why do estate agents charge so much to sell houses?

robinwales

My house is worth £600k. A local estate agent wants 1% plus VAT which is £7,200. Does it really cost anything like that to sell a property? Most houses go onto Rightmove, Zoopla etc so the human activity that used to take place in agents offices is now mostly done online, which must save agents costs. They do an initial valuation, photography (often badly), and arrange viewings. What else do they do? You can't privately register your property sale on Rightmove, you have to be an agent.

 And they wonder why pensioners with a valuable property don't like the idea of downsizing.

QrizB

The answer is "because they can" and it's been a common complaint since the 1970s (at least).

MattMattMattUK

robinwales said:

My house is worth £600k. A local estate agent wants 1% plus VAT which is £7,200. Does it really cost anything like that to sell a property? Most houses go onto Rightmove, Zoopla etc so the human activity that used to take place in agents offices is now mostly done online, which must save agents costs. They do an initial valuation and arrange viewings. What else do they do? You can't privately register your property sale on Rightmove, you have to be an agent.

You can list through Purplebricks and get on there that way.

The reality is that estate agents charge what they market will tolerate.

robinwales said:

 And they wonder why pensioners with a valuable property don't like the idea of downsizing.

There are a range of reasons why pensioners do not like the idea of downsizing, estate agent fees are likely very low on the list.

Labtebricolist

Whilst I’m by no means a member of the Estate Agents’ Union, these people do have to earn a living.  Whilst there are doubtless some estate agents who earn good money, I don’t think most of them are likely to be in the highest bracket of earners, especially outside London and the South East.  Property sales take a long time to go through, so you need to sell a lot of houses to make a business viable.

grumpy_codger

robinwales said:

My house is worth £600k. A local estate agent wants 1% plus VAT which is £7,200. Does it really cost anything like that to sell a property? 

Why does our government charge your buyer £20K in SDLT? (here S stand for 'stamp').

And they wonder why pensioners with a valuable property don't like the idea of downsizing.

And they wonder why pensioners don't like idea of downsizing to ease the housing problem. How much will a pensioner pay for downsizing from, say, £600K to £400K? - Much more than to a EA.

robinwales

grumpy_codger said:

robinwales said:

My house is worth £600k. A local estate agent wants 1% plus VAT which is £7,200. Does it really cost anything like that to sell a property? 

Why does our government charge your buyer £20K in SDLT? (here S stand for 'stamp').

And they wonder why pensioners with a valuable property don't like the idea of downsizing.

And they wonder why pensioners don't like idea of downsizing to ease the housing problem. How much will a pensioner pay for downsizing from, say, £600K to £400K? - Much more than to a EA.

Downsizing doesn't always mean a reduced property price. I was considering a more expensive but smaller property but in a more expensive area. The stamp duty would be £33k, plust £7k for EA costs for selling, plus removal costs - a total of about £44k, which is TOTALLY crazy.

p00hsticks

Most houses go onto Rightmove, Zoopla etc so the human activity that used to take place in agents offices is now mostly done online, which must save agents costs.

I've no idea how much an estate agent has to pay to put a property onto Rightmove, but I suspect it's not cheap - they pretty much have a monopoly in the UK

theartfullodger

robinwales said:

why do estate agents charge so much to sell houses?

Because people selling let them .  If you really don't want to pay those amounts deal with someone who will do it for less - or, indeed, for nothing..... Or do a private sale, you handling everything (EVERYTHING!!!!  - are you legally trained???)

Good luck finding anyone...

Bought and sold probably 20+ properties in my 77 years. (Industry average length a mortgage survives for is  about 7 years: Yes I realise they are usually signed for eg 15, 25, 30 years).  Always used an agent: Yes, I may well have been stupid.. I still have a mortgage which doesn't expire until I'm 80: I don't live in it.

BTW IMHO always be nice, polite, friendly and prompt dealing with your chosen agent (or anyone else you want to do something for you) .  And smile !! Usually creates a much better relationship, and feels better anyway.. And leave a good review (if justified).

Speaking as a pensioner I'd be quite happy downsizing. 

Best wishes to all.

Flugelhorn

once sold 2 houses using 2 line adverts in the local newspaper (£7 each ad) - it was 1988 and there was a significant change in the tax allowance for mortgage interest about to happen - houses were under offer within a day  of going on the market and these properties sold for good price on day one. 

however when the market has been slow I have been very glad of the services of the estate agent 

downshifted

I’m in the process of selling. My estate agent is charging 1.2%, down from their normal 1.25, on a 650,000 house.

My experience has been mixed. They valued it at £625k, I insisted on it being £650 and we’re STC at asking price. So not brilliant at valuing. 

Marketing has been good, they found the right people to view and several offers have been made. Although they are working for me they have been less than truthful on a couple of occasions (about the position of potential buyers, length of chain etc) and I have found the EA I am buying from surprisingly more helpful and honest.

I emailed my EA on Monday noting I would be away soon and asking if our purchaser was having a survey. Chased by phone for a response yesterday. Still no reply. So after sales service pretty poor too.

 I’m downsizing, buying at £585k. The biggest complaint I have is about stamp duty, not the EA costs.

flaneurs_lobster

Take a couple of pictures of your house and shove it on Facebook.

Job done.