Advice on estate agency fees

Jorgan_2

Mr_Mancuniar wrote: »

I'm sure Martin Lewis wouldn't mind his users getting something for nothing.

I'm sure Martin Lewis would prefer it if you followed the forum rules regarding posters not advertising for their own gain. If you haven't noticed, the site is Free to Use Free of Ads.

zappahey

tee_pee wrote: »

Hi

I have got the moving bug ...

You would probably have more success by starting a new thread with your question.

wezza_3

We've just had a quote for our flat to go on the market for £175k and the agents have quoted £4k+vat so that would be £4600 in fees if they sell and thats with 12weeks tie in. That's with a london chain of agents that are slightly more 'upmarket' than Halifax etc.

I see that this would be a bad deal? However, they are putting it at a price we want whereas other agents will probably put it on for lower.

JMG4321

We had our house valued in the peak and got two of the agents to agree to 1% including VAT (we live in Hertfordshire). We ended up putting our house on the market a couple of months ago and they honoured the fee agreement (even though houses are now taking much longer/more effort to sell).

The fee included glossy particulars, floorplans, advertising on Rightmove and local press and they've managed to get us quite a few offers at decent levels. So I feel we got excellent service for our fee.

maxxy

We recently put our house on the market (OIEO £140,000) with an agent for 1.25% + VAT, but it was a struggle getting down to that, many agents wouldn't go below 1.75% and some were charging 2.5%+.

I only got down to 1.25% because I found out from my mortgage advisor that two of the firms were big rivals and were trying to get each other's business (some sort of personal issue I think).

fully convinced we made the right choice, although they do seem to be selling some properties (not ours though!) they seem to be a little disorganised at times, also they don't do floorplans. We are tied in for 8 weeks with a 3 week notice period and if it doesn't start looking better soon I am considering going with an agent that charges more, just to get the property sold.

I had good reviews from people I spoke too about the company before I went with them so it may just be bad luck, the only annoying thing is that they keep trying to ask us to do viewings when we were every clear that we wanted them to do all the first viewings (this is even written on the contract).

I think I will give them a bit longer to see if they can turn it around a bit, we haven't been on that long so I may just be getting impatient without giving them a chance.

My main point was that in the area I live (Ipswich), I found it very difficult to get the fees down, and by doing so I am not sure I have benefitted.

alexlyne

I have 2 estate agents around to value our place... both had fixed price deals, one at 1750, the other 2300, both plus vat. When our home is only worth around 90K tops, the prices seem a bit on the high side. I guess all you can do is try to negotiate, but when you have local agents, they all know each others fees, and know whether they need to drop their prices or not.

googler

Mr_Mancuniar wrote: »

Hi,

Have you considered selling your house yourself and not going through an estate agent at all?

I have recently set up a website that helps people sell thier property privately without the need to go through an agent, so there is no commission and no contract.

I am currently trying to build up a database of properties so you can advertise your house on there for free if you like. Your advert will also appear on the major property portals such as fish 4 homes.

If you are interested in getting on there for free give me a call on 07882970399 or have a look at the site at http://thebigmoveonline.co.uk, there is also info and FAQs about selling privately on there fo you to have a look at.

I hope this is of help to you.

Gary

HA HA HA HA HA .....

If you've 'recently set up the website', why would anyone who is thinking of selling list their home with you, as you'll have next to no web traffic?

Why would anyone who is thinking of buying look at your website, when it only has 18 properties listed?

If you're 'currently trying' to build up a database of properties, again, WHY would anyone use you? You're obviously still in the fledgling stage, so what Unique Selling Points do you have? Merely dumping your listings on fish4homes does NOT count as a USP.

'currently trying' .... that really doesn't inspire confidence, you know.......

Davesnave

wezza wrote: »

We've just had a quote for our flat to go on the market for £175k and the agents have quoted £4k+vat so that would be £4600 in fees if they sell and thats with 12weeks tie in. That's with a london chain of agents that are slightly more 'upmarket' than Halifax etc.

I see that this would be a bad deal? However, they are putting it at a price we want whereas other agents will probably put it on for lower.

You decide what price your flat is marketed at, not the agents, regardless of how 'upmarket' they are.

The buyers ultimately decide the price you get, regardless of what you 'want.' For this reason, in the current market, not wanting too much is essential.

alared

Mr_Mancuniar wrote: »

Hi,

Have you considered selling your house yourself and not going through an estate agent at all?

From my past experience,if you try to sell it yourself,the first thing a buyer will say is, they`ll offer a couple of grand less because you are not paying an E.A.`s fee :T

Davesnave

alared wrote: »

From my past experience,if you try to sell it yourself,the first thing a buyer will say is, they`ll offer a couple of grand less because you are not paying an E.A.`s fee :T

I'd be most reluctant to view anything being marketed by the owners, as their view of things is likely to be biased. They will have no EA to steer them towards realism. Negotiation would be a nightmare.

You have these idiots using House Network, who post all the photos they can instead of selecting the best ten. It screams 'Desperation!' I know several that have gone to HN after failing to sell through a normal agency. That speaks volumes too.

It is like those car adverts that say 'No time wasters.' You move swiftly on. They might as well write: 'Plonker Alert!!':rotfl: