Estate Agent Fees

Moody_Mare

My husband sold a house recently in Yorkshire & it was quite straight forward. Estate agent gave free valuation, we accepted the fee was 1.5% including VAT for the house on completion of sale. The house was advertised on national websites, estate agent did the viewings as we are hundreds of miles away, apart from this we paid for the solicitor and there was no exit fee had we wished to change.


I am now having to sell a property I have inherited in Scotland and am a bit shocked, so far I have tried 5 estate agents and all follow the same format give or take £50.
Free Valuation, upfront marketing fee £450 + VAT then 1.25% Plus VAT or if I want them to do their job and show people the property then 1.5% plus VAT.


On top is the mandatory home report ranging between £300 and £600 plus VAT and then a solicitor. All have an exit fee at £250 plus VAT


My questions are is this standard in Scotland? and why am I being charged a higher percentage if they have to do the viewing and how can they hope to sell a property without putting it on websites (so why do I have to pay the marketing fee) It feels like I will do all the leg work while the sit in their offices in comparison to the English estate agent we used recently. Any thoughts much appreciated.

nubbins

Not sure but for that amount I would give an online agent a try especially if you are happy showing people around

davidmcn

Moody_Mare wrote: »

why am I being charged a higher percentage if they have to do the viewing

Because you're asking them to carry out an additional service. Owner-occupiers in Scotland will typically do their own viewings, so if you can't do that (not sure where you are in relation to the property) then expect to pay for the viewings one way or another.

Having said that, I'm surprised that none of the agents you've spoken to appear to be competitive - sounds like you may have encountered a nice cosy local arrangement. The fees will depend on things like the area, price, and how swiftly the property is likely to sell, but I would have said you should be able to aim for 1% plus VAT, and a lower, or no, marketing fee. That's the typical sort of level that my corporate clients can get including viewings, admittedly with a bit of volume and less hand-holding required, and for properties which should sell reasonably quickly.

Have you tried negotiating with the agents?

tberry6686

Are these estate agents or local solicitors. In Scotland it has been more common for houses to be sold through solicitors than estate agents. Look for a local solicitors property centre, there will be one covering your local area, and look at the solicitors who use it. They are pretty much a one stop shop.

ellie27

I am in Glasgow and in my area there are 2 main highstreet estate agents. I had them both out in August before selling my house. One fee was 1%, and the other was 1% also, but I negotiated them down to 0.8% as 2 other houses sold within 6 days of being on the market and I told them there job was an easy one!

We however sold using Scothousemove, an online agent based in Glasgow, they were great, ad on rightmove within 2 days of signing up. Upfront fee £470ish and thats it!! We were happy, saved £2000 in fees and got £5000 more than our neighbour who sold exact same house in June. I would recommend them.

Be careful with the home report, do not go for a cheap £300 option as it maybe that it will not be valid for lenders if your buyer needs a mortgage.

Pixie5740

ellie27 wrote: »

We however sold using Scothousemove, an online agent based in Glasgow, they were great, ad on rightmove within 2 days of signing up. Upfront fee £470ish and thats it!! We were happy, saved £2000 in fees and got £5000 more than our neighbour who sold exact same house in June. I would recommend them.

Did Scothousemove do the viewings or did you?

ellie27

Pixie5740 wrote: »

Did Scothousemove do the viewings or did you?

Viewings are not part of the standard service but they have option of £25 charge per viewing or something if it is needed.

ali_hire

I don't know your area but I'd say that if you have 5 local agents all giving you similar fee structures then it sounds like that's the norm for wherever you are.

You have options;

1. Accept that that's the going rate and pick your favourite agent.
2. Negotiate hard with the agents and play them off against each other to drive the cost down. How well you do will depend on how much they want the business and your ability to haggle.
3. Use an online agency at considerably less cost. You will almost certainly need to be prepared to do a lot of the work yourself though. Online agencies are cheap for good reason and often the additional costs (viewings, photos, floor plans, etc.) will increase the attractive advertised price.

eddddy

I found that some local EAs quote less if you approach them through 'Estate Agent Comparison' sites, than if you approach them direct.

I tried https://www.neatanagent.com, but there is also https://www.witchpropertyagent.co.uk and
https://www.agentquote.co.uk

You enter details of the property you want to sell, and the site forwards the details to it's registered EAs in the area. And the EAs respond by putting their quote on the site.

But I think it varies a lot by area - depending on how many local EAs have registered with them. In one area I got 8 replies, in another I got just 1.

googler

Where, generally, is the property?

City? Small town? Village? Rural?

The Home Report cannot be blamed on the agents, as it's a mandatory, legal requirement to have one. Whichever HR you go for, ensure it has the full Mortgage Valuation Report, and that it's from a reputable RICS firm, in order that it will be accepted by your buyer's lender.

googler

nubbins wrote: »

Not sure but for that amount I would give an online agent a try especially if you are happy showing people around

You don't take it from the OP that the poster is in England, and the (now empty) house is in Scotland .... and that this might be a hindrance to 'showing people round' ?