5K estate agent fee for BUYER on 220K house

maninthestreet

So who is the EA working for if they accept fees from both the vendor and buyer?

dadsgoneshopping

Is naming and shaming of the estate agents allowed on this forum?
If so, please do it to warn others.
If not

silvercar

katejo wrote: »

Or tried to bypass simply because they objected to conditions of bidding because of the buyer fee. I suspect that sellers who agree to this method are also being greedy.

maninthestreet wrote: »

So who is the EA working for if they accept fees from both the vendor and buyer?

One possibility is that the estate agent coerces the eager and inexperienced seller to agree to this. Maybe saying that their property will be a preferential property that they will push more if they agree to the buyer's premium.

EdwardS033

This type of charging used to be confined to auction purchases. In Birmingham the auction houses charge £395+vat but the London auctions charge £700.

Seems that the traditional estate agents want a piece of the action too by holding their own 'informal auction' on paper and in the office, saves renting a room in a fancy hotel.

KnightSmile

This reaction has made me have second thoughts about my bid. I like the property but I'm thinking about retracting my bid in the morning and just looking elsewhere for something similar without the fees.

decisions, decisions.

KnightSmile

In fact I might wait to see if Im successful with my bid and then once they call to tell me I will say I will only take this forward if the seller pays 1% and I pay the other 1%. That way they can move to the next person on the list if they don't like that.

tigsly

KS - you need to look at the property without the exciting bidding aspect..

how much do you like it - enough to live in it ?

How much is it worth to you?

Say its is 200K - then your offer is 195K and no more.

If you get the property - its ok - you've only paid what you would have offered anyway.. iYSWIM..

Dont' get drawn into offering more than you think its worth

bouicca21

Can a contract that has been deliberately constructed to subvert the law really be binding?

katejo

EdwardS033 wrote: »

This type of charging used to be confined to auction purchases. In Birmingham the auction houses charge £395+vat but the London auctions charge £700.

Seems that the traditional estate agents want a piece of the action too by holding their own 'informal auction' on paper and in the office, saves renting a room in a fancy hotel.

At what point is the survey done with this type of bid ? In a real auction you have to arrange it before you bid.

tigsly

I dont think it does 'subvert' the law.

As the vendor - you pay a small marketing fee - so here its either £150 or £300 depnding on which agent you use. this is for marketing -photos etc..

The Buyer knows upfront they are paying a fee -and how much it will be... 2% of the purchase price

How is it 'against the law'?