Is it actually worth going with an estate agent?
Discussion
Given that anyone looking for a property these days is going to be looking on Rightmove/move market etc I’m wondering if there is any point whatsoever in going with a traditional agent instead of doing your own photos and using a flat rate company (eg Purple Bricks) - your house gets listed in the same places online. Who actually phones an estate agent and asks what’s available in an area when they can pick up their phone and find out in seconds?
Thoughts?
Thoughts?
Huzzah said:
A decent one will do more than get an offer, they'll help hold the chain together until completion.
I think this fact is often overlooked in a drive to avoid paying what is perceived to be over the odds.A good one will also act as a buffer between you and the prospective purchasers to avoid any awkward conversations or risking antagonism.
We had our house fully on the market with an agent (who listed it on Rightmove and Zoopla) for about 7 months. Lots of viewings, lots of keen people, no-one who was keen was actually in a position to proceed.
We asked the agent to take it off Rightmove and Zoopla back in October, with the intention of re-listing it around March of this year. However, we left the listing live with them.
When March came around, there was much upheaval in the world, mortgage rates were rising and there was doom and gloom in the housing market. We left things as they were.
We went on holiday in May, and came home to an acceptable offer from a party that was proceedable. The house hadn't been on any of the online property portals since October last year, but was still live with the agent.
In my opinion it's very definitely worth going with an agent.
We asked the agent to take it off Rightmove and Zoopla back in October, with the intention of re-listing it around March of this year. However, we left the listing live with them.
When March came around, there was much upheaval in the world, mortgage rates were rising and there was doom and gloom in the housing market. We left things as they were.
We went on holiday in May, and came home to an acceptable offer from a party that was proceedable. The house hadn't been on any of the online property portals since October last year, but was still live with the agent.
In my opinion it's very definitely worth going with an agent.
I needed to sell my house for £265k to afford a new house. Reasonable number, figure was in the middle range suggested by 3 agents, decent house etc.
I was upfront with the agent (who were also selling the house I wanted to buy!), who suggested putting up for £270k to get that and the first viewer offered £260k, which they negotiated up to £265k - happy days, exactly what I needed. They asked what I wanted to do - but when I asked them their opinion, they thought the buyer would pay full asking. They went back, and I got £5k in my pocket for trusting the agent. Which was less than their fee...
I was upfront with the agent (who were also selling the house I wanted to buy!), who suggested putting up for £270k to get that and the first viewer offered £260k, which they negotiated up to £265k - happy days, exactly what I needed. They asked what I wanted to do - but when I asked them their opinion, they thought the buyer would pay full asking. They went back, and I got £5k in my pocket for trusting the agent. Which was less than their fee...
Huzzah said:
A decent one will do more than get an offer, they'll help hold the chain together until completion.
A fair point, although in our case there is no chain on our side and to avoid suffering idiot buyers letting us down / chains on buyers side we’ve just bought our new house outright (and are now skint!) Some deals, a standard sort of house has an easily agreed price and sells itself to the first of many punters who all value it at much the same number.
An estate agent might struggle to add much value there.
A lot of deals are not like that, a good agent will sell your house to punters who thought they were looking for something else.
Also, sometimes both as buyer and seller, it's easier dealing with an agent than the actual buyer/seller.
An estate agent might struggle to add much value there.
A lot of deals are not like that, a good agent will sell your house to punters who thought they were looking for something else.
Also, sometimes both as buyer and seller, it's easier dealing with an agent than the actual buyer/seller.
Sold a couple of years ago and used Strike who were running a zero fee deal. They advertised it on Rightmove etc and we did the rest. Super easy, I'm happy playing salesman so was fine haggling.
The lowest agency fee we were quoted was £18,000 plus vat which I thought was ridiculous.
I am completely confident that an agency would not have got us a better price.
We spent a few hundred extra using a conveyancing solicitor who promised and delivered same day responses to all correspondance and I had time on my hands so was happy to hound all the other parties on the phone every day to drive it through.
The lowest agency fee we were quoted was £18,000 plus vat which I thought was ridiculous.
I am completely confident that an agency would not have got us a better price.
We spent a few hundred extra using a conveyancing solicitor who promised and delivered same day responses to all correspondance and I had time on my hands so was happy to hound all the other parties on the phone every day to drive it through.
I've found that an estate agent isn't bothered about pressing a buyer to up their offer by a few grand as it makes little difference to their commission. And they'd be too scared to lose a buyer. But it makes more of a difference to the seller missing out on a few grand.
The agent just wants to sell, get a commission and boost their sales figures.
That said, they can be quite good at keeping the chain moving, calling other agents and solicitors in the chain.
So depends what you want, quicker sale - use an agent. Possible higher sale price - DIY.
The agent just wants to sell, get a commission and boost their sales figures.
That said, they can be quite good at keeping the chain moving, calling other agents and solicitors in the chain.
So depends what you want, quicker sale - use an agent. Possible higher sale price - DIY.
I've used Yopa three times now. Flat fee of £1500 and they do everything a 'traditional' agent would do, as far as I can tell.
All three sales were completed without any issues, and all were at or above the asking prices (which were matched to what other agents valued at).
Honestly can't understand why you'd pay several multiples of that fee because they have an office on the high street.
All three sales were completed without any issues, and all were at or above the asking prices (which were matched to what other agents valued at).
Honestly can't understand why you'd pay several multiples of that fee because they have an office on the high street.
1690cc said:
Sold a couple of years ago and used Strike who were running a zero fee deal. They advertised it on Rightmove etc and we did the rest. Super easy, I'm happy playing salesman so was fine haggling.
The lowest agency fee we were quoted was £18,000 plus vat which I thought was ridiculous.
I am completely confident that an agency would not have got us a better price.
We spent a few hundred extra using a conveyancing solicitor who promised and delivered same day responses to all correspondance and I had time on my hands so was happy to hound all the other parties on the phone every day to drive it through.
What the hell were you selling to command £18k selling fees?The lowest agency fee we were quoted was £18,000 plus vat which I thought was ridiculous.
I am completely confident that an agency would not have got us a better price.
We spent a few hundred extra using a conveyancing solicitor who promised and delivered same day responses to all correspondance and I had time on my hands so was happy to hound all the other parties on the phone every day to drive it through.
Huzzah said:
A decent one will do more than get an offer, they'll help hold the chain together until completion.
Agreed - a decent agent will keep things moving along when the solicitors start messing about holding things up. Pretty sure my last move chain would have collapsed without the agent I was buying through keeping on top of things. We sold via an estate agent 4 years ago. They lied to us about our buyer (told us they were 1st time when in fact they were in a chain) Failed to push the buyers in order to meet deadlines leading to the chain failing. When my wife went in to get an update on progress during week of contract exchanges, she was told; "relax, go home and watch loose women!" which didn't really enchant her- especially as the chain broke the following day! OH yes, they also billed us twice and I had to get the 2nd payment refunded. Eventually I was able to obtain contact numbers for both our buyers and the house we were buying and set up a dialogue with everyone to ensure the sales were completed.
Agents? Absolute pond scum.
Agents? Absolute pond scum.
Huzzah said:
A decent one will do more than get an offer, they'll help hold the chain together until completion.
In my experience they do none of that, if anything they muck around and cause issues, not solve them.But then the legal work is even more disruptive, so maybe I should be more frustrated with legal process and how antiquated it is.
brownspeed said:
We sold via an estate agent 4 years ago. They lied to us about our buyer (told us they were 1st time when in fact they were in a chain) Failed to push the buyers in order to meet deadlines leading to the chain failing. When my wife went in to get an update on progress during week of contract exchanges, she was told; "relax, go home and watch loose women!" which didn't really enchant her- especially as the chain broke the following day! OH yes, they also billed us twice and I had to get the 2nd payment refunded. Eventually I was able to obtain contact numbers for both our buyers and the house we were buying and set up a dialogue with everyone to ensure the sales were completed.
Agents? Absolute pond scum.
You had a bad agent. It's not fair to tar them all with the same brush.Agents? Absolute pond scum.
I sold two houses recently and found our agents hardworking, honest, and helpful.
Dog Star said:
Given that anyone looking for a property these days is going to be looking on Rightmove/move market etc I m wondering if there is any point whatsoever in going with a traditional agent instead of doing your own photos and using a flat rate company (eg Purple Bricks) - your house gets listed in the same places online. Who actually phones an estate agent and asks what s available in an area when they can pick up their phone and find out in seconds?
Thoughts?
It depends on whether your house is a fairly easy sell or whether its the sort of place that needs some more expertise to assist.Thoughts?
Agents aren't just there to advertise it ( which these days is with On the market or Zoopla anyway ) but to assist with dealing with potential difficult sellers and buyers and indeed for trying to assist should there be issues with any chains.
Finding a good one though is another matter.
1% plus Vat seems to be about the going " decent " rate for such.
Its about thinking of that as a fee to encompass contingency advice for issues.
I would invite a couple round for a chat before deciding.
paulguitar said:
brownspeed said:
We sold via an estate agent 4 years ago. They lied to us about our buyer (told us they were 1st time when in fact they were in a chain) Failed to push the buyers in order to meet deadlines leading to the chain failing. When my wife went in to get an update on progress during week of contract exchanges, she was told; "relax, go home and watch loose women!" which didn't really enchant her- especially as the chain broke the following day! OH yes, they also billed us twice and I had to get the 2nd payment refunded. Eventually I was able to obtain contact numbers for both our buyers and the house we were buying and set up a dialogue with everyone to ensure the sales were completed.
Agents? Absolute pond scum.
You had a bad agent. It's not fair to tar them all with the same brush.Agents? Absolute pond scum.
I sold two houses recently and found our agents hardworking, honest, and helpful.
We're currently sitting in our dream home due to the hard work, diligence and expertise of the agent we employed. They sold our last house for considerably more anyone expected to the second person to view. The first round of viewings was purely for people on their books - those relying on Rightmove never even got to view our house.
What then ensued was us not being able to find our next house as we had some rather exacting requirements. After 3 months our buyer was getting impatient but our agent kept them on the hook. Said agent then got invited to pitch for the sale of a house that met our requirements and gave us the address before he went for his appointment. We did a drive by and said we were definitely interested. He went to the appointment and told them he had a buyer lined up, got the instruction and we viewed it. I negotiated there and then with the seller and bought on a handshake 60 minutes after the agent had been instructed. The agent then worked hard to move the chain along as quickly as possible to keep our buyer happy.
2 things - Rightmove isn't always the only way houses are traded - our buyer had the viewing lined up before our ad went live, the ad was only live for 48 hours and no one using Rightmove got to see the house. The house we bought never even had any particulars drawn up, never mind going onto Righmove.
And secondly when agents say they have a list of buyers lined up, they're not always lying.
Over the years we've bought and sold quite a few houses and my experiences of dealing with online agents as a buyer has generally been very poor and my experience of the type of vendor who uses an online agent has been similar. My analogy would be going to view a 2yr old 911 to find it's wearing ditchfinder's. Perhaps I'm the only one, but if others feel the same as me then it negatively impacts the marketability. I doubt there's any way of measuring that impact, but online agents have been around long enough that if they provided an equal or better service than bricks and mortar then they'd be dominating the market and they're not.
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