local lothario who to be honest I wouldn't deal with, however the contact and service I have had from his team has so far been good however I fear my house will become swamped in the hundreds of other properties that they have on their books.

The smaller agent (EA2) is a team of three who pride themselves on their customer service, they've been established around 10 years and have just the one shop but advertise on rightmove, findaproperty, local area website and their own website, they do advertise in the local paper but the owner does say its a waste of time, he was very honest and open but I think I liked that.

I was tempted to cancel EA3 from the word go, the receptionist who made the appointment was very abrupt, the guy who came to view it was late and he didn't even go out into the garden to have a look, he must have stayed about 10 mins, I was in disbelief when he told me how much he would charge, considering the service that I'd had! This is from the biggest EA in the area too!