HI SOOB

Just about to put our house up for sale.
Had three agents round to give us a value and a price to sell it.
Of course it was as expected. Their fee of 1 - 1.25% and the cost of adverts and glossies.
What I want to know is, what do they spend the 1% on?? We have to pay for the advertising and brochures!!!!

As a result we thought about breaking the trend and advertising it our self. After all, we are paying for it to go in the local papers and property magazine anyway. We would stand to save about £3000 on fees alone.
I know that it wont receive the same exposure with not being in an agents site and window, however, its worth a try in my eyes.

Any one else done this or had any experiences??

sti-04!!

J,

The 1% is there cut of the transaction. Tell them all that you have various other agents interested & try for a fixed price of say 1k including advertising.
Try & go for an agent that advertises on Find properties to buy, homes to rent, overseas houses and new homes on rightmove.co.uk for maximum exposure.

I am a great believer in "you dont ask, you dont get".

Hope all is well.

S

HI SOOB

Hey there Matey.

Hows things?

I know that the 1% is their cut....but why!!!!! LOL
I think I will start an "Autotrader" style magazine for houses and charge half the price of Estate Agents!!! My first million!!!!! hahaha

Your right about asking for a fixed deal. Two houses sold here recently and were whipped up in days. The last one was five days to accept an offer. As you say, ask for a lower fee as their work will be little due to the demand in this area.

Hope we can get it sold by the end of October so we can got out before Christmas (possibly). Just need to see.

Hows the house situation with you just now?? Still in the farm??

J

PaulC72

This is a new one on me, it may be a locational thing but we are selling a house in Birmingham & the agents charge either a fixed amount or a %age fee but both include all advertising, brochures etc etc so the price quoted is the price you pay also no sale no fee, so 3 months down the line if it all goes to **** you have nothing to pay.

I would try to get an all in fee that covers everything and make sure its no sale no fee!!!

pslewis

I have sold a house privately - simple as anything.

I advertised in the papers - nothing.

Then I hammered a sign in the garden, within 2 weeks I had 3 offers ABOVE the asking price and 10% MORE than the Estate Agent said I would achieve!!

The Estate Agents hated it - but it was really, really simple .... the offers came to me, I negotiated, I put them in touch with my Solicitor - sorted!!

Not only do you save the Agents Fee (say 1.25%) - you also save VAT on that Fee - you also do NOT need a Homeowners Pack if you sell Private AFAIK

Jobs a goodun'

Estate Agents are useful in a dead market, or in a buyers market, but - generally, they do **** all - so give them **** all

d5hof

Most people believe that they pay the fees for advertising, what most people don't realise is that in this market if the property comes on at the right price it will get snapped up very easily. The hardwork for the estate agent starts after a sale has been agreed. There are a lot of complications once a offer has been accepted. The initial stage of chasing the survey can take time, the broker or building society would not discuss the mortgage situation with you as the homeowner but can and will relay informtaion to the estate agent. A good estate agent would be able to suss if the buyer can get the mortgage from the inital stage. One of the major reason why sales fall through is survey, even if the property is in good condition the surveyor may have problems with comparables which you as an individual may not be able to provide but the estate agent can. if there are hiccups with the survey then the estate agent can negotiate with all parties and resolve the situation whereas an individual would not know where to start.

The conveyancing can be lengthy and very problematic, you can obtain the buyers solicitors details but the solicitor will not speak to you and keep you posted. A lot of buyers and sellers do not know this but the conveyancing stage can make or break a sale. Most solicitors need constant nagging and some won't even do the most basic unless someone instructs them to do so! Also you will find that most solicitors are unwilling to pick up the phone to the other party solicitor, the estate agent is usually going up and down like a yo-yo trying to get the information accross, In many cases the solicitor won't even be bothered to pick up the phone to his client to tell them to come in and see them. If the property is a leasehold then it definitely would have some hiccups. You as a seller would not know if the sale is likely to fall through but a good estate agent would know and would advise you straight away. Give you a good example; You have a buyer who is buying to let the property, survey gets done but the rent does not cover the mortgage therefore he cannot get the mortgage, how can you revive this sale?
To be honest with a good estate agent wouldn't even let it get to that stage and even if it does there are few ways of overcoming that problem but most people won't know what they are.
Another example; you're selling your property to Mrs A who's selling her proprty to Mr B who is selling his property to Miss C and Mr D who are first time buyers, you are buying from Mr F who is buying from Mr and Mrs G who are moving into a retirement home after they've sold their property, would you have the time and the experience to chase the solicitors, brokers, banks, buyers and sellers and the estate agents of this chain?

Those who buy and sell on regular basis will tell you that estate agents are worth their weigh in gold when **** hits the fan and the way our conveyancing system works in this country things always go **** up!!

Shof

pslewis

I take it YOU are an Estate Agent then??

Fact is that an Estate Agent is NOT entitled to know MORE about a buyers position than a private seller is!!

You mention Conveyancing ..... tricky? maybe - that's why a SOLICITOR carries out that task and not an Estate Agent!! The Estate Agent has NOTHING to do with the conveyancing technicalities!!

Survey - the Estate Agent, again, cannot do a Survey unless qualified ......

Basically, an Estate Agent does:-

1. Look around a house, ask seller how much they think it's worth, tell them what they should market it for (you have a buyer in mind who will pay what you are suggesting)

2. Return to office and ring the buyers on the books who want that house at that price.

3. Ring Vendor, look how good I am, I have 3 people who want to see it tonight.

4. Offers come in, tell Vendor to accept closest to asking price.

5. Hand over keys to new owner.

6. Collect 1.25% of selling price.

I did forget to enter 'Look out of the window' and 'Act like you are busy on the phone when someone walks in' ..... please fit these after every step

Nah, it's REALLY, REALLY easy selling a house private in this current market.

SWRTWannabe

Don't forget that they have to pay for their training. People can't naturally lie like an estate agent without a large amount of tuition

d5hof

I'm just going to ignore you!!!

Chris L

Give Brightsale a try - they are an online estate agent. It costs nothing to list your property and they only charge 0.5%.

sti-04!!

Bear in mind that there is difference in legalitys between Scottish & English transactions.

J,

Things are fine, Farm is nearly finished. Its getting there, i'll get in touch when i am having the "Awakening" do

pslewis

When I walk into your Estate Agency I bet you will be snivelling all over me like a rash

sti-04!!

You bore me

HI SOOB

Thanks for the feed back .

The house will be on the market next week once building of the garage is complete.
I will be going for a sign in the garden to start with. Its worth a go. If it works out we will save well over £3000. So its silly not to try, especially where we stay as they go like hot cakes.

I will keep you posted.

Regards

P.s, Anyone looking for a 4 bed detached large villa, 3 reception rooms, gardens and log cabin/garage. OIRO £280,000-£290,000. Picturesque Perthshire.

David Lock

Did the price include the Stairlift?

pslewis

YES! AND it had a Zimmer Frame attachment .... do you think that swung the sale??

pslewis

Isn't that in Scotland??

I thought I saw the WHOLE of Scotland up for sale last week for £195,000

Good luck

Luan Pra bang

Sorry but you are hugely overstaing whats involved here. In the past for comercial and residential property I have had a much better sucess rate selling property than any one of the many agents I have used. Surveys are only a problem if the house is overvalued they are usually chased up by a broker, Conveyancing is a soliciters job and people who buy and sell alot get very fast answers and response from soliciters. If you buy and sell alot agents become a waste of time.

HI SOOB

Watch out Sunshine!! We are selling to move to England

Over the wall and into your homes.