Negotiate estate agent fees?

[d000hg]

There's not much they can do about VAT.

They could not sneakily add it on. If they say "1%" most people will think that means 1%. I'd prefer they just said 1.2% and included the VAT for the 99% of people who are not buying commercially.
It's like the difference between shopping in B&Q and a trade store IMO.

[scooterscot]

I always thought the fee was for marketing and other related costs. Then comes the (1) the marketing £800 package (2) the £300 home report (3) anything else they can dream up

So what is the fee for?!

[unemployed]

Absolute con. I stopped mummy from paying the 1% fee.

No way are they getting 25k

[Willapp]

I wouldn't go any higher than 1% personally. (And yes it being +VAT is cheeky but they will all be the same on that front).

I heard somewhere that > 70% of leads these days come from RightMove so any estate agent who will list your property on there (i.e. all of them) are going to be similar when it comes to getting your house seen by prospective buyers. The difference may come at the negotiation phase and through the buying process as they will (or are supposed to) be part of the communication throughout the chain.

Be wary of sole agent contract lengths - I wouldn't go any longer than 12 weeks (3 months is plenty of time for them to do their job), and be VERY wary that if you allow another agency to introduce a buyer, you'll probably find in your agreement that the fee is significantly higher and you will likely be liable for fees to BOTH agencies!

We put our house on the market recently and it seems to be a common tactic that once other agents see a for-sale sign outside your property, you will get bombarded with leaflets/letters offering to market your house and often claiming that they have interested parties queuing up to view your home. It may occasionally be true but 99% of the time it's just marketing BS to try and get you to advertise with them.

[Willapp]

Also don't be suckered in to using solicitors, surveyors and mortgage brokers promoted by the agents - they will invariably be on commission for referring business and it's doubtful these companies will be much cop. Better to get personal recommendations from friends etc. and choose your own independent companies.

[unemployed]

Just use purple bricks

Like you say it ends up on rightmove anyway.

Agent is irrelevant nowadays.

[d000hg]

Also don't be suckered in to using solicitors, surveyors and mortgage brokers promoted by the agents - they will invariably be on commission for referring business and it's doubtful these companies will be much cop. Better to get personal recommendations from friends etc. and choose your own independent companies.

I'm not sure if this is common knowledge but yes absolutely, unless you have heard their guy IS good from other people.

Just use purple bricks

Like you say it ends up on rightmove anyway.

Agent is irrelevant nowadays.

I'm tempted. Only worry is that buyers might be put off seeing an agent they never heard of - local buyers know who the main agencies are.

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...

[unemployed]

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...

While you're at it get them to send the agent too when doing viewings

[SouthernManc78]

Last time I sold my house I used House Network which are similar to Purple Bricks. The house was advertised on Rightmove and Zoopla as part of the package price, they handled the enquiries and we did the viewings. The local estate agents in Manchester I talked to didn't do the viewings anyway so I didn't really see what we were paying them for other than to advertise on the above websites. Saved us a few grand in fees

[DallasDad]

You set the house price on advice from multiple agents plus a bit of local googling
So you should certainly negotiate the fee.

The cost should reflect the service but rarely does:
Are you showing the property or the agent?
Are you handing over the keys for them to get on with it or will it all be via appointment with you or family present?
Agents are pushy barstewards and so are the sic professional viewers that love to turn up atd silly times - yes people do it as a hobby including nosey neighbours!
Who is staging the property you or the agent?
Agree sole agency for a limited amount of time 4 -6 week max.
Bare in mind if the property is good they may not even need to do anything even produce the basics details
I sold my first house via an agent like that, they effectively didn't have to do anything other than make one phone call and then invoice! Still cost me £600 back in 1979

They can be absolute pains or real gems when a Chain is involved I have lost two sales through agent stupidity typically being too pushy.

It is also still odd that an Agent takes thousands for doing very little yet the person doing the real work i.e the conveyancing solicitor is often on a lot less.

Do you have any Action Cameras?
If the viewing is supposed to be escorted (allegedly) then it is worth setting them up in your home to record viewings, you will get a mix of good and bad comments which can help stage a property and you may pick up the odd tea leaf.