Estate Agents Fee's

sweetd

any experience of using on line agents and avoiding EA's?

googler

rodent wrote: »

Presumably the thrust of your arguement is the higher the fee the more the agent will get for your property (motivated by higher profits).
Sorry to burst your bubble ....

I didn't think I was arguing anything, nor speaking from a bubble - I restated/rephrased a previous post, as you seemed to have mis-read it.

However....

googler

rodent wrote: »

When an agent pitches a house he meets them at your property and walks around with them - "the pitching" is 99% your presentation & dressing of the property - the colour of the the agents tie or socks or ability to tell the punter how good the local school or pub is - is not worthy of >1% of property value

....

If an agent sells a house at £100K for 1% comm=£1000 (+vat)
If an agent sells a house at £200K for 1% comm=£2000 (+vat)

Would someone like to justify why the commission should be doubled ?

If you're not happy with percentage-based, then what ..... ?

A flat fee for everyone regardless of house value? That'll reverse the percentage situation, penalising the lower-value homeowners and pleasing the richer ones, won't it?

An hourly rate? If so, who pays for the agents' time when not spent on a particular property?

If neither of the above, what would you suggest?

googler

dinofabio wrote: »

The same estate agent deals with a solicitor who charges £500 + vat + disbursements (sale only on £180K).

Not sure what your point is.... that the EA and the solicitor are doing the same work, so should be paid the same?

rodent

googler wrote: »

If you're not happy with percentage-based, then what ..... ?

A flat fee for everyone regardless of house value? That'll reverse the percentage situation, penalising the lower-value homeowners and pleasing the richer ones, won't it?

An hourly rate? If so, who pays for the agents' time when not spent on a particular property?

If neither of the above, what would you suggest?

A marketing package has a fixed cost so why should the vendor get penalised

I pay a fixed fee for selected agents to find me tenants.
There are agents that will operate on fixed fees ...you just need to ask.

Pay only a fee you are happy with.

googler

rodent wrote: »

A marketing package has a fixed cost so why should the vendor get penalised

I don't think it's fixed. Once the property is on the market, how can you predict how many viewers or buyers the agent will have to spend time with, either for your particular property, or generally?

Before the property is on the market, how many valuations will be carried out (unpaid, because everyone expects a free valuation) before the agent secures the property for sale? How is this time to be paid for, if not from the fees on the sales?

No doubt you feel that you shouldn't be paying for the agent to do any of these tasks, if they're not related to 'your' marketing package...?

rodent wrote: »

I pay a fixed fee for selected agents to find me tenants.

So you're saying that all EAs in the land should work on fixed fee, not percentage, because of this?

You're the one saying you're not happy with paying a percentage because it leads to a higher fee on higher-value houses. Is your suggested modus operandi merely a fixed-fee basis?

gordonbennet

rodent wrote: »

..the price set and agreed by who..? YOU !!!!

I think you're (deliberately?) missing the point rodent.

With a fixed fee, the agent has less incentive to fight for the best price, or to find another buyer who might pay a bit more. They might also be inclined to "push" harder on a similar property for which they could earn twice the fee!

If they agreed to work for you for 0.5% they would a) be expected to charge that to everyone else and/or b) look desperate and potentially kill their business.

As long as they are a good agent, 1% commission is a very good rate.
(OP - just be sure there isn't small print which says "1% with a minimum fee of £2500" which I did find on a recent agreement. I was actually getting a 1.25% rate there and that was rock bottom)

nicolewilson

Like the rest of you, I have paid up to £3,000 for an estate agent in the past.

Now, with money really tight I can't afford to pay that amount, especially since we are downsizing! My family and I are moving from London to Bristol since we can't afford to live in the city anymore. Sadly, I will miss the bustle and fog, strangely enough, but since money is such a problem we need to leave.

I have been doing some research and I discovered that there are online estate agents-who knew! I suppose everything is turning online as of late. But anyway, I found a couple of options that are in my price range. Some options are in the low hundreds which lifts such a burden off our soldiers.

I found a few online companies, such as eMoov, but I haven't done enough research of the others out there to be sure of the best ones. But this company seems good enough.

Has anyone heard of them, or has any other online estate agents that they know are credible.

I think going online is my best bet!

Hope this info helps and let me know of your input!

GAH

Spam reported.

tonytee

GAH wrote: »

Spam reported.

spam reported where?