Proper Estate agents or online company

amn_2

We are planning to go on the market with our house in about 3-4 months and I'm just after peoples opinions on the benefits of using a "proper" estate over one of the online companies that list on rightmove.

My opinion at the moment is that the local agents wont add a lot of value for me whilst taking a larger fee (not sure what the fees are these days, I'm guessing 1-2% is typical?). My reasons for this is that we have a typical starter home. It is a 2 bed mid terrace built in 2007, reasonable sized garden, off street parking etc. Essentially the type of home that sells itself, if someone is after this kind of house it shouldn't take much selling.

I have no problem with showing people around the house and answering any questions. As the target market would be first time buyers, probably young-ish, who would mainly use rightmove to find houses I don't feel an agent would provide any prospective buyers who wouldn't see it anyway. From a personal view as we are looking for potential properties I wouldn't contact an agent unless I have seen something I like advertised online.

Am I being naive? This is the first time we've sold a house so I may be missing something obvious? Any experiences and opinions welcome

ging84

estate agents do more than just advertise your property

the question is do you honestly think you could secure the same price for your house, the first house you've ever sold, as someone who sells houses for a living?
If you do then go for it, but if you are not sure you would, then you could end up worse off for doing it yourself, along with having to do a lot of extra work

amn_2

ging84 wrote: »

estate agents do more than just advertise your property

the question is do you honestly think you could secure the same price for your house, the first house you've ever sold, as someone who sells houses for a living?
If you do then go for it, but if you are not sure you would, then you could end up worse off for doing it yourself, along with having to do a lot of extra work

Thanks for the reply To be honest I don't know whether I could secure the same price but I don't think an agent would secure more than their fees to be honest. I can see the potential for them to add value in a higher value property aimed at a different/older demographic but I'm struggling to see what they can add at the starter end of the market, I think I have half decent negotiating skills to secure a reasonable price.

What services do you think an agent would supply that justifies the increased fees?

Oh and please don't take offence but are you an estate agent for a living?

bluffer

what are the selling conditions in your area? Are they moving fast / slow / mix ? Are they going for the asking price / above / below ?

If everything is selling fast above the asking price then it might be more worthwhile selling it yourself! If its below and slow then thats when a good estate agent will be more than worth their fees.

An online estate agent will be listing it on zoopla / rightmove / their own site and organise or take the photos.

Phone up a few agents, both off and online and ask them round and find out what they will do for you and for how much. but do your research on the market as well. after that you will have a better idea of what route to go down.

amn_2

Hi Bluffer, selling recently has picked up significantly. It's quite difficult to judge round here as there are quite a lot of older properties that aren't really comparable and the newer properties haven't been on the market really as a lot of them are rented out. However in the last 2-3 months several of the newer properties have sold within a month or 2 of coming at the market and reasonably close to the asking price. Admittedly all of these were with agents.

I intend to at least talk to the agents. I could probably swallow around 1% if it results in a quick sale. I think if I could agree 1% with a short tie in I would be happy. I just don't know how realistic 1% is though.....

I just begrudge the thought of paying a couple of grand for someone to take a few pictures and then stick it on rightmove. I just find it hard to believe the would have a book of people waiting who wouldn't see the property via other means. Even if we had an agent I wouldn't be keen on them showing people around and would rather do it myself.

ethank

I would always use an estate agent. The fee they charge is worth it just to deal with all of the sales progression calls. My EA was literally the person that kept the chain moving, speak to the vendors and the solicitors..... It's not just about about the pictures and the viewings - they probably do just as much work after the sale has happened!

amn_2

ethank wrote: »

I would always use an estate agent. The fee they charge is worth it just to deal with all of the sales progression calls. My EA was literally the person that kept the chain moving, speak to the vendors and the solicitors..... It's not just about about the pictures and the viewings - they probably do just as much work after the sale has happened!

Having never been in a chain this is the bit I'm not experienced with. Would you put the value of that service at £1000+? Could the same thing be done by yourself or your solicitor?

googler

amn wrote: »

Having never been in a chain this is the bit I'm not experienced with. Would you put the value of that service at £1000+? Could the same thing be done by yourself or your solicitor?

It's likely to involve spending a lot of time on the phone to others in 9-5 office hours. Will you be available to do this, or do you work in those hours yourself? If you want to speak to someone and they phone you back later, will you be available?

As regards whether it's 'worth' a certain sum to have someone do this for you who routinely does this, day-in, day-out, and will likely make a better job of it than you will, only you can decide.

Feel free to ask if I'm an estate agent too. You won't be the first.

googler

amn wrote: »

I just begrudge the thought of paying a couple of grand for someone to take a few pictures and then stick it on rightmove.

Then you have a short-sighted view of what's involved, even though others have outlined that an EA's job is to pursue things through to a completed sale, not just to place adverts

I just find it hard to believe the would have a book of people waiting who wouldn't see the property via other means.

Often, the 'book of people' are those who want to be told about properties BEFORE they reach those 'other means'.

Even if we had an agent I wouldn't be keen on them showing people around and would rather do it myself.

Why? You freely admit this is the first time you've sold, so what skills and expertise do you have that would make you better at it?

seangrimshaw

Hi OP,
I was in a very similar position to yourself a few weeks back and got stung good and proper. I went with an online based company who pitched the sale to me as 'we are young, the buying market is young. Everyone uses the internet these days.'
And for the most part that is true, but there are so many sharks picking up on this fact and throwing together companies ready to milk you for your cash by putting the property on a few websites (how hard can that be?) and claiming a still substantial fee.
In my opinion the fees you pay anybody are a bit excessive but for me, having been stung by one of these online companies, I'd rather pay a bit extra and have the piece of mind of being able to walk into a shop of an established company, with a reputation to lose if things start to go wrong.
On paper you are right, if someone sees your house and wants it..they'll take it without going in a shop. But they have the experience in doing this sort of thing, you can go see them if things go wrong and if nothing else, they need to free up window space and get your property off their books rather than it just being sat on a computer!
I'm trying my best to get out of an online nightmare and get back to traditional means, wish Id have stuck with what works!

cavework

I have just sold an empty property through a 0% commission estate agent.
They were fantastic, They made sure that all prospective purchasers were in a position to buy ,accompanied all viewings and kept me informed after every viewing.
They sold the house within 12 weeks and have even accompanied the surveyor this week. They have ensured that both parties solicitors are in place and not once tried to push using one of their own.
Their set package for the sale is £1200 inc VAT which is paid on completion.
Not sure if I am allowed to name them on here but I would definitely use them again.