House Selling - Money Saving Tips

Better_Days

Judith_W wrote: »

Can someone explain the tie-in period? I have heard 8 / 12 weeks, but Marcus says no tie-in. Basically I want to give an EA a reasonable chance of selling but if they're rubbish canning them for someone else. How does it work - can I get them with no tie-in, or short tie-in, or would it be a notice period?? So confused.

I think it depends partly on how quickly you need to sell. My personal view is that if you are putting your house on the market and starting to view then a tie in for say 3-4 weeks, with a weeks notice is not unreasonable. I have also said to EA's that if they are doing a good job then they don't have to worry about me moving agent, so a tie in is unnecessary. Usually they have spent ages telling me what a great job they will do so I have not yet had a rebuttal of this, although one of the corporate's would only go down to 8 weeks (still too long in my view).

If you need to sell quickly you may wish to push for a shorter tie in or no tie in at all so you can move agent if you don't get any viewings pronto. However, this will also depend on your price, so make sure you do some research so that you have an idea of a realistic valuation, this is a useful thread https://forums.moneysavingexpert.com/discussion/1907059. Bear in mind some agents value high to get the business, then ask the vendor to drop when there is little or no interest. You can use Zoopla, RM etc to get a feel for which agents in your area are likely to do this.

Best thing is to do your research, get some agents round, both corporate and independent, see who you like and who you think will do the best job selling your particular property. Say you are not prepared to pay more than 1% and tie in for more than x weeks (or not at all) and see how they respond. In my experience the independents are much more flexible on both fees and tie in periods, so don't be surprised if the corporate's only move a little (if at all) when you are negotiating. Good luck

French_Saver

One more thing to check when negociating. Ask the EA if the fee is based on the marketing price or the selling price? Very often it is the first one, which means that you pay full whack, even if you have dropped your price substantially.

Judith_W

Just to say, having got several corporate EAs in with terrible prices, got an lovely EA in, agreed 6 weeks with 2 weeks notice after that and 1.5% going down 1% after 6 weeks. My flat isn't worth much so happy with this rate.

Lawra41

clarej1956 wrote: »

We also had a bit of a nightmare with estate agents. We had three come round and they gave very different valuations. I think this was based on whether they were looking for a quick sale or trying to win our business by convinicng us they could achieve a good price.

After nine months using two of them, we decided to try and sell privately. I know gumtree do this, but a friend recommended comparethehouses, which we found really good. There were some guides and links on valuations and I think we were more realistic with a valuation when not influenced by agents. It was also completely free so we ended up saving quite a bit of money too.

I think the housing market really badly needs ideas like this.

Hope it helps anyone.

Clare

Hi Clare
This sounds just up my street! How long did it take you to sell, if you don't mind me asking?
Thank you
Laura

ghayoor

Hi, you explain it very beautifully and that is the very fine approach to save a lot of money and sale the home within a desired time frame.

bmar71n

some of the online based estate agents are good, as they market the property on all of the property search sites. However you have to do the viewings yourself, and people may feel uncomfortable negotiating price etc with the vendor

Antispam

post 638 :spam: username is a domain name

Skinto_7

Hi Folks,

Great thread, i havent had time to read it all but was wondering if anyone could help, i had posted the below on a different thread but didnt get much response was wondering if anyone here could advise.

Thanks


I am a first time house seller and looking for a bit advice from folks with more expierance than me.

Story is i have already bought another house which we are now living in, however due to how good the deal was on the house i got, i decided to act fast to ensure i got it which meant buying before selling (Not the best idea granted however for my circumstances was worth the risk)

I am now in the process of doing up the small cosmentic repairs to my flat with a view to getting it on the market ASAP.

Can anyone advise what the maximun fee i should be looking to agree with estate agents, and am i right to try and agree this prior to even getting the agents out to value my flat?

Also anyone advise what sort of EA tricks i should look out for within the contract?

Ideally i am looking for a reasonable fee %, with a contract of maybe 8 weeks maximun, with no fee's at the end of this if my flat isnt sold and no penalty charges if i go with another agent at the end of 8 weeks, however unsure if this is reasonable or even the best way to go?

Any advice would be appreciated.

If it makes any difference my flat is in Scotland and was bought for just under £70k in 2009. (slightly worried cause its so low value that a small % will not be achievable and they will want a min fee?)

Thanks

missfit_2

Hi

Looking for some advice please. I am a first time seller.

I am currently trying to sell my one bedroom flat in Hanworth a village between very nice Twickenham and not so nice Feltham. It has been valued at £155,000 and is in very good contition.

It has been on for 12 weeks and I have had one poxy viewing. I know the first time buyer market is struggling but this seems to be excessively low. I have viewed a couple of properties I am interested in so am becoming frustrated.

The service from EA has been poor. They neglect to return to my calls and have not given me any feedback on the one viewing. They also know I am looking to buy in the area but have not recommended any properties to me so I assume they haven't been pushing to sell mine.

Anyway, I would be interested to know how people selling / trying to sell similar properties are getting on. Is the first time buyers market so bad? Or is it down to my agents?

Thanks

D

Amontylado

Does anyone have any experience of selling property in Northern Ireland? I inherited my Mum's house in Belfast last September and as I live in England, put it with the local Belfast estate agent. Well after 7 months there have been a few viewings but no offers, even after reducing the price £30k below the agent's recommended price. It seems a good price in comparison with other similar properties but obviously it's not attracting the buyers. As you have to pay a fee to register with an agent in NI, I have been reluctant to instruct another agent as I'm not sure if it's the property market as a whole, or an incompetent agent that's the problem. I'm also thinking of trying the online route, but I can't show people round the house myself. Any thoughts?