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[donald]

HI

 

I have an elderly relative who has had their property valued and the fee is given as a set fee which we worked out at 1.8% but the fee seems fixed so if the property sells for less the fee is the same??!

 

We do not live nearby but our local agents are still charging in percentages of the sale price.

 

Is this normal nowadays as they have had 3 valuations and all agents are quoting a fee (not a percentage)?

 

They are in the Bournemouth area , we live in Herts. Also as I have not moved for twelve years what are the rates for selling these days in percentage please(sorry old fashioned)!

 

We dont want them getting ripped off, any idea please

 

thanks Donald

[Reikiranf]

My Brother and I are in the process of selling our late parents property, which is on the Kent coast, we got four estate agents in and they all quoted a percentage from 1.75% up to 2.5% plus vat, and all but one were willing to negotiate.

 

I think that the figure they quote depends on how easy they think it will be to sell the property, so if they won't have to work too hard and will get their money quickly they'll reduce the fee, the estate agent that wanted the highest percentage tried to justify it by saying they advertised in more papers etc, and then wanted £150 on top of that for the EPC (Energy performance certificate) and to use a professional photographer for the photos The agent we chose arranged the EPC for £50 and took the photos themselves.

 

Perhaps Estate agents work differently in Bournemouth, have you tried doing research on the internet to find out? I always start with Google, you could check out agents websites to see what they offer if you are selling and also to look up reviews of agents.

 

Good luck, your relative is lucky they have you looking out for them, I was out of touch last year too, having moved into my house 25 years ago

[donald]

Many thanks

 

I have sold houses over the years and the most I paid was1- 1.5% but not for 13 years

 

I have been told that if I didnt pay 2% I wouldnt get the coverage in press etc but still sold it quickly with a preferred agent.

 

Perhaps my question is what is the going rate these days? Yes we heard people paying a lot for the energey rating my friend paid £130 on her tiny cottage (this varies and we were quoted £50)

 

many thanks Donald

[Bramble]

I would shop around. As others have said some agents include things like advertizing in the fee they quote, whereas others charge this as extras so you need to compare carefully. I would think that whatever % you pay, it ought to be based on the sale price, not initial valuation, otherwise the agent doesn't have an incentive to get you the best price possible? Good luck!

[newcountrygirl]

In Yorkshire it tends to be a percentage fee. So whatever the sale price is you pay the percentage on that. Although some do have a minimum figure which they charge - so as not to end up with a very low fee.

[LittleBeak]

I work in conveyancing and have noticed lately that a lot of agents are going back to a fixed fee charging structure. I think this is basically a sign that they know they're overvaluing properties to get the instructions but don't want to lose out when the property eventually ends up selling for a lot less than their initial valuation! (For valuation, read 'a few thousand pounds above a complete guess at a random figure which appears to be somewhere in the region of a price that sounds about right when compared with other, equally overvalued, properties in the same area' )

 

Percentage fees range from 1.25 to 2.5% in my experience but don't be afraid to negotiate. Also, rather than the one with the glossy brochures and flash advertising, go with the agent that actually sells the most houses in the area - they will probably be the one that gives the lowest valuation but won't ramble on for hours about all the things they offer as part of their 'package' (which ultimately will result in them asking the sellers to reduce the price... probably to the level that the best agent quoted in the first place!)

 

Beware also of agents asking for up-front fees. They will credit the fee back at the end if they sell the property but if the property is taken off the market with them then this money will be lost.

 

At the end of the day, as long as the estate agents put a board up (if you want one), put the property on Rightmove (or similar) and actually answer the phone when potential viewers call, if the property is at the right price and someone wants to buy it, it won't really matter which agent you go for.

 

I speak from personal and professional experience!!

[Willow]

When we sold or first property it was a fixed price fee which meant we were under huge amounts of pressure from the estate agent to accept a lower offer even though the first person who viewed put in an offer. Being more naive then than we are now we took the offer but always felt we'd been had some by the estate agent.

[Aunty e]

We sold our last house privately to a social landlord - we did this for many reasons, we needed a quick sale, we didn't want to sort out a HIP, we didn't want to have to fix the dodgy fence and lethal central heating, and we felt that as an ex-local authority property it should return to use as social housing. But we had the place valued by a couple of agents, and their fees ranged between 1.5% and 3%!!! It was cheaper if we went with one agent exclusively, but we still felt it was a lot of money really, especially given that when I bought our house I never even met our estate agent, and was shown round by the vendor, who never seemed to know I was coming.