Giving the estate agents more of my money?

tleefox

Depends on where you are. Where we are the figures range from 1% for your independant local agent up to 2% for the big national companies.

If you have questions about the process I suggest you read the sticky at the top of this page entitled something like "tips for sellers." There was a lot of information in there I did not know about before we put our property on the market and enabled us to go into the process much more streetwise.

paulsad

The agents I've just moved to the salespeople get paid only on commission so the incentive is already there.

googler

property.advert wrote: »

So for your few thousand pounds hard earned, I put it to you, just how much work are you prepared to do to sell your home ? If not a lot is your answer, then pay for an agent. If however you earn £25 an hour before tax (and about £12.50 at the marginal rate) and your agent fee would be £5000, then you could just about do 400 hours work to sell your home and be paid the same as you would at work. If you do less than 400 hours, or spend less than £5000, then you save money.

You're comparing a salary with a business income. It's not a valid comparison.

When your employer pays you £25 per hour, that's after they've accounted for all their expenses, When you pay an EA or any other business as a fee, that's before they account for expenses.

googler

prosaver wrote: »

please could someone tell me how much does a estate agent get for selling a house?

Do you mean how much you the customer would pay the business, or how much individuals within the business are paid?

kingstreet

paulsad wrote: »

The agents I've just moved to the salespeople get paid only on commission so the incentive is already there.

I think this might be a North/South difference. I've worked for three agents (West Midlands and North West) and the staff in each one weren't particularly well remunerated either way. They had lowish basics and not much by way of commission or bonus prospects.

The listers tended to be hungry young lads in shiny suits and the negotiators in the office were middle-aged women. The listers did the market appraisals and got them on the market and the negotiators did the selling.

In addition, fixed-fee selling was common, rather than percentage-based.

I get the impression in the South, from TV and what relatives down there have told me, the culture is completely different.

Your approach to the agent has to be based on what is most likely to make them tick.