Estage agent fees

SeaCreatures123

GDB2222 said:

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! 

It's a retirement flat so they tend to just sit on the market for a lot longer as it's obviously a limited market.I managed to find an agent who has good reviews who's charging £2.5k plus VAT

SeaCreatures123

ReadySteadyPop said:

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?

Just based on what other similar flats are listed for and given how long they sit on the market.  Ever since my dad bought the flat, I've kind of kept an eye on how long they're on the market for just because I knew he would only be there short-term due to his declining health.

saajan_12

Hard to comment, the key is just getting competitors quotes. For low value properties, particularly in a higher value area the minimum fee an agent is willing to 'get out of bed' for will be what matters. 

Re the valuation at 90k v 130k, some agents give you a higher initial quote in the hopes they entice you to pick them, as the difference is more than the fee difference. Then later surprise surprise all they can get a lower price because <insert reason here>. Not all, so do get a valuation and fee quote from competitors. 

20122013

I would always do my best to understand and get the terms I need and then sign the EA contract. is there any benefit of not signing a contract? 

On another note, I have  completed and signed my EA 's contract but they have not returned a copy to me, is that the standard? 

ReadySteadyPop

SeaCreatures123 said:

ReadySteadyPop said:

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?

Just based on what other similar flats are listed for and given how long they sit on the market.  Ever since my dad bought the flat, I've kind of kept an eye on how long they're on the market for just because I knew he would only be there short-term due to his declining health.

Fair enough, good luck.

GDB2222

SeaCreatures123 said:

GDB2222 said:

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! 

It's a retirement flat so they tend to just sit on the market for a lot longer as it's obviously a limited market.I managed to find an agent who has good reviews who's charging £2.5k plus VAT

I think that's pretty reasonable for London. I was quoted a similar minimum fee by an estate agent in a small town in Norfolk. The London agent will doubtless have higher overheads, etc.