When Will Estate Agents Fees be Legislated?
Discussion
Squiddly Diddly said:
digimeistter said:
We are also providing a service to the tenant, the job doesn't stop when the tenant moves in you know.
I would say that you are still representing the landlord.Letting agents are providing a service on behalf of the landlord to the tenant. The tenant is not their client.
As for “we’ll just increase the rental”, that is not how economics works, as evidenced by falling rents in London currently.
loafer123 said:
Absolutely.
Letting agents are providing a service on behalf of the landlord to the tenant. The tenant is not their client.
As for “we’ll just increase the rental”, that is not how economics works, as evidenced by falling rents in London currently.
Agreed to a point, I do act on behalf of the landlord but also provide a good service to my tenant's in getting any repairs and maintenance carried out swiftly, helping them when their circumstances change, they are also my clients.Letting agents are providing a service on behalf of the landlord to the tenant. The tenant is not their client.
As for “we’ll just increase the rental”, that is not how economics works, as evidenced by falling rents in London currently.
As for your economic advice, it's simply supply and demand my friend, we get on average 25-30 enquiries per property minimum, within days of marketing.
( No idea about London though) but that is it's own bubble.
digimeistter said:
loafer123 said:
Absolutely.
Letting agents are providing a service on behalf of the landlord to the tenant. The tenant is not their client.
As for “we’ll just increase the rental”, that is not how economics works, as evidenced by falling rents in London currently.
Agreed to a point, I do act on behalf of the landlord but also provide a good service to my tenant's in getting any repairs and maintenance carried out swiftly, helping them when their circumstances change, they are also my clients.Letting agents are providing a service on behalf of the landlord to the tenant. The tenant is not their client.
As for “we’ll just increase the rental”, that is not how economics works, as evidenced by falling rents in London currently.
As for your economic advice, it's simply supply and demand my friend, we get on average 25-30 enquiries per property minimum, within days of marketing.
( No idea about London though) but that is it's own bubble.
As for my economic advice, on that basis, surely you should be doubling rents?!
digimeistter said:
Squiddly Diddly said:
You are providing a service to the landlord, it is therefore the landlord that should pay your fees.
We are also providing a service to the tenant, the job doesn't stop when the tenant moves in you know.Makes me laugh a little when I read these post about being ripped off, really , you don’t know how well you have it in England
I live in the US (NYC) and if you want to rent you have to pay 1 months rent as a fee to the agent, just to clarify, the rentor pays the fee of 1 months rent.
It took several attempts by the real estate person to explain exactly why I’m paying him usd 3500 to sign a contract.
I found my place online, virtually no pictures and no plans other than the address, and so USD3500 to the realtor, thank you very much!
It’s the same out of the city too, upstate New York etc .
If your selling it gets worse,
You HAVE to have a real estate agent to BUY a property, sellers real estate agent won’t talk to you directly ( keeping it in the club) they say you( the buyer) get them for free but....
The seller pays a 6 pct fee, yep that’s 30k to sell a 500k ( a cheap property here) house , 3 pct to them and 3 pct to (your) real estate agent.
For that you will never even meet the sellers real estate agent, they just take photos, photo shop fake furniture in pictures and do a blurb.
Youre real estate agent( ie the buyer) gets a key code to let you in and that’s it, they won’t know the house and give you any insight.
So, yes it’s a pain paying fees, but at least it’s controled in the UK !
I live in the US (NYC) and if you want to rent you have to pay 1 months rent as a fee to the agent, just to clarify, the rentor pays the fee of 1 months rent.
It took several attempts by the real estate person to explain exactly why I’m paying him usd 3500 to sign a contract.
I found my place online, virtually no pictures and no plans other than the address, and so USD3500 to the realtor, thank you very much!
It’s the same out of the city too, upstate New York etc .
If your selling it gets worse,
You HAVE to have a real estate agent to BUY a property, sellers real estate agent won’t talk to you directly ( keeping it in the club) they say you( the buyer) get them for free but....
The seller pays a 6 pct fee, yep that’s 30k to sell a 500k ( a cheap property here) house , 3 pct to them and 3 pct to (your) real estate agent.
For that you will never even meet the sellers real estate agent, they just take photos, photo shop fake furniture in pictures and do a blurb.
Youre real estate agent( ie the buyer) gets a key code to let you in and that’s it, they won’t know the house and give you any insight.
So, yes it’s a pain paying fees, but at least it’s controled in the UK !
digimeistter said:
Agreed to a point, I do act on behalf of the landlord but also provide a good service to my tenant's in getting any repairs and maintenance carried out swiftly, helping them when their circumstances change, they are also my clients.
As for your economic advice, it's simply supply and demand my friend, we get on average 25-30 enquiries per property minimum, within days of marketing.
( No idea about London though) but that is it's own bubble.
Repairs and maintenance are the responsibility of the landlord. Any assistance you provide is on behalf of the landlord.As for your economic advice, it's simply supply and demand my friend, we get on average 25-30 enquiries per property minimum, within days of marketing.
( No idea about London though) but that is it's own bubble.
What help to you pride the tenant that would not otherwise have to be provided by the landlord?
If you get so many enquiries per property why are you not asking for more rent now?
digimeistter said:
No conflict of interest here, just a duty to all parties I do business with.
Works for me
But not for the tenants. Just wait until you start billing your clients (the landlords) for 10% of the monthly rent plus admin fees plus inspection fees plus getting up out of bed in the morning fees, and see whether they are willing to pay you. If the rents do go up, as you seem confident that they will, I predict that the additional money will be staying in the landlord's pocket, not yours.Works for me
Appears to be a slight confusion here between managed and non managed lets.
As said before, I understand fees for checking your financial liability but when the only involvement of the agent is to advertise the property on behalf of the landlord, then the agent is only working for the landlord and why should I as a potential tenant hand over money just because I looked online or in the window.
After all, if I see a car on PH classifieds that I want to buy, one doesn't then hand over £500 to PH because I want to buy it.
When a tenant is in a managed property with 24 hour call out for repairs then I understand the extra cost.
As said before, I understand fees for checking your financial liability but when the only involvement of the agent is to advertise the property on behalf of the landlord, then the agent is only working for the landlord and why should I as a potential tenant hand over money just because I looked online or in the window.
After all, if I see a car on PH classifieds that I want to buy, one doesn't then hand over £500 to PH because I want to buy it.
When a tenant is in a managed property with 24 hour call out for repairs then I understand the extra cost.
digimeistter said:
No conflict of interest here, just a duty to all parties I do business with.
Works for me
Tenant: I want to pay as little as possible for as much as possible.Works for me
Landlord: I want to charge as much as possible for doing as little as possible.
Yup, can’t see a conflict of interests here!
i welcome it, and i'm a landlord. I have never charged any admin fees of any type. infact i'm waiting to see the fallout from this, and potentially starting up a letting agency myself, obviously with no fees whatsoever for the tenant, and minimal to the landlord.
The industry has shot itself in the foot through very little self management and regulation of the fees, and they were extortionate in some instances. hence why the tenant fees ban is long overdue, and rightly so very harsh.
As far as i can tell the only fees allowed throughout the tenancy are lost keys and late payment of rent, both of which are scrutanised as well to avoid any profiteering. any attempt to get around the fees, such as getting the tenant to do their own credit check via a 3rd party are also banned as its seen as a fee.
Some might say this ban will just inflate rents, but there is a limit to how much the market can swallow with rent increases, so competition will keep any forwarding of fees to a minimum i reckon.
The industry has shot itself in the foot through very little self management and regulation of the fees, and they were extortionate in some instances. hence why the tenant fees ban is long overdue, and rightly so very harsh.
As far as i can tell the only fees allowed throughout the tenancy are lost keys and late payment of rent, both of which are scrutanised as well to avoid any profiteering. any attempt to get around the fees, such as getting the tenant to do their own credit check via a 3rd party are also banned as its seen as a fee.
Some might say this ban will just inflate rents, but there is a limit to how much the market can swallow with rent increases, so competition will keep any forwarding of fees to a minimum i reckon.
The other benefit of outlawing these fees is transparency.
At the moment the Landlord appoints the agent on the basis of what the cost is to the Landlord he/she doesn't know or probably know or care how much the tenant pays the agent. This means the agents can charge excessive fees to tenants but no upset the Landlords. If these are now charged to the Landlord they will appoint an Agent with the total cost of fees in mind.
The changes also mean prospective tenants can compare the total cost of renting a property as hidden fees will be removed from the equation.
At the moment the Landlord appoints the agent on the basis of what the cost is to the Landlord he/she doesn't know or probably know or care how much the tenant pays the agent. This means the agents can charge excessive fees to tenants but no upset the Landlords. If these are now charged to the Landlord they will appoint an Agent with the total cost of fees in mind.
The changes also mean prospective tenants can compare the total cost of renting a property as hidden fees will be removed from the equation.
satans worm said:
Makes me laugh a little when I read these post about being ripped off, really , you don’t know how well you have it in England
I live in the US (NYC) and if you want to rent you have to pay 1 months rent as a fee to the agent, just to clarify, the rentor pays the fee of 1 months rent.
It took several attempts by the real estate person to explain exactly why I’m paying him usd 3500 to sign a contract.
I found my place online, virtually no pictures and no plans other than the address, and so USD3500 to the realtor, thank you very much!
It’s the same out of the city too, upstate New York etc .
If your selling it gets worse,
You HAVE to have a real estate agent to BUY a property, sellers real estate agent won’t talk to you directly ( keeping it in the club) they say you( the buyer) get them for free but....
The seller pays a 6 pct fee, yep that’s 30k to sell a 500k ( a cheap property here) house , 3 pct to them and 3 pct to (your) real estate agent.
For that you will never even meet the sellers real estate agent, they just take photos, photo shop fake furniture in pictures and do a blurb.
Youre real estate agent( ie the buyer) gets a key code to let you in and that’s it, they won’t know the house and give you any insight.
So, yes it’s a pain paying fees, but at least it’s controled in the UK !
Agree, people in the UK want everything for either nothing or at very little cost. We are all guilty of it, particularly when it comes to services. I don't oppose the ban as it some agent went too far, however, stuff costs money. Running a business isn't free and advertising/marketing costs are very high for estate agencies. I live in the US (NYC) and if you want to rent you have to pay 1 months rent as a fee to the agent, just to clarify, the rentor pays the fee of 1 months rent.
It took several attempts by the real estate person to explain exactly why I’m paying him usd 3500 to sign a contract.
I found my place online, virtually no pictures and no plans other than the address, and so USD3500 to the realtor, thank you very much!
It’s the same out of the city too, upstate New York etc .
If your selling it gets worse,
You HAVE to have a real estate agent to BUY a property, sellers real estate agent won’t talk to you directly ( keeping it in the club) they say you( the buyer) get them for free but....
The seller pays a 6 pct fee, yep that’s 30k to sell a 500k ( a cheap property here) house , 3 pct to them and 3 pct to (your) real estate agent.
For that you will never even meet the sellers real estate agent, they just take photos, photo shop fake furniture in pictures and do a blurb.
Youre real estate agent( ie the buyer) gets a key code to let you in and that’s it, they won’t know the house and give you any insight.
So, yes it’s a pain paying fees, but at least it’s controled in the UK !
RanchoGrande said:
Agree, people in the UK want everything for either nothing or at very little cost. We are all guilty of it, particularly when it comes to services. I don't oppose the ban as it some agent went too far, however, stuff costs money. Running a business isn't free and advertising/marketing costs are very high for estate agencies.
Still not sure why the buyer (the tenant) has to pay fees. You don't pay fees to buy something from eBay/Autotrader/Joe's Cars. The seller pays the fees as the agent/magazine/advertiser is working for them.Actually scrub what I said about cars as I see that the likes of the car supermarkets and Dobles Honda all add an admin fee to the price of the car/bike.
They are all bloody at it.
digimeistter said:
Another ill conceived piece of legislation.
I own a letting agents, our fees have always been very reasonable.
£50 referencing fee per tenant
£195 Admin fee
£60 Inventory
I fully understand that something had to be done as some agents have been royally taking the piss with their fees.
However there is a material cost for finding, referencing and checking in good quality tenants.
So guess what? The landlord will be charged and that cost will be passed on to the tenants by way of rent increase, all our properties will be subject to a £50pcm rent increase upon renewal after 1st June and all the other agents I have talked to will be doing similar.
What they should have done was cap tenant fees at £250-£300 index linked.
Out of interest what are the fees and costs that you typically charge a Landlord?I own a letting agents, our fees have always been very reasonable.
£50 referencing fee per tenant
£195 Admin fee
£60 Inventory
I fully understand that something had to be done as some agents have been royally taking the piss with their fees.
However there is a material cost for finding, referencing and checking in good quality tenants.
So guess what? The landlord will be charged and that cost will be passed on to the tenants by way of rent increase, all our properties will be subject to a £50pcm rent increase upon renewal after 1st June and all the other agents I have talked to will be doing similar.
What they should have done was cap tenant fees at £250-£300 index linked.
craigjm said:
Squiddly Diddly said:
craigjm said:
Of course they do in a strange way. When you price things for sale you price it based on any costs you are going to incur as best as you can. As long as that doesn’t price you out of the market why would you not?
So market driven then.croyde said:
RanchoGrande said:
Agree, people in the UK want everything for either nothing or at very little cost. We are all guilty of it, particularly when it comes to services. I don't oppose the ban as it some agent went too far, however, stuff costs money. Running a business isn't free and advertising/marketing costs are very high for estate agencies.
Still not sure why the buyer (the tenant) has to pay fees. You don't pay fees to buy something from eBay/Autotrader/Joe's Cars. The seller pays the fees as the agent/magazine/advertiser is working for them.Actually scrub what I said about cars as I see that the likes of the car supermarkets and Dobles Honda all add an admin fee to the price of the car/bike.
They are all bloody at it.
craigjm said:
Squiddly Diddly said:
craigjm said:
Of course they do in a strange way. When you price things for sale you price it based on any costs you are going to incur as best as you can. As long as that doesn’t price you out of the market why would you not?
So market driven then.Gassing Station | News, Politics & Economics | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff