Estage agent fees

SeaCreatures123

We need to put my dad's flat up for sale.  We live in the South East London area and the flat has been valued at £130,000.  Looking at existing/recent sold listings, I think a more realistic sale price is probably nearer to £90,000, but it's the estate agent's fees I'm wondering about.  I'm going to get some other quotes, but this first one has quoted £4,500 plus VAT as a fixed fee.  This just seems incredibly high for a flat with a potential sale price of £130,000 (which I genuinely believe is more likely to be £90,000), or am I completely out of touch with estate agent fees these days?  That's sole agent as well.  If we want multi-agent, it goes up to £8,000 VAT.

Albermarle

  I'm going to get some other quotes

Very wise looking at that quote !

EA's fees can be less than 1% but not on low value properties ( that is low for London ?) 

Probably useful to read this current thread.

Estate Agent Fees — MoneySavingExpert Forum

SeaCreatures123

The EA fees are low or the sale price? 

Thanks, I did take a look at that other thread, but I did wonder if any were near London as I assume London EAs are more expensive - like everything in London - although I have no idea if that's actually true. 

diggingdude

I'm not in London tbf but my agent is 0.85% below £750k (and yes they have a fair few up for more than that). Mines only going up £185k. Deffo shop around 

GDB2222

You obviously need some more quotes.

Property in London generally goes for a lot more than £90k, so there must be some reason for the low value. This may mean that the property is hard to sell. So, maybe the agent wants a decent slice of the price if they do find a buyer.

 Besides that, the agent may normally deal with more valuable property, and expect to earn far more than £4500 on an average sale. It’s probably the same work to sell a cheap house as an expensive one. So, the agent might think that they are offering you a bargain rate! 

eddddy

The estate agents I've dealt with recently (outside London) have been quoting 1% or 1.25% - but with a minimum fee of £2k.

It sounds like your agent might be quoting their minimum fee, which is £4.5k.

As others suggest, get quotes from other agents. With a selling price of £90k to £130k in London, I imagine that you will always be quoted an agent's minimum fee.


(Out of interest, what kind of property is it that has a selling price of £90k to £130k in London?)

GDB2222

A short lease can be that figure, or less. Otherwise, it must be quite a wreck! 

ReadySteadyPop

SeaCreatures123 said:

We need to put my dad's flat up for sale.  We live in the South East London area and the flat has been valued at £130,000.  Looking at existing/recent sold listings, I think a more realistic sale price is probably nearer to £90,000, but it's the estate agent's fees I'm wondering about.  I'm going to get some other quotes, but this first one has quoted £4,500 plus VAT as a fixed fee.  This just seems incredibly high for a flat with a potential sale price of £130,000 (which I genuinely believe is more likely to be £90,000), or am I completely out of touch with estate agent fees these days?  That's sole agent as well.  If we want multi-agent, it goes up to £8,000 VAT.

How do you arrive at the 40k under valuation potential sale price?

RHemmings

OP, a potential sale aroundabout £90k is extremely low for London. I did a search to see if there are any flats up for sale for that price in London and there are none. The cheapest flat I can find (asking price) is this one: 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161970935#/?channel=RES_BUY

Which has an asking price of £125k (And 89 years remaining on the lease). 

Out of curiosity, and as others have asked, what makes you think that it will only sell for £90k? 

GDB2222

RHemmings said:

OP, a potential sale aroundabout £90k is extremely low for London. I did a search to see if there are any flats up for sale for that price in London and there are none. The cheapest flat I can find (asking price) is this one: 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161970935#/?channel=RES_BUY

Which has an asking price of £125k (And 89 years remaining on the lease). 

Out of curiosity, and as others have asked, what makes you think that it will only sell for £90k? 

That’s small, but surprisingly nice. I’m not sure how I’d feel during another lockdown in a place like that, though. 

RHemmings

GDB2222 said:

RHemmings said:

OP, a potential sale aroundabout £90k is extremely low for London. I did a search to see if there are any flats up for sale for that price in London and there are none. The cheapest flat I can find (asking price) is this one: 

https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/161970935#/?channel=RES_BUY

Which has an asking price of £125k (And 89 years remaining on the lease). 

Out of curiosity, and as others have asked, what makes you think that it will only sell for £90k? 

That’s small, but surprisingly nice. I’m not sure how I’d feel during another lockdown in a place like that, though. 

Buying anything for £125k in London is going to be a huge compromise. IMHO, it's a matter of choosing the compromise and accepting it. I'm presuming that OP's flat has something particular about it that limits the price.