Estate agent advice please.
Discussion
I'm sticking my flat up for sale quite soon, and plan to spend a couple of hours tomorrow going around the multitude of estate agents in high street seeing who does the best deal.
I'm a bit new to all this, never having sold a property before, i'm just wondering if there's anything special i should be asking them, and what sort of things should i be comparing between agents, and are there any potential pitfall to look out for.
just for information, its a smallish market town in suffolk, and we've got one national chain (biggest office in town), a couple of medium sized local agents, and a few more smaller ones. i think most of them are linked in to national computer data base type thingys.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
I'm a bit new to all this, never having sold a property before, i'm just wondering if there's anything special i should be asking them, and what sort of things should i be comparing between agents, and are there any potential pitfall to look out for.
just for information, its a smallish market town in suffolk, and we've got one national chain (biggest office in town), a couple of medium sized local agents, and a few more smaller ones. i think most of them are linked in to national computer data base type thingys.
any help would be greatly appreciated.
Check to see who bills you separately for advertising cost, some include it some don't so that can have a bearing on how much they will take when you sell.
Also have a look around and see which estate agent has the most sold signs on their boards, that will give you a good indication of who markets successfully.
Also have a look around and see which estate agent has the most sold signs on their boards, that will give you a good indication of who markets successfully.
What's your percentage?
What's the tie in period?
Where are your offices?
How long will you keep the details in the window? (important this one)
I'd try the DIY route for a bit at first though. We used Property Broker and sold our last place. I think we spent approx £250 all in with adds etc in the end. The best deal we could get on an estate agent in the area was 1.1% ex VAT. The house went for about 3/4 million. You can work out how much the agent would have cost
What's the tie in period?
Where are your offices?
How long will you keep the details in the window? (important this one)
I'd try the DIY route for a bit at first though. We used Property Broker and sold our last place. I think we spent approx £250 all in with adds etc in the end. The best deal we could get on an estate agent in the area was 1.1% ex VAT. The house went for about 3/4 million. You can work out how much the agent would have cost
Well they'll want a percentage of your house selling price and that is your main opportunity to beat them down on price. See if you can play them off against one another because even a small percentage reduction can equal hundreds of pounds.
Also don't forget you'll have to then add VAT to the agreed percantage once the sales goes through.
You might find that the agents have negotiated a local cartel and that the percentage cuts aren't very different, you can threaten to bring in an agent from another town but do your homework first.
How saleable is your house? You have to be honest with yourself here. If the house is a stunner then (this happened with my last place) the agent may only have to show one or two people around to get his sale, last time round our agent didn't even get the particulars drawn up. So he didn't have to do any work at all, but we knew that and hammered him on the percentage.
If none of that works for you and your house is lets say, average, then try negotiating a sliding scale on the rate, i.e. if he sells it within 3 weeks his percentage is 2.75% if only after 6 weeks then 2.6% and so on.
Hopefully that sounds clear enough.
Things to find out about advertising are:
How long before the sign goes up?
Will they advertise your house in the local press every week or do they split their houses into two groups and advertise each group on alternate weeks?
How quickly can you sign off on the particulars of sale?
The last big question for you is will they show everyone around the house for you, do you want to do it? How big is the house - will it seems small with 5 people in it? I like the agent to do the showings, thats what you are paying him for after all but they can be crafty about this.
>> Edited by Olf on Saturday 18th February 09:07
>> Edited by Olf on Saturday 18th February 09:08
Also don't forget you'll have to then add VAT to the agreed percantage once the sales goes through.
You might find that the agents have negotiated a local cartel and that the percentage cuts aren't very different, you can threaten to bring in an agent from another town but do your homework first.
How saleable is your house? You have to be honest with yourself here. If the house is a stunner then (this happened with my last place) the agent may only have to show one or two people around to get his sale, last time round our agent didn't even get the particulars drawn up. So he didn't have to do any work at all, but we knew that and hammered him on the percentage.
If none of that works for you and your house is lets say, average, then try negotiating a sliding scale on the rate, i.e. if he sells it within 3 weeks his percentage is 2.75% if only after 6 weeks then 2.6% and so on.
Hopefully that sounds clear enough.
Things to find out about advertising are:
How long before the sign goes up?
Will they advertise your house in the local press every week or do they split their houses into two groups and advertise each group on alternate weeks?
How quickly can you sign off on the particulars of sale?
The last big question for you is will they show everyone around the house for you, do you want to do it? How big is the house - will it seems small with 5 people in it? I like the agent to do the showings, thats what you are paying him for after all but they can be crafty about this.
>> Edited by Olf on Saturday 18th February 09:07
>> Edited by Olf on Saturday 18th February 09:08
Have a look in your local paper and see who's most proactive in their advertising. Also, take a drive around the area and see who has the most boards up.
Their 'cut' will depend on how presentable your property is. If it's highly presentable they'll give you a pleasing rate. If they think it's going to be a pain in the jacksie to sell then you're going to be bent over and spanked.
1.5% - 2% is the average in our area. I buy and sell quite a few properties and have the rate to below 1%. If they were to think you had other properties which you may consider selling you may be able to get a better rate
Oh, and, estate agents are the scum of the earth with ideas above their station. Be prepared to have to hold their hand right through the deal. 9 times out of 10 they WILL mess it up.
Their 'cut' will depend on how presentable your property is. If it's highly presentable they'll give you a pleasing rate. If they think it's going to be a pain in the jacksie to sell then you're going to be bent over and spanked.
1.5% - 2% is the average in our area. I buy and sell quite a few properties and have the rate to below 1%. If they were to think you had other properties which you may consider selling you may be able to get a better rate
Oh, and, estate agents are the scum of the earth with ideas above their station. Be prepared to have to hold their hand right through the deal. 9 times out of 10 they WILL mess it up.
eccles said:
thanks for the advice, i've got some good tips so far.
the flats seem to sell pretty well around here, as they get bought a lot to rent on.
hopefully the fact that i'm not immediately buying somewhere else will aid the sale.
drop me an email and i'll happily give you a ring with some advice....I have extensive experience of estate agency due to my job and i'm happy to help you avoid being shafted
Remember the cheapest deal is not always the best. Also remember the agent who tells you they can get £10K more for your house than the others is probably wrong or lying to get your business (and will tell you reduce your price after a month) - do not be seduced by the highest sale price, best to take an average anyway an set your own.
I always ring around as I buyer and assess the quality of the service from that side of the line; fast receipt of details, friendly and informative on the phone etc. Stands to reason that if they offer you a good service they will do the same for your prospective buyers. Also ask about supervised viewings, it amazes me the number of agents who expect me to sell my home by doing the viewings, I work from home so am usually in but they are earning so they should be there and actually "selling" not sitting back answering the phone. Finally, in my opinion, Rightmove.com has become the standard first port of call for the internet house searcher, you will hit a larger audience if you property is listed on here so make sure your agent is signed up with them.
I always ring around as I buyer and assess the quality of the service from that side of the line; fast receipt of details, friendly and informative on the phone etc. Stands to reason that if they offer you a good service they will do the same for your prospective buyers. Also ask about supervised viewings, it amazes me the number of agents who expect me to sell my home by doing the viewings, I work from home so am usually in but they are earning so they should be there and actually "selling" not sitting back answering the phone. Finally, in my opinion, Rightmove.com has become the standard first port of call for the internet house searcher, you will hit a larger audience if you property is listed on here so make sure your agent is signed up with them.
touchingcloth said:
Remember the cheapest deal is not always the best. Also remember the agent who tells you they can get £10K more for your house than the others is probably wrong or lying to get your business (and will tell you reduce your price after a month) - do not be seduced by the highest sale price, best to take an average anyway an set your own.
I always ring around as I buyer and assess the quality of the service from that side of the line; fast receipt of details, friendly and informative on the phone etc. Stands to reason that if they offer you a good service they will do the same for your prospective buyers. Also ask about supervised viewings, it amazes me the number of agents who expect me to sell my home by doing the viewings, I work from home so am usually in but they are earning so they should be there and actually "selling" not sitting back answering the phone. Finally, in my opinion, Rightmove.com has become the standard first port of call for the internet house searcher, you will hit a larger audience if you property is listed on here so make sure your agent is signed up with them.
good stuff. there are lots of other industry tricks that they'll try and pull on you as well as those so beware!
thank for the advice chaps, apart from a couple of useless ones, the rest of the estate agents seemed to be pretty up front.
the fees vary between 1.5% to 2%, but are negotiable, for all of them the tie in time was negotiable as well.
one thing that suprised me was how dear it is just to sell, it looks like its going to cost me the best part of £2.5k just to sell my £85k flat!
the fees vary between 1.5% to 2%, but are negotiable, for all of them the tie in time was negotiable as well.
one thing that suprised me was how dear it is just to sell, it looks like its going to cost me the best part of £2.5k just to sell my £85k flat!
touchingcloth said:
I always ring around as I buyer and assess the quality of the service from that side of the line; fast receipt of details, friendly and informative on the phone etc. Stands to reason that if they offer you a good service they will do the same for your prospective buyers. Also ask about supervised viewings, it amazes me the number of agents who expect me to sell my home by doing the viewings, I work from home so am usually in but they are earning so they should be there and actually "selling" not sitting back answering the phone. Finally, in my opinion, Rightmove.com has become the standard first port of call for the internet house searcher, you will hit a larger audience if you property is listed on here so make sure your agent is signed up with them.
As someone in the business I would say that is good advice - no point picking an agent on commission alone if he is c**p at selling. Internet coverage is really important, as a recent survey confirmed nearly 80% of home movers (buyers as well as tenants) use the internet as their first port of call. In Suffolk Rightmove is certainly the No. 1 site and your agent should be on it.
Don't immediately dismiss the agent that values highest though, listen to his reasons! I have recently sold a flat for a client in central London at £500k and the highest valuation from the national chain type agents was £435,000......
One last point - ultimately the property will be sold by the negotiators in the office, and guess what - they earn commission! The switched on neg’s (the ones you want selling your property!) are much more likely to push their hot buyers to the properties that will earn them back a reasonable amount first. Most neg's earn between 5 and 10% of the company commission. If you do manage to screw the agent down to 1%, consider the impact. Much better in my opinion to pick the right agent, at a fair rate and negotiate a good service, window position, agree an advertising frequency and insist on accompanied viewings with feedback.
Good luck!
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