Estate Agent Fees!!

wotnoshoeseh

pgilc1 wrote:

Again evidence of why, to me, paying for a decent agent with local knowledge is worth every penny.

No question about that! But my point is that they are extremely well paid for the services that they provide.
Darren and Paul, are you guys estate agents?? How can they justify their costs?

It's about getting people through the door, and showing them your house. In effect, the people in the house are the ones who sell it. The vendor will be the one cleaning the house for viewings, talking to the prospective purchasers, and basically "selling" the property.
The one thing that we cannot get away from is the fact that some of these estate agents have a waiting list of prospective buyers, and that can be of great assistance prior to the house actually being advertised (in Property News, or whatever, having a "For Sale" board, and being on the web).

All of the estate agents that I have had a price from have not mentioned viewing the house. One of them has even said, and I paraphrase "the prospective buyers would want to meet you"! Anything to get out of actually doing anything. As far as I can see they want to get your property on their books, and get it sold whilst doing as little as possible to justify their fees.

So far the prices I have had are:-
1. 0.7% + VAT. We do all the viewings ourselves.
2. £110 + VAT Registration fee then commission of 0.75% + VAT. Viewings conducted by seller.
3. £75+VAT Registration fee then commission of 0.5% + VAT. Viewings by seller, but they could manage to do the occasional viewing.

I will possibly try the Andersonstown Estate Agents as well for a price and will ask Wilsons in Moira for a valuation and price.
I think the main thing is to get a "For Sale" board outside the house and an advert on the Internet. Looks like Black Horse Property Management, as advised by Ivan and Honey, is the way to go for this.

darrenfinlayson

pgilc1 wrote:

Again evidence of why, to me, paying for a decent agent with local knowledge is worth every penny.

huh, halifax are local. and in the area that i was selling my house the only local estate agent, with much more extensive knowledge than the ups or templeton robinson, who embarassed themselves by sitting in my living room talking utter crap to me and my wife.

this is only my experience, i have only sold a handful of houses recently, and there are some lovely local agents, but the most recent sale i had involved pitting halifax against ups and templeton robinson, and after meeting them there was no doubt in my head as to who had a clue.

i have also had very bad service from robert wilson and gerry o'connor and worst of all was mark maguire on the lisburn road who i would advise to avoid at all costs.

i think its all down to the individuals who work at these offices and their experience and manner. at the end of the day i was happy to receive 25k over the asking price for my house within 5 days of going on the market, and without having to do anything other than receive phone calls informing me of their progress. this is what the halifax delivered for me, and i will be sending them a letter to let them know that they have excellent customer service.

darrenfinlayson

wotnoshoeseh wrote:

No question about that! But my point is that they are extremely well paid for the services that they provide.
Darren and Paul, are you guys estate agents?? How can they justify their costs?

It's about getting people through the door, and showing them your house. In effect, the people in the house are the ones who sell it. The vendor will be the one cleaning the house for viewings, talking to the prospective purchasers, and basically "selling" the property.
The one thing that we cannot get away from is the fact that some of these estate agents have a waiting list of prospective buyers, and that can be of great assistance prior to the house actually being advertised (in Property News, or whatever, having a "For Sale" board, and being on the web).

All of the estate agents that I have had a price from have not mentioned viewing the house. One of them has even said, and I paraphrase "the prospective buyers would want to meet you"! Anything to get out of actually doing anything. As far as I can see they want to get your property on their books, and get it sold whilst doing as little as possible to justify their fees.

So far the prices I have had are:-
1. 0.7% + VAT. We do all the viewings ourselves.
2. £110 + VAT Registration fee then commission of 0.75% + VAT. Viewings conducted by seller.
3. £75+VAT Registration fee then commission of 0.5% + VAT. Viewings by seller, but they could manage to do the occasional viewing.

I will possibly try the Andersonstown Estate Agents as well for a price and will ask Wilsons in Moira for a valuation and price.
I think the main thing is to get a "For Sale" board outside the house and an advert on the Internet. Looks like Black Horse Property Management, as advised by Ivan and Honey, is the way to go for this.

they really cant justify the costs when you actually break down what they do, i really do think that like car insurance the costs should be regulated more heavily by a governing body. at the end of the day the estate agent knows that there is a lot of money involved and they want a slice, but really selling a house is no more difficult than selling a car.

in my recent dealing with the halifax their agents showed all of the prospective buyers around my house and i didnt have to do anything the whole time, and they really did work for their money, staff did overtime just to accommodate the hours that suited viewers (staff who were supposed to finish work at 5pm were waiting to 7pm in some cases!).

at the end of the day you have got to go with what feels right but maintain what exactly you are looking for in your sale. for me the higherst price was the goal, and again the halifax promised and more than delivered on this so i was happy.