Negotiate estate agent fees?

[RetSet]

Another thing to look at is what their exclusivity / sole agency period is.

And make sure it's Sole Agency, NOT Sole Selling Rights.

[d000hg]

emoov don't appear to do viewings but PurpleBricks will - I assume for an additional fee though I couldn't see how much.

One thing that's unclear is if these companies only bill you when it's sold, or if you pay them regardless of the outcome.

[SouthernManc78]

emoov don't appear to do viewings but PurpleBricks will - I assume for an additional fee though I couldn't see how much.

One thing that's unclear is if these companies only bill you when it's sold, or if you pay them regardless of the outcome.

In my experience you pay them upfront a one off fee regardless but it's obviously a lot cheaper that estate agent fees so depends on how confident you are of a sale I guess.

[barrydidit]

I'd second the Purple Bricks type approach, assuming you're selling something standard. Getting the place on rightmove is key for a normal buying situation. I'd also make sure, whoever you use, to spell check the advert text and check the photos before they're live. Oh, and I wouldn't consider a firm which didn't produce a floor plan - checking what's on rightmove or zoopla should give you an idea of the amount of effort different firms are making.

[Willapp]

One nice thing I saw about emoov (and probably purplebricks) is they even let you choose the photos to use online and veto ones you don't like. Feeling more involved and having more control is certainly a nice idea, I wonder when the regular agents will start doing this. Maybe I should be approaching big chains to sell them such a platform...

When we sold our old property, the agent photos were so misleading due to the extreme wide-angle lens (they all seem to use) so after a few failed viewings I took my own photos with a decent camera (still wide-angle but not as extreme) and made the agent update RightMove with my photos instead. We sold the house within the next couple of viewings.

Point being that I would hope any estate agent would allow you to veto any photos that you felt were not an accurate portrayal of your property and, if necessary, let you supply your own. Yes they have 'experience' taking the best pictures but there's no point putting photos online that you know people are going to be disappointed about when they see your house is nothing like that in real life.

[kaiser78]

Just use purple bricks

Like you say it ends up on rightmove anyway.

Agent is irrelevant nowadays.

Agree - but you have to do the viewings/progress chasing etc yourself as purple bricks will do the bare minimum, given the nature of their business model (no commission / low fixed price fee).

[unemployed]

Agree - but you have to do the viewings/progress chasing etc yourself as purple bricks will do the bare minimum, given the nature of their business model (no commission / low fixed price fee).

That's easy enough, I prefer to do the viewings when I sold a place.

Means I can BS more

[d000hg]

It is so much nicer seeing the house from the owners because you just ask them questions and they don't just stand in every room and tell you "this is a wonderful room".

[Willapp]

It is so much nicer seeing the house from the owners because you just ask them questions and they don't just stand in every room and tell you "this is a wonderful room".

Agreed and when selling I prefer to do viewings myself anyway so I'm there to give straight, honest and accurate answers to any questions the buyer might have. As you say agents will just pay lip service to the buyer, pointing out all the "fantastic" aspects of the house which either aren't really that fantastic ("wow look at the level of light in this room, it's so airy!") or are blindingly obvious, "what a great size master bedroom" - yeah I know we saw it on the floor plan, that's why we're here...

I think it's BS that buyers are more honest when the owners aren't around - I've never been more inclined to speak openly in front of an agent than I would a seller. There's nothing worse from a sellers perspective to have people be really positive to your face then you find out from the agent that they aren't interested and reel off a list of reasons why the house isn't suitable.

[d000hg]

Well after a lot of hoo-hah I've engaged an agent. It turns out in that neck of the woods all the agents have 1.5% (+VAT) as their standard rate. Except the ones who have 2%... seems to be a bit of a cartel closed market.

Even playing them off against each other the lowest I could get was 1.25%. Granted I'm not the world's best negotiator but hey ho, better than nothing.

I was very tempted to try Purple Bricks, if I was living in the house I think I'd have gone that route for sure. But I figure if a more experienced agent with their ear to the ground (people still go into agents' shops in Cornwall) can get me a higher price, it's worth the fee and the lack of hassle.