Reply to: Estate Agents (*spit*)

[oraclesmith]

Yep. At the moment, most agents would be happy to value the property without commitment on your part. They provide a market valuation, which is not the same thing as a qualified valuer would provide. They have other properties on their books which they compare your property with. If you do some homework and study house prices in your area for your type of property, you can get a good feel for what they go for.

Agents also have different strategies for getting business - some of them give you an low valuation because they know they can sell the property straight away at that price and get their commission. Others will give you a high valuation, which appeals to peoples greed instincts - hoping to secure the client, only to advise them to reduce the price at a later date when they can't sell it. Some pitch in in the middle because that's what a lot of people go for - the middle point of several valuations.

It can also depend on your circumstances. For example, the house next door was on the market for ages because the retired couple living there set a high price and just waited for the market to catch up. They weren't bothered about selling quick. Some people come unstuck at high valuations because the mortgage valuation doesn't come up to what the buyers want to pay (ie, the mortgage co/bank think the buyers are being ripped off).

A difference of £150k could be quite a large percentage error I guess. Maybe you have a unique property which is difficult to value. If you're looking to go without an agent, you could get a chartered surveyor to value it for you, for a fee, which would give you an idea of how a mortgage company would lend on it. It's mostly guesswork anyhow, so your own valuation is probably as good as anyones.

[Bagpuss]

How do you price the house? Would you use the estate agents for that?
Last time I had my house valued, there was a difference of 150K between just four agents.

You can use the agents or use a valuation website (half the time its all they do anyway).

There is no need for agents to sell houses, most people nowadays search 1 or 2 websites for houses and then are directed to an agent. All the agent does is take your money and slow down the conveyencing process.

You still end up showing the vast majority of people around!

Your agents shop, might get some local people interested, but is that worth 1,000? I doubt it

[Pinto]

If you have a hot property then it makes it easier. You can supplement the Internet option by putting some sales effort in yourself - eg. for sale boards, flyers for newsagent windows, newspaper ads, make up some flash brochures/particulars to send to prospective buyers, be on hand to show people round (and know how to do it), follow up each lead properly. Although this can sometimes cost money, it's nothing compared to how much your house costs and how much you save on agents fees.

How do you price the house? Would you use the estate agents for that?
Last time I had my house valued, there was a difference of 150K between just four agents.

[Goya]

Just sold my drum (subject to contract) for 1% commission. Had a few agents round & they ranged from 1-1.5%.

[oraclesmith]

Bollocks, I sold my house within 3 weeks of using a property website (<£100)

The agents wanted thousands for running an ad in the paper once every 3 or 4 weeks. They sent around loads of timewasters and even tried to con me into selling to a property developer for cut down money. You do not need agents for selling a house, they do feck all, just walk into any estate agents and you will see how hard they work!!!

If you have a hot property then it makes it easier. You can supplement the Internet option by putting some sales effort in yourself - eg. for sale boards, flyers for newsagent windows, newspaper ads, make up some flash brochures/particulars to send to prospective buyers, be on hand to show people round (and know how to do it), follow up each lead properly. Although this can sometimes cost money, it's nothing compared to how much your house costs and how much you save on agents fees.

[bogeyman]

Talking of agents, where's Dodgy Agent these days?

I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti

[DimPrawn]

Talking of agents, where's Dodgy Agent these days?

[Bagpuss]

I did that a while back. The level of interest is much lower and you get all sorts of muppets who clearly are not in any position to buy wasting your time.

It's the age old argument of what value do agents give in any business. One value add they give is filtering out the riff-raff and time wasters (generally) and in helping make the buy decision (by talking up the market and generally bulltulipting the level of interest in the property).

Try the Internet only route by all means but my experience of it is it still needs humans chasing people, doing the sales pitch and putting a bit of pressure on the prospective buyers.

You can try doing this yourself but it doesn't come across in the same way as an 3rd party (agent) doing it.

Bollocks, I sold my house within 3 weeks of using a property website (<£100)

The agents wanted thousands for running an ad in the paper once every 3 or 4 weeks. They sent around loads of timewasters and even tried to con me into selling to a property developer for cut down money. You do not need agents for selling a house, they do feck all, just walk into any estate agents and you will see how hard they work!!!

[DimPrawn]

sell it yourself on the web, from £50.

Put it on right move and asserta home from £100.

I did that a while back. The level of interest is much lower and you get all sorts of muppets who clearly are not in any position to buy wasting your time.

It's the age old argument of what value do agents give in any business. One value add they give is filtering out the riff-raff and time wasters (generally) and in helping make the buy decision (by talking up the market and generally bulltulipting the level of interest in the property).

Try the Internet only route by all means but my experience of it is it still needs humans chasing people, doing the sales pitch and putting a bit of pressure on the prospective buyers.

You can try doing this yourself but it doesn't come across in the same way as an 3rd party (agent) doing it.

[Jesus]

On say a £500K house (average contractor house) that's still £5K for a few photos a floorplan and a side of A4.

Surely there's a cheaper way to sell your house these days?

sell it yourself on the web, from £50.

Put it on right move and asserta home from £100.

[chock]

yeah well at least I dont spend my weekends in PCWorld ! Looooooser !

come on chap, you used that one about three times yesterday.........

[oraclesmith]

Some estate agents have adopted a new model in light of the inroads the Internet is making into their business and the wasted efforts in marketing properties which are far too expensive to sell quickly.

It's an idea I had a few years ago, but never pursued because I have no estate agency background. The basic idea is that instead of a commission, you take it back to basics and sell the sellers marketing packages for their property. The best properties sell quickly, so the sellers of the best properties come to you to save money - and the buyers will come to you because you have the best properties for sale - and the sellers will almost certainly have you as sole agent so the other agents don't get a look in. You bill the seller upfront fees per week for different levels of marketing package. They can then see what they are getting. The only downside is that the sellers need to pay up front rather than out the amount on their mortgage - but it's a small downside. The worst properties will cost the sellers a lot to sell, which means they are more likely to reduce the price quicker, thus securing yet more sales.

Anyhow, one estate agency round here has gone that way and been very successful.

[DimPrawn]

On say a £500K house (average contractor house) that's still £5K for a few photos a floorplan and a side of A4.

Surely there's a cheaper way to sell your house these days?

[Baobab]

I just paid 1%, they dropped it by a quarter because they reckoned on a quick sale (took 3 weeks all in).Most expensive quote was 1.5% and included virtual tour pics on the agents website.

[Jesus]

Andrew, you are 42 and still play with that sock puppet. It is time to move out of your Mums and get a life.

By Jesus