Why would I pay more to market my property with an agent...

RedfordML

if an agent has quoted me £1k less in % fee's?

Am I overlooking things here. % is important to us but how can agency charge very differing prices?

The agency we are looking to instruct offer floorplan, premium listing board etc so why should we consider the other agent (who did give me a sales pitch) but did not convince me?

Did you sale with the agent offering the best %??:beer:

freddie_2

Does the othe rone have longer opening hours? Do they open on a Sat?
Do they do viewing for you at evenings?
So they offer follow up phone calls?

These are the things when i am looking to buy that are so handy, many only do viewings in office hours and not everyone can take off work to view houses, esp as its likely to happen more than once.

googler

RedfordML wrote: »

Am I overlooking things here. % is important to us but how can agency charge very differing prices?

You've probably overlooked something.

How can car makers charge very differing prices? What's different between a Rolls Royce and a Fiat? They both have four wheels, an engine, and a steering wheel. They both get you from A to B. How come one is more expensive?

Gonzo33

I went with my gut feeling when I changed agents, and was not wrong (so far - sale still going through). They were more expensive than any agent in the area, but they have been in the town for 30 years, it is a small family business yet very professional and they are open longer hours during the week, and all day on a Saturday.

They also secured me an acceptable offer within 3 weeks of being on the market. Hopefully that offer will go through to completion without too much issue.

Soot2006

As FTB we registered with several agencies.

One called when new suitable houses came on the market, followed up viewings, asked for feedback ... all of this without being annoying or harassing!

One put us on a mailing list that essentially contained the same info as their website and were quite inflexible about viewing times.

Number 1 called us on a Thursday morning to say there was a house they thought would be perfect for us!

It was not yet on Rightmove.

We viewed Friday morning, put in an offer Friday afternoon over the phone, haggled a bit and a finalised the offer several hours later.

The Sold STC sign went up on the same day as I received an advert for the same house in the other agency's newsletter ...

Gentoo365

There is an estate agency near me that seems to charge higher fees. They are quite open about it.

However (as a buyer) they were much better to deal with. Drove me round on a weekend (and bank holiday) showing me a range of properties. When I gave reasons for not liking some properties they narrowed the range.

They also rang a management company of a leasehold flat to confirm a few details I asked for.

When I made an offer they gave good reasons why my offer should be higher, using example properties and rental rates. However when I refused to budge they still passed the offer on. They confirmed my ability to proceed, but did not require I see their mortgage advisor.

I could see thoughout that they were acting in the best interests of the vendor, and trying to get a 'good' sale not just any sale. However they were professional and not pushy so I was happy to take calls from them.

When the offer was accepted they did offer legal/mortgage services, when I said I had arranged it already they did not pressure me. They have supplied information to my conveyancer quickly.

When the mortgage valuer came round they supplied him with a list of similar properties and the selling prices to show that the valuation should reflect what I offered.

This is in comparison to a 'cheap' estate agent that just sent me stuff in the post (for properties that they would know were not what I wanted), put me on marketing lists for mortgage advice and legal services, were inflexible on viewing times and had staff that had no idea of the selling points of a property.

So as a buyer, I have to say that there is a massive difference. When I come to sell I would probably go with the good agents rather than the cheap ones.

I guess that the cheap ones try to make it up by cross selling other services, or just getting cheaper staff. I prefer an estate agent who's main business is matching buyers and sellers, not selling legal services and mortgage advice.

Selective marketing, i.e. matching suitable properties to suitable buyers and making phone calls, probably costs a lot more than just sending out generic e-mails and lists. It is also more successful.