Estate agent selling fee

sixpence.

Hello

Have met an estate agent I quite like - in London

He wants a 2% fee. I'm tempted to negotiate this down, but also he seems quite solid. I ought to test his negotiation skills a bit though I suppose (in a respectful way!)

He seems to think he can sell at a higher price than the other agent I interviewed (I've so far had the flat viewed by one other agent and have spoken to two over email)

I'm thinking of going sole trader with this 2% guy for 2-3 months and seeing if he can get the flat sold for a good price. What do you guys think? Is this a reasonably strategy?

I guess after that I would be free to walk away. No harm done!

Happy to hear any insights

Many thanks in advance to all who read and respond!  

user1977

How much are the competition wanting to charge?

Keep_pedalling

2% is high but we are talking about London so it might be more normal there. We got our EA to drop from 1% to 0.8% just before Christmas for our Cambridge home. 

[Deleted User]

Hi.

sixpence. said:

Hello

Have met an estate agent I quite like - in London

He seems to think he can sell at a higher price than the other agent I interviewed

of course he will think that, but is he thinking commission?

Mark_d

What is it you "quite like" about this 2% estate agent?  Does he value your flat more highly than the other estate agents?

What you want is an estate agent who understands the market conditions, who is realistic about what they can achieve, and has a good plan to get buyers interested quickly.  This website might be worth a look:
https://www.getagent.co.uk/

If an estate agent is good then he might be worth his 2% fee.  Negotiating this downwards will only lower the priority he gives to selling your flat.

lincroft1710

If your flat sells for (say) £300,000 then you would be giving this agent £6,000.

TBagpuss

Have you spoken to other agents to see what their fees are? 2% seems quite high to me, but I am not in London so it may be the norm for your area.

A good agent is worth having, but it's always worth shopping around, and looking not only at how good their listings are but also how much experience they have of properties similar to yours in terms of location, price point, type of property etc 

It's also worth looking at the rest of the agreement. Last time I sold, I kept the lock in period to 6 weeks so I was free to change agents if i wasn't happy with how they were marketing the property, also check the wording on what happens if you do change agents (you shouldn't agree to anything that would entitle them to a fee unless the eventual buyer is someone they have introduced, and if you do change agents, get a list from them at that point of the people thy have introduced so you can agree with the new agents that they won't take their full fee if one of those people ultimately buys!, and make sure you are clear on what 'introduced'; means - usually that they actually did a viewing, not simply sent out details) 

jonnydeppiwish!

Another one who says 2% seems exceptionally high. We’re in the SE and current EA is 0.9% inc VAT

AlexMac

Maybe it depends on local prices? I got 1% (admittedly 12 years ago) without negotiating from a trusted local agent who valued our 2 bed flat (in an admittedly pricey area) at £650k; £50-60k more than the other two local agents. 

Then he sold it in a week for £640£k.  I dodn't begrudge the £6.4k, partly cos I knew he was straight, having sold me two earlier properties over 15 years; the first when he was almost the office junior!.  

I might have jibbed at £12.8k though!

The funny bit is when I later met one of his rival agents locally, and told her that we'd sold £50k over her sales estimate!  She had the good grace to say; "oops- we got that wrong!"

Hoenir

What do you get for the 2% over and above a standard marketing service?  

NameUnavailable

sixpence. said:

Hello

Have met an estate agent I quite like - in London

He wants a 2% fee. I'm tempted to negotiate this down, but also he seems quite solid. I ought to test his negotiation skills a bit though I suppose (in a respectful way!)

He seems to think he can sell at a higher price than the other agent I interviewed (I've so far had the flat viewed by one other agent and have spoken to two over email)

I'm thinking of going sole trader with this 2% guy for 2-3 months and seeing if he can get the flat sold for a good price. What do you guys think? Is this a reasonably strategy?

I guess after that I would be free to walk away. No harm done!

Happy to hear any insights

Many thanks in advance to all who read and respond!  

How will this agent sell your flat for more than another agent? Buyers will be making offers based on what they think it's worth compared to others on the market. You can tell any agent what you want it listed for and most will comply.

I can't even think how this agent would be able to justify their claim of getting higher prices. How do you know what any property would have sold for via another agent?

Basically it's sales BS to get your instruction.

As for 'walking away, no harm done' that will depend on the terms of the contract. It may, for example, allow them to charge you commission if you sell the flat to someone else within X months of their instruction, and most will chase after you if you later sell to someone who originally enquired via them. Make sure you are very clear on the terms of any contract you sign up to.