Estate Agents Fees - how much these days?

DarrenGreen

I am about to put our 4 bed detached house on the market and intend to contact Estate Agents for valuations in the next week or so. Before I do I want to be armed with some information regarding fees and how negotiable they are - what are their fees like these days? Do they work on fixed prices or %? Has anyone managed to negotiate a better deal? I anticipate my house being between £225k and £250k based on similar in the street recently sold.

House_owner

I know from my own expereince that Halifax estate agents are charging 1 1/2% of the sale price. When I sold a house 7 years ago with Reeds Rains, they charged a fixed fee, but this may have changed now.

MissMotivation

National average is 1.6%. If you look around there are agents that are charging a lot less than this. If you go with a Fixed fee agent you might get it for around £1000. It depends where in the West Midlands you are.....if you want to PM me then I can suggest some agents for you to try.

timmyt

You can play them off against each other, and don't decide on the spot, let them stew.

Choose an Agent wisely though, not just price.

There are certian estate agent tactics to watch for as not all agents are the same. Same for conveyancers too.

not_loaded

Don’t forget that £250k is a Stamp Duty ‘point’.

The scenario we had was an offer of a straight figure like: “we charge 1.5%” and then rapidly moving on to other matters. Another was: “we normally charge 2.0% but for you we will charge 1.5%” clearly an attempt to waylay any negotiation.

I’d suggest you get them in and see what they have to offer. When/if you decide one stands out from the crowd, then negotiate. Everything is negotiable.

Have you considered online agents like HouseNetwork?

sundin13

We got 1% inclusive. The norm around here is 1.25% +VAT.

googler

The OFT reckons the UK average is 1.6% in England, 1.1% in Scotland - but you can expect variations depending on where you are.

Rather than merely considering 'valuation' and 'fee', weigh up the various agents you talk to on service considerations. What will they do for you to start with? If they don't acheive an immediate sale, what else will they do to step up the marketing? What internet exposure will they give you? What's their high-street presence like? How active are they?

1.5% with a great service, and great result, may be better than 1.00% with a lacklustre attitude.....

trolleymate

And of course 1% or less with a great service and great result may well be much better than 1.5% with a lacklustre attitude.

As most people are very much aware, the most expensive is not always the best.

DarrenGreen

Thanks for all the relpies. I will not be choosing an agent based on price alone, but wanted to get a feel of the fees I should be expecting, before they come round.