ScoobyWon't

I know of a property which will soon be on the market, but I'm keen to get a look at it before it is placed in the hands of an estate agent to do the work.

If it's a nice place, it will be a case of selling my current gaff, but I know of someone who may be interested in my place, so technically, I don't need an estate agent to find me a buyer.

has anyone on here purchased or sold a property without using an estate agent? Apart from not having to pay commission, are there any advantages of buying/selling without using an estate agent?

Will

I bought my house from my Mother and Father and didn't bother with an Estate Agent. We used the same solicitor. Don't know what estate agents charge these days but me and my dad's costs all in was about £400 each. So in all it just cost my Dad as the seller £400 out of around £100k.

PaulC72

Estate agents usually charge 1.5% to 3% depending on the house value (although they do differ & can be negotiated on)

The benefits of using an estate agent would be the advertising I suppose as they will display in shop windows, internet and the local papers as they have long running deals with these, but it all comes at a cost obviously.

If you can sell your house and buy one without an agent you will all save plenty of money.

Markus

We purchased out place directly from the owners without having a realtor involved. The seller referred to them as "blood sucking leeches" so one assumes there was some previous bad experience there!

It was somewhat daunting as it was our first place, but our mortgage broker helped out a fair bit, suggesting a good lawyer and home inspector, and things went very smoothly. I think it helped that the sellers were very genuine people and not out to just make money.

As others have said, for the seller the advantage is exposure of their property. All ours had was a sign at the end of the street and outside the house. It was pure chance we went to look at it. We happened to be looking at another place nearby and drove past.

We did meet with a few realtors when looking for places and they would had made nothing from us as it's the seller who pays them. They would no doubt have helped in finding a mortgage broker, home inspector and lawyer, and they also would have dealt with the paperwork and just got you to sign. Our broker helped us with all that anyway.

Typically when you make the offer the two realtors will communicate the offer to each other, the buyer and seller never typically meet. Our setup was different, we met the broker, agreed on the conditions of the offer and then drove round and dropped it off with the sellers. We had spoken on the phone earlier in the week and agreed the final price, so there wasn't any haggling. After them looking things over, we signed, faxed it off to lawyers and the deal was done.

scud8

iTrader: (1)

I bought the house next door to me without it ever being listed with an estate agent. It came up in conversation that he was thinking of selling so I told him to speak to me first. Saved him a chunk of money on estate agents commission (probably 2%, so a few £K) and he was prepared to agree a keen price because of that, and because he need a few months delay between exchanging contracts and completion.

My past interactions with estate agents have proven to me that they are all immoral, lazy, greedy tw@ts, so it was a real pleasure not having to deal with one this time round!

If you're worried about making sure the price is sensible there are plenty of web sites that list how much properties have changed hands for, so if you do a bit of research you should be able to do without estate agent fantasy valuations.

Lee247

How interesting, we have just been talking about doing this
The house we have now, we bought without estate agents involvement and are thinking of selling it the same way.
We have put the word out we want to sell, then may use the internet ourselves. Nothing to lose really as I think estate agents tend to put the price they want, just to get a quick sale. I don't trust them in any shape or form.
We have a rough idea of the value of ours, so it's worth a shot.
I'll watch this thread with interest to see folks opinions.
Good luck, SW

Lee247

FGS, double post again

chocolate_o_brian

iTrader: (22)

Similar story here. Bought my house off my mum in 2005. I arranged a Solicitor who was a friend of the family. Costs were around £400 but as a first time buyer through Halifax I was given £250 towards their fees so £150 all in. My mum paid the 3% deposit required (97% mortgage) as my 21st birthday gift.

Nice and simple.

Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

I have done it twice, Piece of wee. Make sure you have a good solicitor, arrange your mortgage yourself with the bank and save yourself a few grand.

cookstar

iTrader: (6)

I have done this, again from family so this will probably make the whole thing easier, I would say however that the most important link in this would be to have a very good solicitor.

I find these hold deals together a hell of a lot more than estate agents anyway.

WRXBOB

Sold 3 and bought 2 all without an estate agent in sight.

Would NEVER use one again to sell a property.
Buying one would depend on if the vendor wanted to use one.

JulioJordio2

LOL at all of the hating Estate Agents posts.....

Every profession is the same, there are good ones, and there are bad ones.

Personally, Ive seen negotiators salvage deals no solicitor ever would, no matter how good they are. Same goes for creating sales out of nothing.

Any Estate Agent of any worth would never just pull a price out of the air. They would bring "comparables" to support whatever price they are recommending. They would show you other "sold" prices achieved, not "asking prices" of properties which are still on the market. They would also provide information on their market share percentage, how many of the houses they have on their books have sold, in the last three months, and what that equates to as a percentage (ideally a full market share report, which lists all local competion and what their percentage of market share is too)

This way, there is no "Guess work" involved. The agent should be "proving" what your house is worth, and why you should be with them and not some other local agent.

Alot of people are happy to slate the profession, when in reality they have absolutely no idea what being a good Estate Agent involves. In this market, I can comfortably make over 80 out going calls a day. Then there are the calls I take, calls I return to solicitors, to Vendors, to Buyers, it goes on and on. Most people seem to have this idea that we are untrustworthy etc, but do you really think there are NO Agents out there that enjoy their work? Enjoy closing deals and creating them out of nothing? That are as straight as an arrow? And that are very proud of that fact?

I have sold property for a living all over the world for the last 8 years. All I have evr done in my working life is sell property in some shape or form. Estate Agents here are regulated massively, and I cant help but think that the general perception is based on a very small minorities experience. You want to talk about bent developers and dodgy agents, then property abroad is the place to discuss.
Some of the things I could tell you about people buying off plan, paying a developer (or agent) a 20% deposit which usually is over 20k to secure a plot off plan, when the developer not only does not own the land they are taking depsoits on, but have no planning permission even applied for.

Estate Agents here have to follow a very, very, strict work code/ethic. If they aren't, it takes very little for them to be out of business very quickly, and not only that, in Estate Agency work, YOU are liable, not your employer, YOU as an individual, and this cuts down on a lot of risky practice.

I've no doubts some of you do have horror stories about certain agents, just like I do about certain Police Officers/Lawyers, but It doesnt mean I tar them all with the same ****ty brush

To cap my post off, for the fee involved, there is a huge amount of work involved. When I was a Negotiator, I used to literally hound and hound solicitors to do what they should be doing, ensuring things move quickly and steadily forward. If making potentially 30-40 even 50 calls to your solicitors and Vendor/Buyer sounds attractive and less stressful then fair enough. If you are buying from a Family / Trusted Friend, then I can see your point. But that would be the only time I would ever consider NOT using an agent.

marky1

I think there are occasions where it's worth using an agent, especially on the higher end stuff. An agent can easily get you far more than the 2 or 3% they charge. On the more normal stuff if you know the value then I guess why bother paying up for an agent. Can be hard to match buyer/seller though which is what puts people off.