Estate agent fees %

SpeedFreak · 16 Jul 2011 at 16:59

We've had three estate agents around to value our property and their fees are between 2-3%. Having never had to sell before I'm curious as to what percentage people generally pay. I thought the going rate was about 1-1.5% but obviously I'm off with that unless the local agents are price fixing.

Cuchulain · 16 Jul 2011 at 17:04

SpeedFreak said:
We've had three estate agents around to value our property and their fees are between 2-3%. Having never had to sell before I'm curious as to what percentage people generally pay. I thought the going rate was about 1-1.5% but obviously I'm off with that unless the local agents are price fixing.

Possibly a stupid question but have you tried negotiating the fees? It's not like the housing market has recovered yet, they NEED your business.

SpeedFreak · 16 Jul 2011 at 17:07

Cuchulain said:
Possibly a stupid question but have you tried negotiating the fees? It's not like the housing market has recovered yet, they NEED your business.

I intend to, I just need to know the rate I should be aiming for.

edit. I can't take advice from a Derry man with me being from Tyrone lol

Cuchulain · 16 Jul 2011 at 17:14

SpeedFreak said:
I intend to, I just need to know the rate I should be aiming for.

edit. I can't take advice from a Derry man with me being from Tyrone lol

You 'trone boys can't drive btw, I was coming back from Fintona the other day and the amount of headers I saw driving like loons was unreal. But seriously NI estate agents are the worst kind of shifty scum, just tell them 1.5% and you'll go with them for 6 months as sole agents.

feedtheram · 16 Jul 2011 at 17:24

when we were looking one of the estate agents actually told us that we wouldnt find cheaper than 2.5% as all the estate agents in the area had agreed not to go below that amount!

I find most estate agents are special needs candidates - around here they are anyway.

In the end we went with a new startup who was undercutting everyone else offering 1% as he didnt have an office and operated only online. He also sold our property for £10k more than any of the others were willing to put it on at!

SpeedFreak · 16 Jul 2011 at 17:26

Cuchulain said:
You 'trone boys can't drive btw, I was coming back from Fintona the other day and the amount of headers I saw driving like loons was unreal. But seriously NI estate agents are the worst kind of shifty scum, just tell them 1.5% and you'll go with them for 6 months as sole agents.

Lol, luckily I live in Bristol these days, I agree about the driving but we can play football so it's not all bad lol

SpeedFreak · 16 Jul 2011 at 17:27

feedtheram said:
when we were looking one of the estate agents actually told us that we wouldnt find cheaper than 2.5% as all the estate agents in the area had agreed not to go below that amount!

I find most estate agents are special needs candidates - around here they are anyway.

In the end we went with a new startup who was undercutting everyone else offering 1% as he didnt have an office and operated only online. He also sold our property for £10k more than any of the others were willing to put it on at!

Thanks, I get the impression we are in the same boat with regards to the fees.

Windle · 16 Jul 2011 at 17:34

It depends on the value of the property with most % based agents. If you look around you should be able to find ones who charge a fixed fee.

feedtheram · 16 Jul 2011 at 17:39

SpeedFreak said:
Thanks, I get the impression we are in the same boat with regards to the fees.

I get the impression in our area (which is a small but affluent village / town) the agents are all in on this joke that they are ripping people off. They all seem quite pally with eachother and due to the demand for houses never seem to have to work for a sale.

As someone mentioned you can probably negotiate on certain elements but most of the ones we spoke to wouldnt budge.

The new startup we went with used to work for one of the agents and from what i've heard he's become very unpopular as he's taking all the business!

Rotty · 16 Jul 2011 at 18:00

never paid above 1% + VAT, they always try for more but never had a problem getting it down to this

Kali81 · 16 Jul 2011 at 18:16

Are you multi or single agency? multi agency should be around 3% and single should be about half.

Ev0 · 16 Jul 2011 at 18:54

I'd expect/want to pay between 1% and 1.5%.

Simon42 · 16 Jul 2011 at 19:35

Last couple of moves for me have been 1% (single agency). I would pay 1% to 1.5% generally but no more.

They'll often start high and then lower to get the business, but I just usually say I'll take their first price as their best so they should price accordingly if they want the business

Dr House · 16 Jul 2011 at 19:38

The last place I sold They asked me for 3%. I offered 1% and they took it.

dannyjo22 · 16 Jul 2011 at 19:52

I've never paid more than 1% inclusive of VAT on any of the 3 houses I've bought. Mind you there was a lot more houses on the market back then so I guess they were making what they wanted per month from the number of properties being sold. Vat has also risen since then.

Axeboy · 16 Jul 2011 at 21:03

Im in Scotland, but the fees Im paying for selling are fixed at £1500 ish

Thats the fee they say they charge regardless of value.

Edrof · 17 Jul 2011 at 07:39

Axeboy said:
Im in Scotland, but the fees Im paying for selling are fixed at £1500 ish

Thats the fee they say they charge regardless of value.

Sounds very sensible to me. Let's get some of that south of the border, please.

Fuzz · 17 Jul 2011 at 08:20

If you are balking at the idea of giving anyone a stupid amount of money for effectively putting a board up outside your house and placing a few adverts on the web. You could always sell it yourself. There are quite a few websites out there now that cover everything you should be doing.

Edrof · 17 Jul 2011 at 08:27

Scubascorpion said:
If you are balking at the idea of giving anyone a stupid amount of money for effectively putting a board up outside your house and placing a few adverts on the web. You could always sell it yourself. There are quite a few websites out there now that cover everything you should be doing.

This is something I have pondered. Anyone on here done it?

Dr. Pain · 17 Jul 2011 at 10:28

Ive never used an Estate Agent to buy or sell a house, and I NEVER will.