Estate Agents show their true colours?
well, isnt this a turn up for the books.
I want to sell my flat and phoned a local estate agent asking for guides to how much their fees would be. I made it clear that I dont want to pay their normal amounts like 2 or 1.5%, but would need to haggle for a lower amount.
I was told that the owner would come and view my flat on Saturday and after looking at it and deciding how difficult it would be to sell, then decide what the fee would be, but, she warned me that in this climate, properties are becoming difficult to sell and therefore, I couldnt expect any special discounts.
I find this incredible, so Im willing to put the price down on my property in order to get it sold, but the estate agents, want more of a fee because the market is slow. Shouldnt they be expecting a cut in their income too?
I am likely to use an online estate agent and private sale sites in the end, but wanted to know what a ‘high street estate agent’ would make of it first.
Ive been looking at rightmove for months now for a new flat, and it never fails to amaze me how many properties dont have any room sizes written down, any pictures, any descriptions or information about the lease and the maintenance. Yet these agents are charging about 1.5 to 2 percent for this, PLUS vat!!!
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Estate agents are like any other business i.e. the object is for them to make as much money as possible from their clients. However how they can justify fee’s of 1.5 – 2% is beyond my comprehension. Personally I would let a couple of different agency’s quote for the work, ensure that they both know that they are in a competitive situation then pick the cheapest.
trouble is, if you tell them where to go youre left with just your own resources to try to sell the flat
as my grandad says, life aint fair lad
Oh don’t get me started on estate agents!! I am a private tenant and my landlady has sold our place while we are still in it – on several occasions the agents let themselves in without knocking, once when I was in bed having just been discharged from hospital, another time when I was in the toilet and another while I was getting dressed.
They don’t turn up when they say they will they are either early or late. ALL they care about is the sale and the comission, they are greedy, horrible thoughtless people and what you have described does not surprise me at all!
On the upside, both my landlady and her partner sold their (london) flats without much of a hitch, even in the current climate.
estate agents always expect the seller to cut their prices to make it easier for the agent to sell the property quickly and with less effort
they are also reluctant to cut their fees …….shop around and find a better agent ……
the jokes about estate agents aren’t just a coincidence…….
THERE MOSTLY TO BLAME FOR THE HIGH PRICES TO START WITH THIEVING B———RDS YOU CAN DO IT YOURSELF BUT IF YOU NEED THE MONEY FIND OUT ABOUT IT
estate agents are a law unto themselves literally. there are few actual laws to govern them and i agree that they should be cutting fees at this time.
Shop around
I have this hell to look forward to very soon
I’ve been looking at the web sites of several estate agents – they’re rubbish! What on earth are we paying them for?
They put up pictures of properties with no effort to clear up the area first, no description of area or how many power points or anything useful. Any amateur could do a better job
I assume your in the UK In the us a typical fee ranges from 4 to 6% and is not based on difficulty to sell Offer them the higher fee, but don’t sign an agreement, just telll them f they sell it they get the commission. You can do this with other agents, at least in the US you can. Also, take their fee, but list your price, most offers will come in lower then your asking price. If you wuld take the lower offer tell the agen that I would be willing to take the lower offer but you need to help me out on your end with a lesser fee. Believe me they will take it to close a deal.
I would have thought it was always obvious what sort of people estate agents were. After all, they had a big hand in making house prices unaffordably high in the first place. The local estate agent near my mother used to send her letters on a regular basis trying to persuade her to sell her house to them. These people are the lowest of the low. I would trust a gangster before an estate agent. If you point a gun at someone and tell them you want all their money, you’re at least being more honest than an estate agent.
The estate agents are cutting their fee as they are asking in your case for a percentage of the sale proceeds.
As prices have gone down, so will the amount of commisson they earn.
I would get several quotes and play them off against each other. I was quoted between 1% and 3% when I sold my house, but only ended up paying 1% including legal costs as I struck a deal there and then with the manager who came round to value the house.
To be honest for the amout they do, you could try and market it yourself. As soon as somebody agrees to buy it’s all the in the hands of your solicitor anyway.
You should worry..!..here in Malta the fee is 5%..!!..hows that for daylight robbery….!!
As with so much in life, you get what you pay for. Good agents charge top rates. I’m not an estate agent but I wouldnt get out of bed for 1.5% if I was. What on earth rate do you expect ?
The problem is that the market has become so competitive that the slightest change in market conditions means they cant sustain themselves. They should have made hay during the 90′s to see them throught this bad patch.
If you realy are so tight that you begrudge paying, then just consider whether you think that you can sell your house for more thatn 1.5% more than those poor buggers. Probably not I guess?
Be thankful you don’t live in Germany. Where I live the fee is 5.95% and is written in law so you can’t haggle.
….and the worst part is, the seller chooses the Estate Agent and the buyer has to pay them!
i have a shit list on it are estate agents traffic wardens solicitors these are among the top and are all thieving robbing scum bags. ask ya self why house prices are so high because the estate agents make them that high who makes money from the sale of houses estate agents and f*****g solicitors there are armed robbers with out the gunns