Estate agent fees - how much could/should it cost?

anselld

E&G wrote: »

Thanks all.

Also, for the online only option, what additional work does that entail (and does it include an advert on rightmove)?

It includes Rightmove and Zoopla.

Do your own viewings, photos, floorplan and advert text.

Or for £199 they will do photos, floorplan and advert text so just viewings.

I won't mention them by name, but given the founder was a millionaire by 19 you do wonder what the rest are blowing their fees on!

googler

anselld wrote: »

It includes Rightmove and Zoopla.

Do your own viewings, photos, floorplan and advert text.


.... and find a surveyor to do the Home Report. Provide the HR to all enquirers in accordance with legislative reqts and timescales. And find a solicitor to handle the legals.

Or for £199 they will do photos, floorplan and advert text so just viewings.

I won't mention them by name, but given the founder was a millionaire by 19 you do wonder what the rest are blowing their fees on!

On the basis that this is a firm operating in E&W, I would always caution Scots sellers against using an E&W-based online seller, in view of the different legal system and procedures around Scottish sales.

EDIT - if it's this crowd, the closest they have is a "North East England" team.

https://doorsteps.co.uk/index.php

E&G

Thanks. I have two nationals, a solicitor member of GSPC and a couple of independents in the local area so I'll call on them all and get a rundown of fees and do a wee bit of negotiation. (From a friend, I know one of the independents is VAT-free, presumably as they don't hit the VAT threshold, which in itself could ring alarm bells, or could mean they really need the business and to get a good price for you - not sure). Presumably with solicitor/estate agents there's a bit more scope to negotiate fees down as they have estate agency fee plus 2 x legal fees?

I'd definitely consider DIYing it and instructing the surveyor myself but the only concern I have is at the negotiation end - is it simply a matter of going to a closing date when you have a few interested parties or what?

NineDeuce

How much should estate agents cost?

Well, what exactly do they do, given that their fees are 3 times that of a solicitor?

They take some photos, stick a post outside the property, put an ad on Rightmove (that is potentially misleading) and then let people into a house and follow them round a few times. Oh and then they are religiously held to convince people that the properties they are selling are worth more than they actually are...

Hardly a skill set of a lawyer....

googler

E&G wrote: »

... the only concern I have is at the negotiation end - is it simply a matter of going to a closing date when you have a few interested parties or what?

If you're going to DIY it, then as far as I'm concerned, it's a matter of pleasing yourself. Solicitors have pages and pages of guidelines concerning the ethics of closing dates, prevention of gazumping, etc., but if you're going to do this yourself and hire your solicitor on a 'conveyancing-only' basis, you can pretty much please yourself.

Or ... you may be able to hire your solicitor on the basis that they will handle this for you in accordance with all the applicable rules and guidance, even though they're not doing the marketing for you. This will depend on you and your solicitor, and where you draw the line between what each of you are doing.

However, if you are going alone, at some point, your buyer's solicitor will submit a written offer to your solicitor, and if you haven't established that all the conditions in that offer are satisfactory to you, then you may have to instruct your solicitor to reject it or qualify their acceptance; and your buyer may be unhappy that what they thought was acceptable to you is now being rejected.

Buyers and their solicitors may also be put out by you handling things your own way when they expect them to be done in accordance with Law Society guidelines, the way that other sellers do.

Make sure you understand enough of the offer/missive process to be confident in your negotiations if you're going it alone.

googler

NineDeuce wrote: »

How much should estate agents cost? Well, what exactly do they do, given that their fees are 3 times that of a solicitor?

They spend a lot more of their time than a solicitor does with people who do not actually pay them for their work.

- Valuations which don't result in a listing
- Viewings with viewers who don't buy
- Enquiries from enquirers who don't view and who don't buy.
- Enquirers who just want to quiz the EA - "What's the market like", "How the buying and selling system works", "How much are your fees" and other casual enquiries.

How many solicitors would drive to someone's house, along with two or three other competing solicitors, to pitch against each other for business? None, I would wager. They work in their offices, and prospective customers come to them (mostly referred through EAs)

The EA spends most all their time with the general public on the above activities, not with the seller who pays them. The solicitor spends their time on only the work for the people who pay them, and deals only with them and other solicitors.

The EA spends more on travel than the solicitor does. The EA spends more on marketing than the solicitor does. etc etc

They take some photos, stick a post outside the property, put an ad on Rightmove (that is potentially misleading) and then let people into a house and follow them round a few times. Oh and then they are religiously held to convince people that the properties they are selling are worth more than they actually are...

As a seller, wouldn't you want your EA to do this? Or are you happy to sell your home for less than you really want to?

E&G

Thanks googler, appreciated.

bertiewhite

I have a related question on this subject -

What incentive do the "flat-fee, upfront" EA's have to sell your house as opposed to the "percentage of final price" EA's?

Surely the upfront ones can just sit back once they've got your money?

NineDeuce

googler wrote: »

As a seller, wouldn't you want your EA to do this? Or are you happy to sell your home for less than you really want to?

So basically you think that an estate agent's client should pick up the tab for another, a complete stranger?

Is this listed in the fees? Does it state 'House Sale Fees' and then 'Negligent Client Tax'? And how much they pay?

In what other sector do you think this happens?

In regards to the remark that the EA drives to the house in order to pitch... is another cost then extra-terrestrial cost that the client has to pick up? More costs for work carried out of any agreed piece of work?

What a complete load of cobblers....

googler

The quoted comment was a response to your last sentence - "held to convince people that the properties they are selling are worth more than they actually are...", not the whole paragraph

to which I said "As a seller, wouldn't you want your EA to do this? Or are you happy to sell your home for less than you really want to?"

I should have edited the quoted paragraph down to reflect this.

but, from another part of the para;

"let people into a house and follow them round a few times."

So you agree that, for a scenario where only one of those people buys the house, that the EA is spending time with "a few" people who don't buy?

How should the EA be paid for this time spent, travel cost accumulated, etc.? They can't bill the viewer or potential buyer. The only person they have a contract with is the seller. So the cost of this must be factored into the fees.

Can YOU think of any profession where so much time is spent with non-paying members of the general public? I'm struggling to do so.