Estate Agents 1 or more

Nickyno

Quick question

Is there a limit to the amount of EA's you can use to sell your property?  Are fees usually paid only to the EA that completes the sale?

Mark_d

There is no limit in how many EAs you use but you have to pay something to all agents.  It's all in the contracts

RHemmings

Mark_d said:

There is no limit in how many EAs you use but you have to pay something to all agents.  It's all in the contracts

I do not believe that this is the case. Normally in the case of a multi-agency sale, only the agent who made the effective introduction of the buyer to the property (e.g. conducting a viewing) will be paid. 

eddddy

Nickyno said:

Quick question

Is there a limit to the amount of EA's you can use to sell your property?  Are fees usually paid only to the EA that completes the sale?

Generally, EAs charge different fees for sole agency or multi agency.

Often, the fees might be...

• 1% to 1.5% for sole agency  (i.e. if just one EA is instructed to sell your property)

• 2% to 3.5% for multi agency (i.e. if multiple EAs are instructed to sell your property)

With multi agency, you typically only pay one EA - the one who introduces the buyer. 

The EAs charge a bigger fee for multi agency to account for the bigger risk of not getting the sale.


In my experience, all the EAs I've spoken to don't like 'multi agency', and will try to persuade you against it, and...

• Some EAs might refuse to do 'multi agency' - they might say it's 'sole agency' or nothing.

• Some EAs might only agree to 'multi agency' if the number of EAs is limited to 2 or 3, etc

Jami74

Nickyno said:

Is there a limit to the amount of EA's you can use to sell your property?  

What's the point of using multiple agencies? As a buyer, I always wonder why the same house is listed three times in a row on Rightmove.  (Genuinely question, I'm not being rude)

propertyrental

Jami74 said:

Nickyno said:

Is there a limit to the amount of EA's you can use to sell your property?  

What's the point of using multiple agencies? As a buyer, I always wonder why the same house is listed three times in a row on Rightmove.  (Genuinely question, I'm not being rude)

In years gone by, pre-internet, multi agency was very common since buyers had to register with each agent in order to see what properties they had for sale.

These days 99% of buyers use rightmove, zoopla, or to a lesser extent some of the other websites.

So multi agency only has a purpose if the seller instructs an agency that uses only one platform (eg Zoopla). Instructing a 2nd agent that uses Rightmove might then be worthwhile, but personally I just query with my sole agent how many and which platforms they advertise on (and if the answer is "only Onthemarket" then I'd go elsewhere!)