Ask an estate agent anything
Discussion
Interesting stuff in this thread.
Back in the day I recall Easter period being seen as the ‘kick start’ period of selling houses for the upcoming house selling season. That the school holiday summer period the market went cold and other examples such as the Christmas period. Do these ‘time sensitive periods’ still apply or is the market now a 12 month business? Thanks.
Back in the day I recall Easter period being seen as the ‘kick start’ period of selling houses for the upcoming house selling season. That the school holiday summer period the market went cold and other examples such as the Christmas period. Do these ‘time sensitive periods’ still apply or is the market now a 12 month business? Thanks.
Thanks for sticking your head above the parapet OP. An interesting read, the market you work in has little relevance to where I'm at. I've little experience with EA's and dont really have an opinion on the trade either way!
Its probably self explanatory, but what sort of advice would you be giving a client who's had their house on the market a little over 12 months?
We weren't contemplating moving, then got looking at a particular property. We're probably not ideal buyers on the eyes of an EA as we not hugely motivated sellers, but were considering it for this particualr house. We've walked away in the end as despite the time on the market, the seller wasn't willing to budge much on the asking having only 2 offers (inc ours) in that time.
Anecdotally it's Purple Bricks who were the seller. You'd think they'd be advising their client accordingly but I appreciate it's up to the seller what they'll sell for. I guess PB have had their fee so are no longer arsed if and when it does sell.....
Its probably self explanatory, but what sort of advice would you be giving a client who's had their house on the market a little over 12 months?
We weren't contemplating moving, then got looking at a particular property. We're probably not ideal buyers on the eyes of an EA as we not hugely motivated sellers, but were considering it for this particualr house. We've walked away in the end as despite the time on the market, the seller wasn't willing to budge much on the asking having only 2 offers (inc ours) in that time.
Anecdotally it's Purple Bricks who were the seller. You'd think they'd be advising their client accordingly but I appreciate it's up to the seller what they'll sell for. I guess PB have had their fee so are no longer arsed if and when it does sell.....
22 this is great of you to do. In North Leeds where I live any house up to probably 800k is sold within a week of viewings on the weekend after its been put up on RM. However when trying to book a slot they refuse to let you view it even though you're in a position to move because "they have too many viewings". My question is, is it not good for the client to get everyone in a position to move through the door not just some to get the best price for the client rather than what feels like putting the agents out making them come back.
My second question is around the stamp duty holiday, when do you feel the housing market is going to crash? I've seen a similar house on my estate be listed for 100k more than we paid for ours a year ago (great for us) but surely there's going to be a crash because estate agents are pricing houses too high because there's so much demand at the minute due of the stamp duty holiday and therefore agents seem to be throwing wild values out there and seeing what sticks.
My second question is around the stamp duty holiday, when do you feel the housing market is going to crash? I've seen a similar house on my estate be listed for 100k more than we paid for ours a year ago (great for us) but surely there's going to be a crash because estate agents are pricing houses too high because there's so much demand at the minute due of the stamp duty holiday and therefore agents seem to be throwing wild values out there and seeing what sticks.
Fwiw not all estates agents ware bad, our last sale via Connells local branch, they were outstanding. They achieved 15% more then what the shysters at purple bricks recommended we market it at.
They then held the sale together despite a difficult seller on my side, and my slow buyers.
They then held the sale together despite a difficult seller on my side, and my slow buyers.
I’ve got a couple -
What is the definition of “sea glimpses”?
Was it really an estate agent who pioneered brown pointy shoes teamed with a blue suit? I suspect it could have actually been a car supermarket salesman...
What’s your opinion on the fallout from Grenfell - are you seeing clad properties failing surveys and legals then becoming unsaleable?
What is the definition of “sea glimpses”?
Was it really an estate agent who pioneered brown pointy shoes teamed with a blue suit? I suspect it could have actually been a car supermarket salesman...
What’s your opinion on the fallout from Grenfell - are you seeing clad properties failing surveys and legals then becoming unsaleable?
richatnort said:
22 this is great of you to do. In North Leeds where I live any house up to probably 800k is sold within a week of viewings on the weekend after its been put up on RM. However when trying to book a slot they refuse to let you view it even though you're in a position to move because "they have too many viewings". My question is, is it not good for the client to get everyone in a position to move through the door not just some to get the best price for the client rather than what feels like putting the agents out making them come back.
My second question is around the stamp duty holiday, when do you feel the housing market is going to crash? I've seen a similar house on my estate be listed for 100k more than we paid for ours a year ago (great for us) but surely there's going to be a crash because estate agents are pricing houses too high because there's so much demand at the minute due of the stamp duty holiday and therefore agents seem to be throwing wild values out there and seeing what sticks.
Good points rich. It seems there are quite a few areas which are selling fast.My second question is around the stamp duty holiday, when do you feel the housing market is going to crash? I've seen a similar house on my estate be listed for 100k more than we paid for ours a year ago (great for us) but surely there's going to be a crash because estate agents are pricing houses too high because there's so much demand at the minute due of the stamp duty holiday and therefore agents seem to be throwing wild values out there and seeing what sticks.
Thanks for all the questions and supportive comments. I know we all love to hate estate agents, but thought it would be insightful to provide a view from "the other side". Need to run off for Easter lunch now, but promise will get back to all other questions...
re: KF senior employee there - was the agent marketing the property KF as well?Message sentReceived, thanks!
I don't know of a single experienced agent who has moved to Foxtons (though I'm working with an admittedly small dataset). I think as a bootcamp it works well for those with no experience and I know some brilliant ex-Foxtons agents, but it's about taking the best bits (work ethic, presenting yourself professional, being proactive) and stripping out the bad bits (overvaluing, being too pushy, etc).
LonRes is actually very useful for BAs. Lots of off-market opportunities on there.
The other part I like about the industry, and the company I work with, is that the industry is SO behind in terms of technology and my company is massively forward thinking. We have a whole team of engineers creating an unrivalled customer platform which I think is truly going to be a gamechanger.
Regarding price sensitivity, this is a massive generalisation and I am very happy to be corrected / told off, but sellers (and buyers) in my area are possibly more commercially minded and sophisticated in their approach to selling or buying a home vs non-urban areas with fewer professional services jobs. That means they recognise there is a value is professional representation of their sale, and also recognise they're unlikely to get the best outcome from their sale by going for a cheap agent.
I've worked in a hedge fund, an oil company, a huge tech company, a small startup... All interesting in their own way, but I find estate agency to be probably one of the most exciting and biggest untapped opportunities for change in the UK corporate world.
C Lee Farquar said:
22s said:
re: KF senior employee there - was the agent marketing the property KF as well?
valiant said:
What do you think of Foxtons modus operandi of flattering the seller with a, in my experience, vastly overvalued price guide to help justify their quite ludicrous commission and then the obvious reductions as the sale doesn’t materialise compared to the competition locally?
What’s the industry perception of the big boys like Foxtons? Are they avoided by experienced estate agents looking for a new challenge or are they used as a ‘boot camp’ for newbies to the industry who’ll then aim to move on?
Don't agree with Foxton MO. They now have reputation for overvaluing within the general public and savvy sellers now have access to a variety of public datasets they can use to inform their own sale price. I work with a variety of ex-Foxtons employees and they have quoted that in training they were told "add £100k to whatever you think the property is worth - that's your valuation". I never intentionally overvalue anything as even if you do a great job from that point forward, you're still going to end up with a very disappointed customer.What’s the industry perception of the big boys like Foxtons? Are they avoided by experienced estate agents looking for a new challenge or are they used as a ‘boot camp’ for newbies to the industry who’ll then aim to move on?
I don't know of a single experienced agent who has moved to Foxtons (though I'm working with an admittedly small dataset). I think as a bootcamp it works well for those with no experience and I know some brilliant ex-Foxtons agents, but it's about taking the best bits (work ethic, presenting yourself professional, being proactive) and stripping out the bad bits (overvaluing, being too pushy, etc).
Dromedary66 said:
Windsor or Balthus?
Ha ha... Open-necked shirt for me.bristoltype603 said:
Hello and thanks for answering this. The impression buying agents try to give is that they use their influence over the selling agent to make sure the agent calls them first before putting it on the open market (also they'll know you're in a proceedable position since this is verified before sign-up). It doesn't surpise me that they'd like a cut of the selling agents commission but I don't understand then why any agent would ever bother to call them and they'd go bust?
One of the other things buying agents seem to tout is access to the online agent only property site LonRes. Is that actually useful?
I would almost always avoid selling to a buying agent on a fee split agreement if I can. However, in the prime end of the market, an agent might charge 2%+ on the expectation that they may need to pay a 0.5% fee to a buying agent. If not, happy days!One of the other things buying agents seem to tout is access to the online agent only property site LonRes. Is that actually useful?
LonRes is actually very useful for BAs. Lots of off-market opportunities on there.
DanL said:
Here’s one - you’re clearly qualified to do other things. What motivated you to pick what must be one of the most derided professions in the UK? Is there really room to differentiate from the other players when the market is (presumably!) price sensitive?
Great question... I think there is a huge opportunity to differentiate and drive up the service level in this industry. That's one of the main reasons I chose to do it - the challenge is intellectually stimulating and I can also see the industry is going to change rapidly over the next decade. I think we are going to very quickly see a shift from "agencies" e.g. Foxtons, KFH, Dexters to "agents" i.e. the individual representing the sale, much more like the model in the US and ANZ. This means agents will move onto a self-employed model where they will "eat what they kill" and the best ones will generate compensation that's more aligned with other professional services such as law, banking and consultancy. This has the additional benefit of stripping out the deadwood we all hate from the industry and will hopefully be coupled with some licensing. The other part I like about the industry, and the company I work with, is that the industry is SO behind in terms of technology and my company is massively forward thinking. We have a whole team of engineers creating an unrivalled customer platform which I think is truly going to be a gamechanger.
Regarding price sensitivity, this is a massive generalisation and I am very happy to be corrected / told off, but sellers (and buyers) in my area are possibly more commercially minded and sophisticated in their approach to selling or buying a home vs non-urban areas with fewer professional services jobs. That means they recognise there is a value is professional representation of their sale, and also recognise they're unlikely to get the best outcome from their sale by going for a cheap agent.
I've worked in a hedge fund, an oil company, a huge tech company, a small startup... All interesting in their own way, but I find estate agency to be probably one of the most exciting and biggest untapped opportunities for change in the UK corporate world.
Do you have any idea why no one in the EA business has offered a charging model that more aligns their interests and the sellers interests? The standard flat percentage model doesn't really reward you for doing a great job.
Imagine you get £550,000 for a place that would normally sell for £500,000 in a heartbeat, you get an extra £1000 (2% fee) but it takes you, say twice the time/effort. Your fee goes from £10k to £11k. Meanwhile shiny suited side down the road is advising clients to take the £500,000 and then moves on to sell another. In the same time you have made £11k and he has made £20k. BUT you have made an extra £49k for your client.
Alternatively you could price your fee as 1% of the total and 10% for everything over a base price of say £450,000. If it goes for £500,000 you get £10k, but if you sell for £550,000 you get £15,500.
I just feel the estate agents are generally inventivised to "get the deal done" rather than to "get the best price"
Imagine you get £550,000 for a place that would normally sell for £500,000 in a heartbeat, you get an extra £1000 (2% fee) but it takes you, say twice the time/effort. Your fee goes from £10k to £11k. Meanwhile shiny suited side down the road is advising clients to take the £500,000 and then moves on to sell another. In the same time you have made £11k and he has made £20k. BUT you have made an extra £49k for your client.
Alternatively you could price your fee as 1% of the total and 10% for everything over a base price of say £450,000. If it goes for £500,000 you get £10k, but if you sell for £550,000 you get £15,500.
I just feel the estate agents are generally inventivised to "get the deal done" rather than to "get the best price"
An interesting thread.
When I left school I joined my parents Estate Agency for a while - this was in the early 90's, they had 3 offices spread around the Dearne Valley, a previous heavily invested mining community that was on its knees. Given that the economy was also on it's knee's it was not a great position to be in.
Over the years I remember the end of MIRAS in '88. Very much like the stamp duty relief, at one point there were 3 houses in the business not sold subject to contract.
Equally in 1992 we were running out of for sale boards, having to reuse manky old ones as there was no money to buy more. Repossessions got the worst ones!
We had 2 fee structures from memory. 1.5% including advertising and 1% plus advertising. At one point we were giving notice on stock that was overpriced (due to the falling market). Those clients on the 1% were often a bit miffed when they got the advertising invoice as well!
The internet was unheard of. Rather than being raped by Rightmove, the local paper did the deed. Fierce pricing without the discount kept the new players out of the market. I think we were paying £1,500 a page.
Clients were difficult, sometimes not helped by us. I narrowly avoided walking into the local advertising manager on her sunbed. She shouted at my dad. She shouted again when I did not turn up to show her a house, although I waited ten minutes after the appointment time, which was actually out of my working time. Can't please them all...
I realised how little future there was when a chap whose house was already overpriced and not selling, brought in the Sun which said house prices were rising (not where we were!), and he wanted to put his house price up...
When I left school I joined my parents Estate Agency for a while - this was in the early 90's, they had 3 offices spread around the Dearne Valley, a previous heavily invested mining community that was on its knees. Given that the economy was also on it's knee's it was not a great position to be in.
Over the years I remember the end of MIRAS in '88. Very much like the stamp duty relief, at one point there were 3 houses in the business not sold subject to contract.
Equally in 1992 we were running out of for sale boards, having to reuse manky old ones as there was no money to buy more. Repossessions got the worst ones!
We had 2 fee structures from memory. 1.5% including advertising and 1% plus advertising. At one point we were giving notice on stock that was overpriced (due to the falling market). Those clients on the 1% were often a bit miffed when they got the advertising invoice as well!
The internet was unheard of. Rather than being raped by Rightmove, the local paper did the deed. Fierce pricing without the discount kept the new players out of the market. I think we were paying £1,500 a page.
Clients were difficult, sometimes not helped by us. I narrowly avoided walking into the local advertising manager on her sunbed. She shouted at my dad. She shouted again when I did not turn up to show her a house, although I waited ten minutes after the appointment time, which was actually out of my working time. Can't please them all...
I realised how little future there was when a chap whose house was already overpriced and not selling, brought in the Sun which said house prices were rising (not where we were!), and he wanted to put his house price up...
Why is it that whenever I view a house which has been on the market for months and months, put an offer in after viewing, and mysteriously they’ve had another offer within the last day or two?
I mean what are the chances!?
I usually walk away at that point.
I’m sure there are honest EA’s, but I’ve never had a great experience in the house buying process from bottom to top.
I mean what are the chances!?
I usually walk away at that point.
I’m sure there are honest EA’s, but I’ve never had a great experience in the house buying process from bottom to top.
How does an estate agent differentiate itself these days? Surely a sale is about the house, not the agent. Anyone can value a house these days with the information available on the internet. EAs’ MO round my way seems to be to ridiculously over price a house to secure the listing and then reduce it 2 weeks later.
crankedup said:
Interesting stuff in this thread.
Back in the day I recall Easter period being seen as the ‘kick start’ period of selling houses for the upcoming house selling season. That the school holiday summer period the market went cold and other examples such as the Christmas period. Do these ‘time sensitive periods’ still apply or is the market now a 12 month business? Thanks.
This year is a little different due to govt incentives artificially driving the mkt. However, generally your transaction activity periods are:Back in the day I recall Easter period being seen as the ‘kick start’ period of selling houses for the upcoming house selling season. That the school holiday summer period the market went cold and other examples such as the Christmas period. Do these ‘time sensitive periods’ still apply or is the market now a 12 month business? Thanks.
January: semi busy
February/March: quiet
April/May/June: busy
July/August/first half Sept: quiet
Second half Sept/Oct: semi-busy
November: semi-quiet
December: quiet
a311 said:
Thanks for sticking your head above the parapet OP. An interesting read, the market you work in has little relevance to where I'm at. I've little experience with EA's and dont really have an opinion on the trade either way!
Its probably self explanatory, but what sort of advice would you be giving a client who's had their house on the market a little over 12 months?
We weren't contemplating moving, then got looking at a particular property. We're probably not ideal buyers on the eyes of an EA as we not hugely motivated sellers, but were considering it for this particualr house. We've walked away in the end as despite the time on the market, the seller wasn't willing to budge much on the asking having only 2 offers (inc ours) in that time.
Anecdotally it's Purple Bricks who were the seller. You'd think they'd be advising their client accordingly but I appreciate it's up to the seller what they'll sell for. I guess PB have had their fee so are no longer arsed if and when it does sell.....
Would not have a client on the mkt for that long... Not surprised it was PB. Having it on for that long is doing more damage than good. I would have set up from beginning what we would do after X weeks, Y weeks, etc etc if no interest. Its probably self explanatory, but what sort of advice would you be giving a client who's had their house on the market a little over 12 months?
We weren't contemplating moving, then got looking at a particular property. We're probably not ideal buyers on the eyes of an EA as we not hugely motivated sellers, but were considering it for this particualr house. We've walked away in the end as despite the time on the market, the seller wasn't willing to budge much on the asking having only 2 offers (inc ours) in that time.
Anecdotally it's Purple Bricks who were the seller. You'd think they'd be advising their client accordingly but I appreciate it's up to the seller what they'll sell for. I guess PB have had their fee so are no longer arsed if and when it does sell.....
They're doing more damage than good sitting on the market for that long! But they have also used PurpleBricks which suggests they don't have a full understanding of how the market works (not their fault; but that's likely the reality!).
Downward said:
Kids are in Year 10 and 7.
If we moved house now, we are looking to move around 15 miles away due to home working changes etc.
Can they continue at the current school ?
It’s a different LEA
Can't give any professional advice on this as one for the school, but generally yes in my experience.If we moved house now, we are looking to move around 15 miles away due to home working changes etc.
Can they continue at the current school ?
It’s a different LEA
DozyGit said:
Fantastic thread OP, keep it going!
Always wanted to run an estate agency, what do you think in your expert opinion are the vital points?
I don’t know if you have watched Stath Lets Flats, do you get such characters in the letting game?
Many thanks!
Thanks. To do well you need to be great at getting in the door of sellers in the area, then you need to have a clear and logical marketing approach you can show to them, and then you need to sell the properties! No great secret, but it's highly competitve and a complete grind. Be prepared for evenings, weekends, holidays to be worked...Always wanted to run an estate agency, what do you think in your expert opinion are the vital points?
I don’t know if you have watched Stath Lets Flats, do you get such characters in the letting game?
Many thanks!
I haven't seen the program you mentioned and don't work in lettings so can't help on that. However, there are a LOT of characters in estate agency (both agents, clients, and buyers) so you can be sure you'll meet a lot of interesting people!
richatnort said:
22 this is great of you to do. In North Leeds where I live any house up to probably 800k is sold within a week of viewings on the weekend after its been put up on RM. However when trying to book a slot they refuse to let you view it even though you're in a position to move because "they have too many viewings". My question is, is it not good for the client to get everyone in a position to move through the door not just some to get the best price for the client rather than what feels like putting the agents out making them come back.
My second question is around the stamp duty holiday, when do you feel the housing market is going to crash? I've seen a similar house on my estate be listed for 100k more than we paid for ours a year ago (great for us) but surely there's going to be a crash because estate agents are pricing houses too high because there's so much demand at the minute due of the stamp duty holiday and therefore agents seem to be throwing wild values out there and seeing what sticks.
First question, yes it is in the best interests of the client to get every hot buyer through the door and give them an opportunity to put forward their best offer. Is there any reason why there are other people getting viewings and you're not? If that particular agent has a "rule" about the number of viewing then - as annoying as it is - you will likely need to toe that line and therefore do whatever they want to get the viewing. I would call them up and ask how you get into a property when it first comes to market. It could just be that you need to call up INSTANTLY something comes to market to get the limited slots.My second question is around the stamp duty holiday, when do you feel the housing market is going to crash? I've seen a similar house on my estate be listed for 100k more than we paid for ours a year ago (great for us) but surely there's going to be a crash because estate agents are pricing houses too high because there's so much demand at the minute due of the stamp duty holiday and therefore agents seem to be throwing wild values out there and seeing what sticks.
Re: SDLT holiday, no I do not think it will crash. Maybe a slight softening, but too many other things driving the market (vaccine, lots of people with savings, people making big life changes due to new working patterns) to really see a monumental drop off. £15k is a decent whack of dosh, but it's not what most people will base decisions that will change the next 5-10 years of their life on (note: I work in London market where prices and incomes are higher than average, so may be different in different regions).
Andeh1 said:
Fwiw not all estates agents ware bad, our last sale via Connells local branch, they were outstanding. They achieved 15% more then what the shysters at purple bricks recommended we market it at.
They then held the sale together despite a difficult seller on my side, and my slow buyers.
Glad to hear you had a good experience. Connells are generally well-respected in the industry.They then held the sale together despite a difficult seller on my side, and my slow buyers.
andy43 said:
I’ve got a couple -
1. What is the definition of “sea glimpses”?
2. Was it really an estate agent who pioneered brown pointy shoes teamed with a blue suit? I suspect it could have actually been a car supermarket salesman...
3. What’s your opinion on the fallout from Grenfell - are you seeing clad properties failing surveys and legals then becoming unsaleable?
1. Assuming you're referring to coastal properties, probably means if on a completely clear day you go to the top floor, pop your head out the skylight, grab the binoculars and stare off into the far distance, you might see something resembling a body of water.1. What is the definition of “sea glimpses”?
2. Was it really an estate agent who pioneered brown pointy shoes teamed with a blue suit? I suspect it could have actually been a car supermarket salesman...
3. What’s your opinion on the fallout from Grenfell - are you seeing clad properties failing surveys and legals then becoming unsaleable?
2. It's an age old battle between the high st agent and car supermarket salesman, and both stories stack up. Agents tend to nail the huge tie knot and occasionally tie clip so that particular combo would have to go to them.
3. Complete and utter shambles. Necessary, but as with anything mandated by the government in a rush, incredibly poorly executed. Most lenders will not consider offering a mortgage against a property unless it has had an "EWS1" form issued (essentially a fire safety certificate). On these forms, there are ratings from A1-A3 and B1-B3. Some lenders will accept some ratings, some will not. The ratings themselves come down to a surveyors judgement on the day of the survey. Some lenders will ask for EWS1 on some buildings, but not on others (which are clear clad). It's a complete nightmare with no clear direction on what is and is not acceptable - so to answer your question, yes, we do see sales fall away due to the cladding issue. However, we prepare all of our clients so they go in with their eyes wide open, and if they do not have an EWS1 form (or remedial works booked if their EWS1 indicates that there is flammable material on the building) then we strongly recommend they don't list until the issue is resolved.
BobSaunders said:
1. Are people leaving london for the countryside?
2. Has covid changed the landscape with what people want out of a house?
3. Why don’t you have a web portal to communicate to sellers, buyers, and solicitors?
4. As an owner of an estate agent, is there a lot of money in it?
1. Yes - but the "exodus" is overblown. It's more of an accelerant for people who were already planning to leave London, rather than a fundamental driver. Interesting, we just last week exchanged on the sale of a £1.4m house. The owners were initially planning a move to Hampshire, but as the vaccine was announced and things started to open up again, they're instead just buying a slightly bigger house around the corner!2. Has covid changed the landscape with what people want out of a house?
3. Why don’t you have a web portal to communicate to sellers, buyers, and solicitors?
4. As an owner of an estate agent, is there a lot of money in it?
2. Bigger gardens, some work from home space (i.e. additional bedrooms) are the main differences. Interestingly, I think proximity to a tube station is less important now - people don't say "I don't want to be near a tube", but they don't ask for it even slightly as much as before.
3. The main problem is that most solicitors are stuck in the dark ages and you need mass adoption of any platform like that to get it to work effectively. One solution is to have a panel of solicitors on the platform that we insist buyers and sellers work with, but unsurprisingly people don't like being told which solicitor to use by their agent. As an intermediate step, we have a progression team which dedicates you a single point of contact through the process from under offer through to complete. They co-ordinate buyers, sellers, solciitors, lenders, other agents in the chain, etc to ensure we move quickly to exchange. We have an existing app for customers to monitor their sales process and will soon be adding a "progression" element so sellers and buyers can keep an eye on key milestone events in the process.
4. Yes, though it is highly competitive and you need to be good to reap the rewards. Lots of agents scrape by. As per one of my previous answers, I think we are about to enter the age of the "super agent" who are the individual standout performers who will work under an agency brand but will be self employed and get 50%-90% of the gross commission income on a deal. Then we will start to see some extremely high earning individual agents. You're going to start seeing a lot more of agent's faces on billboards, social media and more over the next 3-5 years, and you will start picking who you want to work with based on that individual rather than the agency brand above the door - or at least that's my prediction!
blingybongy said:
Is your name Mark and did you used to work in Derbyshire?
If so, after 15 years I still think you're a
and I'm glad I told you so.
It's not and no, but I hope that was cathartic for you!If so, after 15 years I still think you're a
and I'm glad I told you so.netherfield said:
You're not all bad, we're in the process of selling a bungalow, at least the EA would do viewings on a Sunday between 2pm and 5pm.
Not that it took much selling being a bungalow.
Out of interest, why did it not take much selling? I have no experience with bungalows!Not that it took much selling being a bungalow.
Paul the Painter said:
Do you have any idea why no one in the EA business has offered a charging model that more aligns their interests and the sellers interests? The standard flat percentage model doesn't really reward you for doing a great job.
Imagine you get £550,000 for a place that would normally sell for £500,000 in a heartbeat, you get an extra £1000 (2% fee) but it takes you, say twice the time/effort. Your fee goes from £10k to £11k. Meanwhile shiny suited side down the road is advising clients to take the £500,000 and then moves on to sell another. In the same time you have made £11k and he has made £20k. BUT you have made an extra £49k for your client.
Alternatively you could price your fee as 1% of the total and 10% for everything over a base price of say £450,000. If it goes for £500,000 you get £10k, but if you sell for £550,000 you get £15,500.
I just feel the estate agents are generally inventivised to "get the deal done" rather than to "get the best price"
A good point. I think it's a simplicity thing. For my more commercially-minded/savvy clients, I will agree to a smaller base fee with an accelerator of 10% over price X as you suggest. Works well.Imagine you get £550,000 for a place that would normally sell for £500,000 in a heartbeat, you get an extra £1000 (2% fee) but it takes you, say twice the time/effort. Your fee goes from £10k to £11k. Meanwhile shiny suited side down the road is advising clients to take the £500,000 and then moves on to sell another. In the same time you have made £11k and he has made £20k. BUT you have made an extra £49k for your client.
Alternatively you could price your fee as 1% of the total and 10% for everything over a base price of say £450,000. If it goes for £500,000 you get £10k, but if you sell for £550,000 you get £15,500.
I just feel the estate agents are generally inventivised to "get the deal done" rather than to "get the best price"
surveyor said:
An interesting thread.
When I left school I joined my parents Estate Agency for a while - this was in the early 90's, they had 3 offices spread around the Dearne Valley, a previous heavily invested mining community that was on its knees. Given that the economy was also on it's knee's it was not a great position to be in.
Over the years I remember the end of MIRAS in '88. Very much like the stamp duty relief, at one point there were 3 houses in the business not sold subject to contract.
Equally in 1992 we were running out of for sale boards, having to reuse manky old ones as there was no money to buy more. Repossessions got the worst ones!
We had 2 fee structures from memory. 1.5% including advertising and 1% plus advertising. At one point we were giving notice on stock that was overpriced (due to the falling market). Those clients on the 1% were often a bit miffed when they got the advertising invoice as well!
The internet was unheard of. Rather than being raped by Rightmove, the local paper did the deed. Fierce pricing without the discount kept the new players out of the market. I think we were paying £1,500 a page.
Clients were difficult, sometimes not helped by us. I narrowly avoided walking into the local advertising manager on her sunbed. She shouted at my dad. She shouted again when I did not turn up to show her a house, although I waited ten minutes after the appointment time, which was actually out of my working time. Can't please them all...
I realised how little future there was when a chap whose house was already overpriced and not selling, brought in the Sun which said house prices were rising (not where we were!), and he wanted to put his house price up...
Love these anecdotes. £1,500 a page is outrageous. Very, very interesting that you were charging for advertising - that is very common in Australia, but for some reason not here where we do an "all-in" fee. I think that's one of the reasons why agents are not seen as professional - because as an industry we do an awful job of explaining HOW we're going to get the best price.When I left school I joined my parents Estate Agency for a while - this was in the early 90's, they had 3 offices spread around the Dearne Valley, a previous heavily invested mining community that was on its knees. Given that the economy was also on it's knee's it was not a great position to be in.
Over the years I remember the end of MIRAS in '88. Very much like the stamp duty relief, at one point there were 3 houses in the business not sold subject to contract.
Equally in 1992 we were running out of for sale boards, having to reuse manky old ones as there was no money to buy more. Repossessions got the worst ones!
We had 2 fee structures from memory. 1.5% including advertising and 1% plus advertising. At one point we were giving notice on stock that was overpriced (due to the falling market). Those clients on the 1% were often a bit miffed when they got the advertising invoice as well!
The internet was unheard of. Rather than being raped by Rightmove, the local paper did the deed. Fierce pricing without the discount kept the new players out of the market. I think we were paying £1,500 a page.
Clients were difficult, sometimes not helped by us. I narrowly avoided walking into the local advertising manager on her sunbed. She shouted at my dad. She shouted again when I did not turn up to show her a house, although I waited ten minutes after the appointment time, which was actually out of my working time. Can't please them all...
I realised how little future there was when a chap whose house was already overpriced and not selling, brought in the Sun which said house prices were rising (not where we were!), and he wanted to put his house price up...
LetsTryAgain said:
Why is it that whenever I view a house which has been on the market for months and months, put an offer in after viewing, and mysteriously they’ve had another offer within the last day or two?
I mean what are the chances!?
I usually walk away at that point.
I’m sure there are honest EA’s, but I’ve never had a great experience in the house buying process from bottom to top.
It could be bullsI mean what are the chances!?
I usually walk away at that point.
I’m sure there are honest EA’s, but I’ve never had a great experience in the house buying process from bottom to top.
t... However, this actually does sometimes happen. I haven't worked out quite why, but occasionally we have a dead property which we've struggled to generate interest on, then suddenly we have 3 or 4 interested parties at once. However, it's not that common...!2 GKC said:
How does an estate agent differentiate itself these days? Surely a sale is about the house, not the agent. Anyone can value a house these days with the information available on the internet. EAs’ MO round my way seems to be to ridiculously over price a house to secure the listing and then reduce it 2 weeks later.
For me it's:1. Marketing strategy
2. Process management/service
3. Buying agency (helping you to buy your next place)
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