Estate Agent Fees

Veeo

Hi all,

What did you pay for estate agent fees when you sold your house?

Looking at seeling my house in the new year so just wanting to know what the range is. Tia xxx

saajan_12

High street agents are usually 1-1.75%, though I've heard 0.5 - 3% in extreme circumstances.

Online agents often offer a fixed fee, £500-2000, payable even if you don't manage to sell.

Ofcourse you can get this by using the search function on MSE or the wider web.

Surrey_EA

Veeo wrote: »

Hi all,

What did you pay for estate agent fees when you sold your house?

Looking at seeling my house in the new year so just wanting to know what the range is. Tia xxx

It varies a little depending on where you are in the country, and the competition between agents in your particular area, but in my neck of the woods 1% - 1.25% is normal.

As with many things in life, cheapest isn't always best! Finding the buyer can often be the easy part, and managing the sale through to completion is the tricky, time consuming part.

newtothis141414

1.5% on a sale in SE London/Surrey

DaftyDuck

Always negotiate with several agents. Don't base your choice on either the fee alone, or the suggested price, as the latter can be artificially inflated, and the former no indication of service.

The fee may well vary with the house price, the area where selling, the service offered, and the number of mistresses (or toyboys) the agent has.

The last houses I sold, agents' starting commission was 1.75%, 1.5% and 2% respectively. I ended up accepting their services at 1.2%, 1% and 0.9% (so highest became lowest). I have never found an agent who was not willing to negotiate on some aspect of the fees.

Davesnave

DaftyDuck wrote: »

. I have never found an agent who was not willing to negotiate on some aspect of the fees.

I've told this before, but when playing one agent against another, the one we really wanted baulked at 1% and stuck out for her 1.25%.

We walked. Half way across the Square en route to the agent on t'other side, the 'phone rang and a voice said, "OK then, 1%."

walwyn1978

Last time: 1.1% (down from starting price of 1.5%). Time before: 1.25% down from starting of 1.5%. Both in North London, 7 years apart.

Now living in North Yorkshire, and friends locally have paid between 1.25% and 2.5% in the last few years.

david1951

Most will come down with negotiation. More important can be the bits in the contract which are negotiable, such as how long the tie-in period is. Frequently this will be very long and it is in your interests to bring this down to 6 weeks or less.

eddddy

I always negotiate EAs down. But just one consideration...

If an EA has two similar properties on their books... e.g. 2 flats in the same block or 2 houses on the same development...

... and/or a buyer likes two properties and can't decide which to go for...

...and the commission on one is 1.25% and the commission on the other is 1%... You can probably guess which one the EA will push the buyer towards!


(TBH, I try to negotiate down the basic fee, but offer the EA a bonus for a quick sale and/or high price.)

D_M_E

I've found that at this time of year some agents offer a fee of around 0.5%

My last sale I had a choice - 1.5% commission or a fixed fee, chose the fixed fee and that worked out at 1.2% including vat.

walwyn1978

david1951 wrote: »

Most will come down with negotiation. More important can be the bits in the contract which are negotiable, such as how long the tie-in period is. Frequently this will be very long and it is in your interests to bring this down to 6 weeks or less.

This. And I'd actually be prepared to negotiate a higher percentage than I originally wanted but shorter tie-in to give them incentive to get on with it.