5K estate agent fee for BUYER on 220K house

katejo

If I decide to sell my place, I will avoid any agent using this method (also to buy) . Have just walked past one of the local agents using this method. Poster in window says "no additional costs as buyer pays fees". This sounds very misleading.

KnightSmile

What made me laugh was the estate agent tried her best to convince me it was for MY benefit that I'd be lumbered with the fee. She claimed it would stop people outbidding each other and the price going higher.

If that was the case my offer would have been for what I can afford and no more so it doesn't benefit me at all!

I cant believe the cheek of some of these people!!

Also, I don't know why a seller would want to do it this way as the estate agent will not try and drive up the price as they are guaranteed their £5000 fee regardless.

SG27

KnightSmile wrote: »

What made me laugh was the estate agent tried her best to convince me it was for MY benefit that I'd be lumbered with the fee. She claimed it would stop people outbidding each other and the price going higher.

If that was the case my offer would have been for what I can afford and no more so it doesn't benefit me at all!

I cant believe the cheek of some of these people!!

Also, I don't know why a seller would want to do it this way as the estate agent will not try and drive up the price as they are guaranteed their £5000 fee regardless.

They do t help the stereotype do they!

DRP

reduce your offer by 2% just before exchange?

not ethical but then neither is this buyer's fee.

da_rule

KnightSmile wrote: »

Also, I don't know why a seller would want to do it this way as the estate agent will not try and drive up the price as they are guaranteed their £5000 fee regardless.

The fee is 2% plus VAT or £2000 plus VAT, which ever is more. It just happens that in this case the 2% plus VAT is about £5000, the estate agent will still try to get a higher price as obviously 2% of a higher value is worth more than 2% of a lower price.

pinkshoes

I'd put a note through the vendors door saying I loved the house and willing to pay the asking price, but cannot buy it as I am not willing to pay the extortionate and cheeky EA fee of £5000 in addition.

I'd leave my contact details and ask if they'd like to sell it privately. They might still have to pay their fee, but I wouldn't have to pay one!

chewmylegoff

SG27 wrote: »

I would have either told the agent he can f*** right off and looked elsewhere or if I really liked the house seeing as now the price of that house has just gone up 2% + vat then reduce my offer by this amount.

Either way I would be very !!!!ed off. Id actually be tempted to boycott the agent entirely and ignore any other properties they are marketing.

In theory I agree with you but in practice, as a buyer in a desperate market, you don't have much choice. There are only so many properties on the market and there are a much larger number of buyers - therefore you have to deal with the agents who you would, in normal market conditions, avoid like the plague.

katejo

pinkshoes wrote: »

I'd put a note through the vendors door saying I loved the house and willing to pay the asking price, but cannot buy it as I am not willing to pay the extortionate and cheeky EA fee of £5000 in addition.

I'd leave my contact details and ask if they'd like to sell it privately. They might still have to pay their fee, but I wouldn't have to pay one!

I was thinking along similar lines, particularly if an agent refused to pass my offer on because I hadn't followed their exact instructions. Perhaps I would say in my note to the buyer that I would seriously have considered buying their house if they had chosen an agent who used the traditional method.

katejo

chewmylegoff wrote: »

In theory I agree with you but in practice, as a buyer in a desperate market, you don't have much choice. There are only so many properties on the market and there are a much larger number of buyers - therefore you have to deal with the agents who you would, in normal market conditions, avoid like the plague.

I had thought of that as well. Just a good thing that I am not planning to move at the moment. I am tempted though to email one of the agents who has gone for the tender method and tell them that, as a seller looking for an agent, I wouldn't touch them with a barge pole. I have noticed locally that the first one to adopt this method is an agent whom I would already not have chosen for other reasons.

da_rule

pinkshoes wrote: »

I'd put a note through the vendors door saying I loved the house and willing to pay the asking price, but cannot buy it as I am not willing to pay the extortionate and cheeky EA fee of £5000 in addition.

I'd leave my contact details and ask if they'd like to sell it privately. They might still have to pay their fee, but I wouldn't have to pay one!

The problem with this might be that the seller may find themselves in a breach of contract situation and would probably have to pay the fee to estate agent himself (or possibly even damages). A seller is unlikely to do that. Most estate agency contacts have clauses about being solicited by private buyers etc.