Estate Agent Fee's

Author
Discussion

Dizeee

Original Poster:

18,166 posts

205 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
Is it normal for estate agents to add VAT on top of their fee's? I cannot remember if we have had this done in the past.

So for example, selling at 380k at 1% would generate fee's of £3800 plus 20% VAT taking the total fee to £4450 or whetever the exact amount would be?

Jobbo

12,958 posts

263 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
Yes, exactly the same as any VAT registered business providing a service.

If you find an estate agent which isn't VAT registered then they're not very busy so probably not worth using.

gregf40

1,114 posts

115 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
I don't think that was the OP's question.

I assume he means why do the quoted fee's not include VAT - which is something I have always wondered.

You don't walk into a shop and get to the till to find 20% added on.

Bigbox

589 posts

210 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
gregf40 said:
I don't think that was the OP's question.

I assume he means why do the quoted fee's not include VAT - which is something I have always wondered.

You don't walk into a shop and get to the till to find 20% added on.
Presumably to make their prices seem cheaper wink


Jobbo

12,958 posts

263 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
I think the first word of my post was the answer: Yes. They will state that it's 1% (or whatever) plus VAT.

eatcustard

1,003 posts

126 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
I have always been charged x% + Vat or fixed price + Vat

Dizeee

Original Poster:

18,166 posts

205 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
Excellent, thanks.

fridaypassion

8,503 posts

227 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
gregf40 said:
I assume he means why do the quoted fee's not include VAT - which is something I have always wondered.

You don't walk into a shop and get to the till to find 20% added on.
Could it be because estate agents are ever so slightly dishonest?

Simpo Two

85,147 posts

264 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
People look at the first number. '1% + VAT' looks cheaper than '1.2%'.

Burrow01

1,802 posts

191 months

Thursday 20th November 2014
quotequote all
Aren't all non B2B quotations supposed to give the total including VAT somewhere, or is this just on the final invoice?

eliot

11,361 posts

253 months

Friday 21st November 2014
quotequote all
My estate agent did this, who have "1% selling fees" on all their sale boards - I didn't read the small print that said it was + vat, so my fees went from £3000 to £3600.

They still do it now - pretty sure the little *star wasn't on their sale boards at the time.

jamescodriver

400 posts

192 months

Friday 21st November 2014
quotequote all
http://www.propertyindustryeye.com/advertising-wat...

Recent case against an agent for not showing percentage as inclusive..

gregf40

1,114 posts

115 months

Friday 21st November 2014
quotequote all
Burrow01 said:
Aren't all non B2B quotations supposed to give the total including VAT somewhere, or is this just on the final invoice?
Exactly - I believed B2C businesses were not allowed to separate the two.

surveyor

17,763 posts

183 months

Friday 21st November 2014
quotequote all
How are they going to show the vat amount when it depends on the invoice amount, which depends on the price paid, which is not known at the start of the process.

I'ts not exactly brain science.

I'm amused to see that the firm in the case above are still quoting 0.9% + VAT on their website....

Edited by surveyor on Friday 21st November 11:01

fridaypassion

8,503 posts

227 months

Friday 21st November 2014
quotequote all
But they could back calculate the fee so that the 1% is VAT inclusive. Its just dishonest. My website has all the prices including VAT. It makes me look more expensive than some competitors but I personally hate it when you look at something and then you are hit with the VAT almost like a trick. We get the advantage of VAT back on stock etc so why try and hide the charging part at the other end?

SimonD

486 posts

280 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
surveyor said:
How are they going to show the vat amount when it depends on the invoice amount, which depends on the price paid, which is not known at the start of the process.

I'ts not exactly brain science.

I'm amused to see that the firm in the case above are still quoting 0.9% + VAT on their website....

Edited by surveyor on Friday 21st November 11:01
Nor is it brain science to know that as VAT is a fixed percentage you CAN show your fees to include VAT as a percentage of sale price:

1.5% -> 1.8%
1% -> 1.2%
0.8% -> 0.96%

and so on... It's dishonest IMO. We're consumers. The law states that B2C prices should always be expressed with the VAT included.

gregf40

1,114 posts

115 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
surveyor said:
How are they going to show the vat amount when it depends on the invoice amount, which depends on the price paid, which is not known at the start of the process.

I'ts not exactly brain science.

Edited by surveyor on Friday 21st November 11:01
Oh dear.

surveyor

17,763 posts

183 months

Saturday 22nd November 2014
quotequote all
gregf40 said:
surveyor said:
How are they going to show the vat amount when it depends on the invoice amount, which depends on the price paid, which is not known at the start of the process.

I'ts not exactly brain science.

Edited by surveyor on Friday 21st November 11:01
Oh dear.
Ok did not think that one through....

Still see why they are not keen to do it though....