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Author Topic: Estate Agents Fees  (Read 2723 times)
Panda Paws

« Reply #15 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:25:10 »

A good agent will get you significantly more money for your property - the gap should outwiegh the % fee.

But I agree there aren't heaps of good agents - that is slowly changing though.
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Jimmy HaveHave

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« Reply #16 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:26:19 »

In my experience, "good" estate agents are few and far between.  

The bad ones will usually "negotiate" the selling price so as to benefit the buyer.  They are supposedly employed to act for you.  If you hint to them you may take such and such an offer against asking price, they will disclose that to the buyer.  If lower still is offered, then their focus is to secure the deal and persuade you, their client, to accept the still lower offer.  T

Do the maths: 1.5% of £500k is £7.5K (+ vat) and of £450k, it's £6.75k.  £50k less for you is a few hundred less for them.  Losing a low offer, means they get nothing and have to start the whole process all over again or lose the agency rights to a competing agent.

The important caveat is that if you have the good fortune to find the good agent, and there are a few, they will not encourage the buyer to get money off.  After an offer is made, they will have the confidence to apply their negotiating skills for you, their client,(not just to secure the sale at the price the buyer is offering) and secure a better sale price.  

In the above example, lets say the "good" agent secures a sale price for £10k more than the nervous agent desperate for a sale and scared of losing control.  That alone would more than cover the 1.5% fee.  Imagine that they negotiate 20k more.  The "good" agent is invaluable.  They can almost certainly negotiate better than you or Purple Bricks.

On a practical note:

If you do employ an agent and approve their valuation

1.  always be firm that this is the price at which you'll sell (and that accepting anything more than, say, £5k off is out of the question)
2.  ask for a discount on the 1.5% fee, relating other agents are doing 1.25% or even 1% and that is what you want.  If it's a good agent, don't be too upset if the 1% isn't available.
3.  ask for the contract does not extend for more than 8-10 weeks (12 would be a max.).  Then you can go elsewhere if it doesn't work out.  Agents tend to lose interest after a while and prefer the newer instructions.
4.  if an agent suggests a much higher valuation, be very lucky or expect him to come back after 2-3 weeks saying that he's tried but it's not worked and you'll have to lower the asking price - you'll still be tied in to that sole agent Angry

Great post redrag much appreciated and somebody who knows what he's talking about
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Bogus Dave
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« Reply #17 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:26:34 »

Here's the differences
Sell property for 1% = £3150 + vat = £3780
Sell propert for 1.5% = £4725 + vat = £5670
Purple bricks is approx £900 + vat = £1080

If you go with purple bricks you pay the money up front which is non returnable so you need to be sure that you can afford to lose it it doesn't sell or you choose to take it off the market.

I have gone for the middle one but am intrigued why they charge so much and when the stamp duty comes back it's no wonder the housing market will suffer in the current climate

Estate agents have a far higher success rate at selling your house than you do on your own, which is essentially what purple bricks is
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Jimmy HaveHave

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« Reply #18 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:28:04 »

A good agent will get you significantly more money for your property - the gap should outwiegh the % fee.

But I agree there aren't heaps of good agents - that is slowly changing though.

More and more coming on the market so hopefully that will make the traditional ones lower their rates
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RedRag

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« Reply #19 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:34:21 »

Here's the differences
Sell property for 1% = £3150 + vat = £3780
Sell propert for 1.5% = £4725 + vat = £5670
Purple bricks is approx £900 + vat = £1080

If you go with purple bricks you pay the money up front which is non returnable so you need to be sure that you can afford to lose it it doesn't sell or you choose to take it off the market.

I have gone for the middle one but am intrigued why they charge so much and when the stamp duty comes back it's no wonder the housing market will suffer in the current climate
If you've got a reasonable agent, my guess is that you'll be quids in at the end of the process - and as you say it's no sale, no fee.  Good luck.
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Bob's Orange
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« Reply #20 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:34:32 »

A good agent will get you significantly more money for your property - the gap should outwiegh the % fee.

But I agree there aren't heaps of good agents - that is slowly changing though.

Agree with this. We used an agent that was advised by someone not a million miles away and he had sold our flat for above our asking price within 2 weeks, whilst we were out of the country. He basically did ALL the legwork and therefore we were more than happy with his fee as he did a bloody good job for us.

Of course there will be horror stories as well but my experience has been positive.
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« Reply #21 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:38:46 »

A good agent also does so much more than just list the house on Rightmove and do viewings for you. They'll qualify your buyer and there's also the sales progression once you've accepted an offer too.

Although most quote 1.50% as a usual fee, hardly any are actually charging that at the moment.
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Jimmy HaveHave

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« Reply #22 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:39:41 »

If you've got a reasonable agent, my guess is that you'll be quids in at the end of the process - and as you say it's no sale, no fee.  Good luck.

Cheers Pint
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Jimmy HaveHave

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« Reply #23 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:43:17 »

A good agent also does so much more than just list the house on Rightmove and do viewings for you. They'll qualify your buyer and there's also the sales progression once you've accepted an offer too.

Although most quote 1.50% as a usual fee, hardly any are actually charging that at the moment.

I think the worst agents out there are the pussy ones who try to push clients into accepting offers that suit them so that they get their money which seemed to be common a few years back
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« Reply #24 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:52:51 »

I would expect any good agent to 'vet' the interested party prior to letting them view the house (i.e proof of mortgage in principle, proof of funds etc)
It does differ between areas though (presumably based on demand etc)  - for example a friend of mine sold their house in Bristol and the agent was very good in ensuring the 'right' people saw the property. When I put my house on the market in a different area, no agents I asked did that level of groundwork, for example
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Jimmy HaveHave

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« Reply #25 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 08:55:09 »

I would expect any good agent to 'vet' the interested party prior to letting them view the house (i.e proof of mortgage in principle, proof of funds etc)
It does differ between areas though (presumably based on demand etc)  - for example a friend of mine sold their house in Bristol and the agent was very good in ensuring the 'right' people saw the property. When I put my house on the market in a different area, no agents I asked did that level of groundwork, for example

That's an intersteing point regarding agents selecting clients which I haven't heard before. Out of curiosity did you still manage to sell yours
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Panda Paws

« Reply #26 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 09:13:42 »

That's an intersteing point regarding agents selecting clients which I haven't heard before. Out of curiosity did you still manage to sell yours

Qualifying buyers is an absolute key part of the process for sure.
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Jimmy HaveHave

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« Reply #27 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 09:15:29 »

Qualifying buyers is an absolute key part of the process for sure.

I'm guessing most agents will let anybody view a property unless the seller has instructed otherwise
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Panda Paws

« Reply #28 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 09:50:45 »

I'm guessing most agents will let anybody view a property unless the seller has instructed otherwise

Depends if they value their time or not.
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horlock07

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« Reply #29 on: Monday, October 12, 2020, 09:52:43 »

I'm guessing most agents will let anybody view a property unless the seller has instructed otherwise

I suspect it rather depends on where the property is and the state of the market, I have bought and sold a number of properties over the years in a number of locations and generally viewings are a free for all, however as and when offers are made details are provided regarding the position of the buyer (are they a cash buyer/need to get a mortgage or are they in a chain for instance), but its hardly an onerous process which any agent good or bad should be entirely capable of doing.

Heard too many horror stories regarding Purple Bricks etc, they depend on fast turnover (hence the low fees) and if any property sticks they seem to lose interest after a few viewings and basically leave the vendor to it.

As noted previously on the whole you are paying 1.5% to get the property onto rightmove etc, and possibly to access the agents database, most agents from experience know very little about the market, even domestic valuations is not the rocket science many would have you believe.
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