Estate agent negotiation

garth549

First time house seller!

I was just looking for advice on a percentage commission I should try and negotiate an estate agent down to? We've got 2 different agents lined up (at the moment)

House is worth approximately £110,000

I'd like to sell reasonably quickly (within 3 months, completed within 4 ideally). I'm aware it's probably a quiet time of the year for buyers.

Both estate agents are well known brands and have admitted they don't have many houses on their branch's books at the moment (19 and 25).

I'd like to negotiate the best deal, but not so low that they lose incentive.

What do you think would be reasonable/realistic? I was thinking 1.2 - 1.3%. Should I aim lower/higher?

AnotherJoe

Hard to know without knowing what % they are starting from. Also, some will have a firmer position about negotiating than others.

Rambosmum

We paid 0.8% but it depends on local market. Our house was an easy sell and the market hot so they were practically fighting over us.

G_M

you'll have to cmpare with other localagents' fees. Your EA will know what the competion charges and will compete against that.


Don't forget to negotiate on the minimum contract period too! And the Notice period.


And ensure you know exactly what they will do for the money...........

hazyjo

My last was for 6 weeks at 1%, but that was London. Don't think I've paid over 1% in the last 15-ish years.

Jane_B

All the agents near us were 0.75%-1% - however depending the value that might cause an issue, since they still have to put in the same level of effort to sell yours compared to a more expensive property. So it might be a bit higher than that in this instance.

garth549

Thanks all for the replies, I guess it will depend heavily on the number of local agents, their policies and the state of the market.

Jane_B wrote: »

All the agents near us were 0.75%-1% - however depending the value that might cause an issue, since they still have to put in the same level of effort to sell yours compared to a more expensive property. So it might be a bit higher than that in this instance.

Yes I figured this would be the case. Due to the value I'm expecting them to initially quote around 1.5 - 1.8% but I might be pleasantly surprised.

To be honest we got the house really cheap at the time so it doesn't matter too much.

theartfullodger

Go in with Purple Bricks sign-up screen almost finished on your mobile 'phone, show them & ask them how close they can get to the PB charges.