Foxtons vs Strike/online estate agents

sturgeon

I’m considering selling my flat in London, worth c. £450-460k. 

I wasn’t impressed with a local estate agent so met with foxtons today. They have a good sales technique and talk a lot about international buyers, using their network and offering a great service. I can believe all this but their fee is huge at 3% Inc VAT. In reality im sure most buyers just find properties via Rightmove or Zoopla and have alerts setup so their shop windows and list of interested buyers I’m not convinced on. Do people really still pop in to estate agents to put themselves on a list for properties?

I sold my previous property through an online agent and liked this process and didn’t mind doing my own viewings. Strike are very highly rated and offer a package for £899 which has everything you’d need bar assisted viewings. Strike think I should sell at OIEO £450k to hope to achieve £450-455k or so whilst foxtons ‘weren’t scared’ by £475k but think a final selling price of £460-465k max is realistic although it may need to drop. 

Ultimately if foxtons sell for £465k then after the fee I’d have the exact same in my pocket if selling at £450k via strike including their fee. If I sell for £5k more or anything over £450k I’m better off with Strike. Yet I risk less viewings, less incentivisation for them to sell after they take their upfront fee etc. 

I just hate the idea of nearly a £14k fee to foxtons even if I end up with the same net amount on the basis they can sell for more. 

They happen to be selling a near identical property in my block so I’ve said to call me in 2 weeks (it just went live) to let me know interest and offers, as if it’s at the higher amount or more then there’s still reason to go with them. 

Any thoughts, questions or feedback appreciated!

user1977

Is 3% really the lowest that Foxtons will go to or just what they start at? (throwing this more at other readers than you, but generally the "traditional" estate agents are negotiable on fees)

sturgeon

I’d be interested what others say but they seem steadfast at their 2.5% + VAT fee and put it down to their big network, international contacts and specialists etc etc. 

silvercar

If you are happy to do all the work yourself then purple bricks and Yopa may also be worth looking at.

eddddy

FWIW, I had a long 'discussion' with somebody at Foxtons a few years ago about their fees.

Essentially, their position was something like this

"I'm a sales negotiator. I negotiate hard. If I were to let you negotiate me down on fees, wouldn't you worry that I wouldn't be able to negotiate hard for the best price for your property?" 

TBH, I suspect he was quoting a line from his sales training. But I did get the impression that their negotiators aren't allowed to discount their fees.

But they would negotiate on minimum contract period - down to 8 weeks.


I would say Foxtons have a reputation for training their people to be very keen, tenacious, assertive, almost aggressive - and very actively chasing buyers. So perhaps the complete opposite of Strike.

Maybe that works with some types of buyers, but maybe it really annoys other types of buyers.

anselld

Not sure why London is so expensive.  Out in the sticks the norm is nearer 1% plus VAT and I have been able to negotiate 0.8% plus VAT.  I am not sure if a pushy agent really increases the price achievable over and above normal market forces.

fourmarks

I sold my property last year and the fee was 0.9%. I 'interviewed' 4 EA's for the job and none of them were over 1% for sole rights. It may be a year later but 3% sounds an outrageous fee. Have you not sought offers from other EA's for comparison? Proper ones that is, not fee up front merchants.

GDB2222

Strike do a free deal, so there’s no need to pay them anything. It’s cut down from the £899 service, but it does include a listing on Rightmove. Get ChatGPT to write the bumph… 

I think a really good photographer who helps stage the house, rather than just snapping whatever is there, is a good investment. 

user1977

anselld said:

Not sure why London is so expensive.  Out in the sticks the norm is nearer 1% plus VAT and I have been able to negotiate 0.8% plus VAT.  I am not sure if a pushy agent really increases the price achievable over and above normal market forces.

It's pretty absurd given that's a percentage on London prices. I know their own costs will be a bit higher in London too, but still silly money for doing the same job as EAs anywhere else in the country.

GDB2222

user1977 said:

anselld said:

Not sure why London is so expensive.  Out in the sticks the norm is nearer 1% plus VAT and I have been able to negotiate 0.8% plus VAT.  I am not sure if a pushy agent really increases the price achievable over and above normal market forces.

It's pretty absurd given that's a percentage on London prices. I know their own costs will be a bit higher in London too, but still silly money for doing the same job as EAs anywhere else in the country.

I asked Foxtons to quote for selling my house. They were twice as expensive as the top two local agents. But, they do offer you a free mineral water…

artyboy

Slick salespeople, free water, fancy offices, high fees. They really are the St James Place of the property world...

The problem is that as a buyer, I'd not want to touch one of 'their' properties with a barge pole because I'd be thinking the price was loaded to incorporate the fee; and the vendor might actually believe that they could achieve a higher price than if they went with another agent.