Estate Agents - looking for recommendations

Richie(UK)

Hi all,

We're looking to sell our house in Worcester and I'd be grateful to hear from anybody that would recommend the Estate Agent that they used last time they moved (preferably in the Worcester area but if its a national chain then that is fine too).

What is typical (if there is such a thing) in terms of fees? The agents I've seen so far have ranged from 1.25% to 2% but I've seen start-up outfits advertising fees of 0.5% for a limited period. Obviously I intend to negotiate on fees but it doesn't hurt to start low in the first place does it?

Slight off-topic, but what sort of figure should I be looking at for conveyancing on a sale and purchase of freehold properties?

Thanks.

cheltenhamgirl

Hi Richie...

Sorry, i'm very busy at the mo, but you might find some useful things in this which i have copied and pasted from my last post on a different thread.....it's not all relevant, but it should certainly give you some help...any questions feel free to ask.....

"HI all....i'm a newbie to this, but having just read this, and being an EA myself for the last three years, I felt compelled to write and stick up for us all!
We're not all bad! There are only a few agents left out there who are dodgy, and I think that a lot of it is people prejudices from when maybe all agents weren't so good back in the eighties.... I work for a very large independent company, (80 Branches), and we literally couldn't afford to be dodgy (aside form my own morals). We are subject to compliance checks constantly, mystery shopers and targets. If we aren't doing everything exactly to the book, and if we were found doing anything remotely dodgy we would be out of a job. Not only that, all EA's can't afford to do anything dodgy nowadays...the Property Misdescription Act, and Trading Standards, can fine both the company, and/or the individual, and if the case is deemed serious enough, a prison sentence is possible.
Not only that we're not all bad people! I'm not here to rip any body off, or to try and con people, i'm here because I genuinely have a passion for property (really sad but property ladder is my all time favourite programme), and I really enjoy working with the public. It's really satisfying when you actually get people their dream home, or get the vendor the money to be able to go off and buy their next home. I wouldn't get any satisfaction if my client wasn't happy with the job i'd done. It's not all about the money you know!
Just quickly, I want to dispell af ew EA myths....
1. Agents all over value to get the property
At our agents, and any reputable agents, we have to keep a list of comparable properties on file in order to prove where our valuation came from. Any good agent will bring these details when they come to value your property. Always ask for them. It is also worth remembering it is not an exact science. We can't always get it right.
2. You are paying an agent for accompanied viewings
Yes, this is a service we offer, and we are more than happy to do it as much as we can. HOWEVER, it's not the ONLY thing that we do! You pay us for our list of applicants (you don't get those on a website), our marketing power (papers, rightmove window presence etc etc), our sales skills (quite often the one person who buys your house will be the person who completely ruled it out until we persuaded them to view it), and our negotiation skills. Which leads me on to the next myth.
3. agents won't accept lower offers.
I saw above somebody mention that an agent was not accepting an offer when the purchaser thought that the vendors would have accepted it? One question....what would the agent gain from that?! We don't get paid for having the property in our window for 9 months! We get paid when the property sells, at whatever price! So agents will always be working hard to get the sale agreed. And yes, we will always be trying to get the most for out vendor, because that's what we're paid for. But it's not to line our pockets. If we were being paid 1% in that example, it would have meant if we'd have sold it for 350, getting 3500, and 340k, 3400.....or not selling it at all and getting nothing! The figures say it all!
4. Treating your agent mean will make them work harder for you.
I can't say that this is the smae for everybidy, but of you're nicer to me, I'll work harder for you. Someone who treats me like the dirt on the bottom of their shoe, does not make me inclined to work hard for them. This is the same for applicants. Spend time getting to know me, and being friendly, will make you stick out in my mind when a property becomes available. You'll be the first person that I call!
5. Go with the cheapest agent
Ok, so we're on MSE, but you do pay for quality. Not every time, but generally, the cheapest agents are cheapest because a) they are desperate for property becuase no-one with any sense will use them , and/or b) because they have low paid, poor quality staff, don't advertise to the same level, and are genaerally all round running a cheaper operation. A more expensive agent may quite possibly be able to get you a few more thousand on the price of your house through their wider advertising and more skilled staff, thus easily covering that couple of hundred quid that you've squeezed out of the desperate agent. Remmeber, you do pay for quality. If yuo like an agent, and they've proved to you that they can sell your house, negotiate with them, but if they won't go any lower, it's probably because they don't need to because they already have lots of property to sell, and know they can get higher fees on other properties that are more worth their while.
I'm sure there are lots of others that i could come up with, but this post is getting very long for my first one!
You can be honest and a good estate agent at the same time. I am scrupulously honest, yet still manage to get top salseperson nearly everymonth....why is that? Because everyone trusts me, and when I say something they know I mean it"

hope that helps a little bit, i know it's not all relevenat, but some of it shoudl give you some clues. The most improtant thing is, have several agents around to value your house, and never just go with the one who quotes lowest fee and/or over valuse your house. Go with the one who you feel confident in and trust. Then negotiate with them. The cheap agents are usually the desperate ones!

cheltenhamgirl

Ps If you let me know roughly what figures you are looking at for buying and selling I can tell you what sort of figure you should be looking at for conveyancing.

BrixMorta

Do some homework before you employ an EA. Make sure they are members of both NAEA & OEA. Ask if they have any testimonials or customers you can speak to, to establish the quality of their service. Never sign a sole agency agreement longer that 6 to 8 weeks. Best of luck.

A_Nice_Englishman

Read the OEA's Code of Practice before you approach the estate agent. Ask them for a copy and ask a few questions based on it. If they haven't got a copy or hesitate when answering try a different agent.

If they understand and comply with the Code you are much less likely to get any problems. That's what it's there for!

Richie(UK)

cheltenhamgirl wrote: »

Ps If you let me know roughly what figures you are looking at for buying and selling I can tell you what sort of figure you should be looking at for conveyancing.

We're looking at around £275k for the sale property and £350-400k for the purchase. Thanks.

cheltenhamgirl

We use a local solicitor, woh provides us with a no sale no fee quote. This generally a very competiitve quote (you will get cheaper, but it's likely to be an 'online' conveyancing service, or a panel service where you don't just deal with one person andthey all work from a call centre). The top figure is the solicitors fee. the rest is what every solicitor will add on, and so gives you an idea of what you will be looking to spend...hope this helps....

Sale And Purchase Fee1085.00Value Added Tax @ 17.50%189.88Online ID Check12.00Searches Etc. (approx)250.00Bank Transfer Fee30.00Value Added Tax @ 17.50%5.25Indemnity Policy Contribution60.00Value Added Tax @ 17.50%10.50Land Registry Fees220.00Stamp Duty Land Tax ("SDLT")12000.00Completion Of SDLT Form50.00Value Added Tax @ 17.50%8.75Land Registry Official Copies12.00Total13933.38

Richie(UK)

Thanks again. Scary when you add it all up isn't it?

cheltenhamgirl wrote: »

...Indemnity Policy Contribution 60.00

Out of interest, who am I indemnifying and against what?

cheltenhamgirl

Sorry...previous post should look more like this.....you can tell I'm new at this!

Sale And Purchase Fee £1085.00

Value Added Tax @ 17.50% £189.88

Online ID Check £12.00

Searches Etc. (approx) £250.00

Bank Transfer Fee £30.00

Value Added Tax @ 17.50% £5.25

Indemnity Policy Contribution £60.00

Value Added Tax @ 17.50% £10.50

Land Registry Fees £220.00

Stamp Duty Land Tax ("SDLT") £12000.00

Completion Of SDLT Form £50.00

Value Added Tax @ 17.50% £8.75

Land Registry Official Copies £12.00

Total £13933.38

cheltenhamgirl

The indemnity policy will apply if you use a solicitor on a no completion, no fee basis. Basically you are insuring them against other sales not going through and them not getting paid for all of the work that goes with it. So if your sale does fall through, basically all the other people whos sales have gone through are paying for it for you! (As I in my very little legal knowledge understand it)someone else may be able to clarify it for you.....

Doozergirl

I'm about to make the call to Knight Frank, Worcester to sell my house for me. Depends on the house of course, but if you want a proper salesperson to hold your hand with a good set of qualified buyers!

A very close second for me is Allan Morris - 1% through their Bromsgrove office, I'm sure you can negotiate the same through Worcester. They have their negotiators doing the viewings at least. I am not impressed by Andrew Grant in the slightest, I find them entirely disinterested in selling houses. They didn't even take my details when I was looking and they just made the biggest !!!!-up in history on their valuation for me. John Sanders I don't mind, again they will do 1% at Bromsgrove. Avoid the real High Street names if you want value for money - Halifax and Countrywide group charge you extra for nothing.

If you want the most spectacular Georgian double fronted, 5 bed, 3 bath, detached house, brand new, luxury interior with drive for several cars, a detached garage and a great sized garden for about £450k then I've got it