What kind of deal should i get from an estate agent ?

[Shuvi Tupya]

just putting my first house on the market and wondered what sort of deal i should be looking to negotiate?

The house is approx 200k, There is no chain and it is unoccupied and newly decorated and carpeted etc, so should be a nice straight forward sale..no?

Two valuations will be taking place tomorrow and I am thinking of trying to give a sole agent deal for a month or so, with the shortest lock in's possible, or maybe a deal where their commission decreases after the first month?
What would be the shortest lock in's i could reasonably expect to negotiate, and if i refuse to go above 1.25% commission (for eg) will they just laugh, or do a deal??




Cheers.

[al1991]

According to google, 7 grams in a 20 bag

[Kneetrembler]

Shuvi Tupya said:

just putting my first house on the market and wondered what sort of deal i should be looking to negotiate?

The house is approx 200k, There is no chain and it is unoccupied and newly decorated and carpeted etc, so should be a nice straight forward sale..no?

Two valuations will be taking place tomorrow and I am thinking of trying to give a sole agent deal for a month or so, with the shortest lock in's possible, or maybe a deal where their commission decreases after the first month?
What would be the shortest lock in's i could reasonably expect to negotiate, and if i refuse to go above 1.25% commission (for eg) will they just laugh, or do a deal??




Cheers.

Here in Spain the wouldn't just laugh at you they would Piss themselves, minimum % these days even in the present climate in Ibiza is 5%

[Tonsko]

I've got a written contract with 1% commission. Not sure if that helps.

Edited by Tonsko on Wednesday 2nd March 22:55

[Mobile Chicane]

1%. No lock-ins.

[Court Jester]

I agree, 1% plus VAT and adverts, most won't lock you in, but charge an "admin" of a couple of hundred pounds if you withdraw to cover expenses.

[Shuvi Tupya]

It sounds like there are better deals around than i thought, thanks all

[Tino]

Just completed on our flat at 1% + VAT
He had a buyer within 3 days

[ColinM50]

Cor that's cheap. Count yourself lucky. Sold my house in France last summer, BEST quote I could get from a choice of twelve estate agents was 8 percent. And for that they don't even put a board up, just hope someone comes in their agancy. I asked one agent if they sent e-mails out to prospectiove buyers on their mailing list, she said "what mailing list"? They only keep details of people who they've spoken to in the last week or two. We had four viewings and it took six months to sell

[eltawater]

Similar price to yours, 1.12+vat, six weeks sole agency - sold in about 7 weeks but that was over the quiet summer period.

[billzeebub]

before even phoning an agent for a valuation I would spend an hour or so going into the offices of the Agents you are considering and viewing them from a buyers perspective..who is most welcoming, has good advice to give and is professional whilst friendly..also check the websites quality and usability..are the agent signed up to the industry websites ( Findaproperty/Rightmove etc) this is the best way to judge..then when you have a short list make some valuation appointments..once you have done so..(I would suggest 3 as a minimum) then compare fees..choose the agent you feel most happy with and negotiate down to the lowest fee you were offered..in the current market particularly an agent should be just glad of the instruction!..

A good way of achieving strong marketing/offers is to incentivise the agent to sell your property at the higher end of the valuation scale with a higher commission percentage, (as ordinarily an agent will just want to sell the property at the lowest price the vendor will accept as the difference to their commission on a conventional fixed percentage of the selling price is negligible) on a sliding scale down to the lowest valuation and below.