avoiding estate agents

hilaryinlondon

I am about to put my house on the market & am shocked how much estate agents charge & how little they seem to do now everyone can search on line.

has anyone sold without using them?? or using one of those on-line agents that only seem to charge a nominal fee?

any experiences/advice would be appreciated

thanks

opinions4u

Given that many traditional estate agents have gone out of business recently it's not surprising charges are high. Sales are few and income needs to be maintained.

While you will find sites that market your house for a fraction of the charge an EA will make, you are unlikely to achieve a sale this way in the current market.

Indeed, it's more than likely that the most expensive agent locally will be the one best placed to achieve a sale.

Look at: where do the advertise online; do they utilise local press; do they have property "open days"; are they open at weekends (amazing how many are 9.30am-4.30pm Monday to Friday now); do they support weekend viewings?

If your in no rush, try plan "A" by all means. But I'd rather pay the full whack to have a "proper" pushy estate agent sell my house in such a dire market.

Plans_all_plans

I agree with the other poster: I'd use a traditional estate agent.

If you want to try to sell your house yourself, then fair enough, but I would not use an online one AT ALL. When we were looking to buy as first time buyers (last year) we wanted to look round 2 houses on with 2 different online agents, but we had no success in arranging viewings.

We couldn't get through to either of them without leaving countless messages, or if we did get through they'd say they'd call back but never did etc. When we wanted to see the house, there was no-one available to show us round it and they couldn't give us an alternative day. It was such a ridiculous carry on that we made a decision not to look at any houses on with ANY online agents as they were such a joke.

If you pay an upfront fee to them, what incentive have they got to actively market your house?

hilaryinlondon

oh! to be honest, I assumed that anyone interested would deal directly with me..... is that not the case??

diable

hilaryinlondon wrote: »

oh! to be honest, I assumed that anyone interested would deal directly with me..... is that not the case??

Where in London are you?

Jenniefour

Besides selling the house - aranging viewings and so on the real test of a good agent is keeping deals together after an offer has been accepted, not an easy task these days. So I wouldn't choose to use an on line agency. However, some people who post here have used them with great success. Normally viewings are arranged through them and then you do them yourself. Offers are made through them and so on. Worth a try.

telboyo

Estate agents are pointless- buy a half page ad in your local paper. Someone will look at your house and say "I want to buy this" you say " here is the name of my solicitor, who is your solicitor?" Job done .
You will get the last laugh when the purchaser gets the more expensive survey.

1. This looks like terraced house but you are advised to get a separate report on the type of house it is.
2. This house appears to be of brick construction but you are advised to get a specialist reoprt
3. This ghouse has a slate roof and will probably need replacing sometime in the future - get a specialist report
4. There appear to be the normal services connected to the property that may or may not be a house witgh or with out a roof but you are advised to get a report from a specialist.
5. There is no heating system fitted
5. This is a cave dwelling it has an energy efficiency rating of F and you will be held responsible for the death of all the polar bears in the world even if you continue to live in it without heating

hilaryinlondon

I am in Southwark. it's a good point about following the sale through..... thank you

hilaryinlondon

sorry telboyo, I don't understand... are you suggesting these are problems of not using an estate agent?

diable

hilaryinlondon wrote: »

I am in Southwark. it's a good point about following the sale through..... thank you

Then stick your own sigh up outside your house inviting offers.

TrickyDicky

As a buyer a year ago, I found it much easier just going to an estate agent and asking for a list of houses rather than manually searching round for each and every house. We did arrange some veiwings online, but this was usually the first time we had contact with a new agent. After that they'd contact us immediatly if a new house came on the market with our criteria.

Good luck selling your house by yourself. Be careful not to over-value. I saw at least one house for sale by someone going alone at about 100k over the general market price. Not surprisingly, their house was on the market for a long time.