Estate agents' fees for selling a house - how much is fair?

MarkBargain

I will be selling a £100K house soon and I wonder how much estate agents charge for advertising and selling the house. They don't give a price over the phone/email but all want to value the house first, which is fair enough. I think it sensible to envite three local agents (avoiding the big chains) round to get quotes and try to negotiate. Perhaps about 1% is possible? How low have others managed to get estate agents to go?

gman1981

Lowest we had was 1.25% and highest 1.5% with varying lock in periods from 4 weeks to 16 weeks.

christopher1977

I live in the north west and never paid more than 1%.

Don't know what the percentage is like in other areas?

MillyMolly01

I've recently placed a home on the market for a little bit more than you. I had 4 EAs over to give valuations. Each and every one of them would only consider a fixed selling fee stating that percentages are only used for higher value properties. In the end we settled upon a £1,800 (inc. VAT) fixed fee. I'd imagine there will also be regional varitions as to what common practice actually is.

Hoof_Hearted

The alternative is to use an online agent if you don't mind doing your own viewings. Probably cost around £500.

gman1981

I'm in South West London, so I expect it is more expensive due to that. Careful as some EA will charge a %age of the ASKING price not the actual sale price.

terryya

I'd second the recommendation of using an online agent as it shouldn't cost you more than £500. Even if a traditional agent 'only' charged 1% you'd still be looking at about £1200 with the VAT.

We recently sold our house through an online agent and found them to be very good (as did the people who came to view our house). Lets be honest, all most agents do is stick and advert on rightmove and answer the phone!

ash28

We paid 1% of the sold price but the house we sold was around 4x the value of the one you're selling. I wouldn't have paid anymore than that. That was in the south east.

I didn't even check on tie in times etc because I thought it would sell quickly - it did. Priced right in a moving market.

We chose a small local agent. They were excellent and literally held our buyers hand (thank goodness as they were a nightmare) all the way through. They earned their money doing that - I would have lost patience with them.

Mickygg

All depends on area. I sold also in south east but had to bargain for 1.5%!

googler

Whilst percentages vary around the country, the OFT determined a couple of years ago that the average in E&W was 1.6%, as I recall, and 1.1% in Scotland.

However, as mentioned above, in some areas a minimum will apply, and if the percentage of the expected selling price falls below this, the EA will be looking for the minimum fee as a flat fee, not a percentage.

MarkBargain

Thanks for the responses. I had never thought about an online agent. Does anyone have any specific recommendations? (I will probably go with a local firm, but just considering all options)