Valuation of my house

first78

I had my house valued last week and have received a letter with details of what the Estate Agent will charge etc...thought I'd post what was in the letter to see what people think of it.

The EA valued the house at £105,000 and suggested putting it on the market for £109,950 initially.

In the letter he states:

1) Commission will be in the sum of £1,950 plus VAT currently at a prevailing rate of 17.5%.

2)Commisiion is due on exchange of contracts and will be payable on completion.

3)Commisiion is inclusive of all newspaper advertising, erection of For Sale board, if required, colour photo's and any other incidental expenses.

4)We do not charge a cancellation fee and operate strictly on a 'No Sale-No Charge' basis.

5)In event of being instructed in the sale of your property we intend to offer any prospective purchaser our full range of estate agency services, including valuation and sale of their property.

When I spoke to the EA who did our valuation he said he was prepared to be flexible with the commission...as this is the first time I've sold a house I'm unsure of what to offer. I do want this company to market my house but I'm not great at haggling!!! Any help as alway would be very much appreciated.

G_M

Is it a sole agency agreement? ie you can't use another agency too.
If so, how long are you tied in? And how much notice is required to end it?
Is it a sole selling agreement? ie even if you find a buyer yourself you have to pay the agency.
Or is it multi agency agreement?

That's about 1.75%. For a sole agency agreement you could try for 1.5%

first78

As far as I know it's a sole agency agreement. There's no lock in period.
Does 1.75% seem ok?

brit1234

first78 wrote: »

The EA valued the house at £105,000 and suggested putting it on the market for £109,950 initially.

:eek:
Right girls and boys its time to reduce our offers an additional 5% because of estate agent dodgy practice

googler

England & Wales average fees are 1.6%, so around 1.75% as a Fixed Fee, to include costs of advertising, sale boards, and other gubbins doesn't seem too drastic.

Also, it's fixed, allowing you to budget with certainty.

You can probably negotiate them down a bit if you really want to.....

Mum_of_3_3

Not sure what you can sell for, but for examples sake if you sell for £85k from what you have stated you will still have to pay £1,950+VAT commission!

Before you sign anything get them to alter the first clause to read something like:

Commission will be in the sum of x.x% of selling price plus VAT currently at a prevailing rate of 17.5%.

Good luck with selling

M_o_3

first78

Sorry to ask another question but my maths is shocking...if I accept the £1950 what will the VAT be? (I have no idea how to work out 17.5%!!!)

Doozergirl

It's 1.86% of £105k which is what your EA will be pushing you to accept if offers come in. I think it's shocking - and as quite correctly pointed out, even if you sell for a lot less, you still pay their huge fee.

The VAT is £341.25

Where are you? The most I have ever paid was 1.5% and that was in London where it's impossible to get much less. Where I live we normally pay 1% - although I paid 1.1% recently because I felt it was right we should pay a bit more with the market being slower.

Why did you like this agent above others? Have you tested them all as a potential buyer? You'll never see the person that valued your house again, more than likely, so don't base your decision on them!

googler

Doozergirl wrote: »

....You'll never see the person that valued your house again, more than likely, so don't base your decision on them!

Again, this depends on where you are. Round my way, in some cases, the agent who does the valuation also handles measuring, photos, description, viewings and negotiation too.... only handing over to a solicitor for the legal work once an offer is accepted - but I'm in that foreign land known as Scotland.

DVardysShadow

brit1234 wrote: »

:eek:
Right girls and boys its time to reduce our offers an additional 5% because of estate agent dodgy practice

Quelle horreur :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:.

Nothing dodgy. It is sound. You know full well that there is no absolute value for a house

Kavanne

Don't let them put a fixed amount in the contract! Whenever we've sold it's always been with a % of the agreed sale price...