estate agents fees etc help!

googler

To paraphrase you both;I have a good Car insurance record. Why should I have to subsidise the poor drivers who claim on the insurance company?

googler

FireWyrm wrote: »

The window is presumably attached to the premises upon which rent is paid and business conducted. You would have to pay the rent even if some other business was conducted. It is a business expense and one which should be budgeted for in a well run organisation. .................it is none of my concern that other deals have not completed and I still don't see why I should subsidise them.

How do you expect the EA to 'budget' for the time that they're expected to give, free of charge, to;

owners who want a free valuation,
viewers who don't buy,
enquirers who don't proceed to viewing or buying,
etc
etc

and to 'budget' for the overall cost of running the business, other than by funding all this from the revenue on the sales which do actually complete, and from spreading the overall costs across these sales....?

From the minute the EA turns up at your house for a valuation, they're taking a risk on you, and on the circumstances surrounding your sale. If you only see the work the EA does on your sale, you're not appreciating the risk profile.

Hoof_Hearted

googler wrote: »

To paraphrase you both;I have a good Car insurance record. Why should I have to subsidise the poor drivers who claim on the insurance company?

A poor analogy. Insurance is not the same as sales. Everbody recognises with insurance that you pay into the pot and some are unlucky enough to have to claim from the pot.

Rather different with sales. I want to buy a £10,000 BMW. I wouldn't be asked to pay £12,000 just because the next bloke can only afford £8,000. This is what non flat-fee agents do.

Whichever way you cut it, £18,000 for selling one house is outrageous.

john_white

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

A poor analogy. Insurance is not the same as sales. Everbody recognises with insurance that you pay into the pot and some are unlucky enough to have to claim from the pot.

Rather different with sales. I want to buy a £10,000 BMW. I wouldn't be asked to pay £12,000 just because the next bloke can only afford £8,000. This is what non flat-fee agents do.

Whichever way you cut it, £18,000 for selling one house is outrageous.

I don't disagree, 18k is outrageous, but, if that is what the agent can charge and is not fussed about winning the business then there is not a lot the OP can do about it. As I said, there must be a reason why this is the preferred choice for the OP. Reputation, success stories? If I thought the agent could get it out to the right people and generate enough interest to get the price I want then I would be prepared to pay for it.


As for the analogies, I think you are wrong. The agent is selling a service, not a specific item. If a dealer sold car for a loss I expect they would try and recoup some of that loss by selling other cars for more.

googler

Hoof_Hearted wrote: »

Rather different with sales. I want to buy a £10,000 BMW. I wouldn't be asked to pay £12,000 just because the next bloke can only afford £8,000. This is what non flat-fee agents do.

As prev poster said, you're not distinguishing between buying a service and an item, nor recognising, as I pointed out earlier, the time that must be spent with non-paying members of the public.

Your analogy also ignores the no-sale no-fee aspect, for, as we know, your favoured online agent takes most, if not all their fee upfront, and has the money in the bank whatever happens.

arbrighton

wissett73 wrote: »

what it covers is, brochure, advertising, sale boards, epc and floor plan..... hmmm I'm not sure even how to word a letter to them!

Funny, that's included in our agent's fee of 1.15% and we're talking about a house we're hoping to achieve around 215k on.

They saw you coming, especially as you didn't even think to negotiate at the time....

wissett73

thanks for all replies. sorry for the delay in saying thank you. the figures are astonishing, yes, especially if it were to sell in a month! i think i am going to get three more agents round and consider what they say and then weigh it all up with more valuations etc i don't see why i can't sell the house myself, i know it better than they do!
i think I'm just worried about getting it wrong and something awful going wrong thats all....
thanks again

wopdiddly

I remember talking to an estate agent during the boom and he told me he was almost embarrassed to take his fee as all he had to do was add 5k to the last house that sold and put it on the market. They really need to work for their money these days!