Advice on moving costs

hazyjo

tim123456789 wrote: »

They might let you defer payment.


They don't appear to offer No Sale No Fee


A flat rate 800 pounds, whether they sell or not, is poor value against an EA if you are selling an 80K house IMHO.


Not all of us have 500K houses to sell


whatever happened to the places that used to list you for 199?


tim

Maybe not, but they do usually give a year to sell your property. Anything that hasn't sold in that time is overpriced!


Lots aren't great, granted. But the two I mentioned have lots of positive reviews now.


Appreciate not all are £500k, but even at £250k-ish the OP's were in the region of £4k! Obviously for the few who would be selling a house for less than £100k, it would be the same as a 1% EA fee (actually £800 is on the high side, eMoov are currently advertising £679. Also, EAs selling cheaper houses may have a minimum selling fee anyway.


I'd love to set up a website where people could advertise their homes for sale. Literally just a website, no EA side to it, let them sell independently. Prob wouldn't be able to cut a deal with RM though...


Jx

ThePants999

MNrhubarb wrote: »

We will shop around for better legal quotes, although I presume that the estate agents figures would be based on us using their own legal team at a discounted price?

I'm going to make a general point here that you need to start applying on an ongoing basis: do not trust estate agents. It is vital you remember that even your OWN agents act in their own interest first and foremost, and yours second - and everyone else's agents don't care about your interests at all.

Why do I say this now? Because it sounds like you've already bought into their spiel about their recommended solicitors. You're not getting a "discounted price" from their recommended solicitors, you're getting a price that reflects the significant kickback (I'm sorry, referral fee) that the solicitors pay to the EA for getting business through them - and then the solicitors will be influenced throughout the conveyancing by not wanting to jeopardise the relationship they have with the EA. Steer clear, find a firm of solicitors yourself.

MNrhubarb wrote: »

I think we would struggle to sell if we went with an online estate agent only. Do they ever negotiate on their own fees at all?

If you mean "do online agents negotiate on their own fees", no, but they're already cheap. If you mean "do high street agents negotiate on their own fees", yes. Get multiple quotes, and if the one you like the most isn't the lowest quote, use the lowest quote as a bargaining tool. If the one you like the most IS the lowest quote, attempt to negotiate anyway. There are agents working for 0.75%, so paying more than twice that ought to leave plenty of room for negotiation...