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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

to be tired of CF vendors

63 replies

AnnoyedEstateAgent · 15/08/2019 09:49

I’m an estate agent, I am responsible in my branch for valuing properties and bringing them to the market.

Our selling fee is 1% which is mostly standard for high street agents in our area, with the exception of a couple of cheapy agents and Purple Bricks etc.

Yesterday I went to value a property and the vendor was the biggest CF I’ve ever met. I went through everything with him, he said he was impressed and liked the way we worked. He then asked fees, I told him it was 1% with no hidden extras and he started ranting about how expensive it was and could I do him a better deal blah blah. I was happy to negotiate and I’m used to customers trying their luck but this guy wanted me to do a fixed fee that would have equalled 0.35% when I said no he told me to “run along and speak to my manager to get it authorised” in the most patronising tone ever!

What I don’t understand about vendors like him is they say they like the way we work, they’re impressed with our knowledge and expertise and they trust us to sell their home - but they don’t want to pay for it it’s like going in a shop and trying to haggle down the price of a tv, it wouldn’t happen.

I understand people want to save money but I think some don’t understand that actually we are a business and we aren’t selling your home out of the goodness of our hearts, we are there to make money!

Grrr.

OP posts:

Bearbehind · 15/08/2019 10:57

I think the percentage fee annoys some people. If you're selling a £200K house and making £2K, and a £400K house makes you £4K, what additional work is involved to warrant double the fee?

Absolutely this.

The fixed percentage fee is ridiculous - it in no way correlates with the amount of work involved in selling high or low value properties.

crustycrab · 15/08/2019 10:58

Polite negotiation 😂 how very British

AJPTaylor · 15/08/2019 11:10

Well it depends.
Last house we sold, 1 per cent was 4500. It sold the first day it went on the market. Luckily I knew this would happen so used house network for a fixed fee of 700 quid.

SeriouslyEnoughAlreadyRantOver · 15/08/2019 11:12

EA are only useful if you are too busy to deal with your own viewings, otherwise sorry but they are a waste of money.

An online agent is enough to advertise on rightmove and zoopla, everything else you can do yourself. I do a better job frankly.

It's the solicitors who are important and do the important work (even if I am sure some people might be able to do without but I wouldn't bother).

nothing wrong in haggling, he asked, you refused, that's business.

let's not forget that the EA who comes to give you the sales pitch is usually the least bad of the lot, but your property will more likely be handled by someone else.

PegasusReturns · 15/08/2019 11:14

I think it's unlikely that estate agents as we know them will be around in ten years.
They made sense before properties could be viewed online through Rightmove and the like but don't seem to do much these days.

I recently bought a property. I suspect the fees to the EA were a good 5 figures.

Despite being registered with the EA I first saw the property online. The photos were dreadful. I called the EA. Chased them twice. The vendor did the viewing. God knows what the vendor got for his money.

MarieIVanArkleStinks · 15/08/2019 11:18

Purchasers are CFs too. Our vendor was the best of them: there was no interaction and no demands made by us as purchasers between the initial negotiation stage and the day of completion. She left us a bottle of wine and some Molten Brown shower gel on the day we moved in, bless her.

Our purchaser was another matter, with one stupid question/demand after another. 'Why isn't the chimney breast in the exact middle of the living area?' Because it isn't. 'Is there any possibility it can be moved?' 'Er, no love, there's a fucking flue behind it'. 'How many times has the chimney been swept? When was the last occasion? I want it swept before you vacate the property?' (Us: no). 'Please trim all bushes before vacating the property; I don't want to have the responsibility'. (Request complied with). 'I want an in-depth survey of the entire property because there's a residual asbestos pipe in the loft [that's doing no harm unless moved] and I want you to pay for it'. (Us: 'no').

Honestly, if I hadn't been so mad keen to ensure we got the sale on the house we were buying, I'd have told her to go piss up a rope.

The world's full of CFs.

Original poster

AnnoyedEstateAgent · 15/08/2019 11:23

Oh gosh some of you have had some awful experiences of estate agents! We’re not all horrendous - promise

OP posts:

highheelsandbobblehats · 15/08/2019 11:25

'Why isn't the chimney breast in the exact middle of the living area?' Because it isn't. 'Is there any possibility it can be moved?' 'Er, no love, there's a fucking flue behind it'.

This is gold.

Palaver1 · 15/08/2019 11:31

Years ago the estate agent would take you to the house negotiate viewing times be there sort of talk you through the ups and Downs as well as have good knowledge of the area schools, gps ,that sort of thing nowdays they don’t even bother to go to the house and if they do they take along a couple of buyers to view.
So I can see why a seller could be quite cool towards an EA.
I do feel for the estate agent, she was doing her job and did not need to be treated in such a manner she was hurt and hence the post.

jimmyhill · 15/08/2019 11:33

So, say "no" and tell him to take his business elsewhere if he can't afford to pay what your will cost.

It's a business negotiation not a date.

jimmyhill · 15/08/2019 11:34

We’re not all horrendous - promise

I'll take your word for it, but your industry does an amazing job of hiding you and your many other nob-horrendous colleagues.

decisionsindecisions · 15/08/2019 11:34

I work at a solicitors and we charge £650.00 plus VAT for dealing with the conveyancing for a sale or purchase. This is flat fee whether your house is on the market for £150,000 or £1,000.000. The only matters we charge more for are for leasehold properties and that is only because there is extra work for dealing with this type of transaction.

Meanwhile estate agents are charging a percentage of the sale price. I have also worked at an estate agents in my (much) younger days and I can tell you which, out of estate agents and solicitors, do more work and what requires more knowledge. I am not surprised clients are kicking back against % fees charged by estate agents.

I am certain btw that not all solicitors charge a flat fee but those in my town all do. There is a tacit "agreement" between firms of solicitors about what is fair to charge a client.

Fowles94 · 15/08/2019 11:39

1% is a very reasonable fee. Maybe he would like to do all the hard work and sell his own house if he thinks your service is worth so little.

jimmyhill · 15/08/2019 11:41

I am certain btw that not all solicitors charge a flat fee but those in my town all do. There is a tacit "agreement" between firms of solicitors about what is fair to charge a client

Really now? Don't tell the Competition and Markets Authority about that!

loobyloo1234 · 15/08/2019 11:53

I paid 1.5% to the EA for selling mine. However I had to do the viewing myself (first people bought it) - maybe I need to be an EA actually ...

decisionsindecisions · 15/08/2019 11:54

It's more about not driving up fees, or, at the other end of the scale, ending up working for nothing in a race to the bottom.

Clients want and expect a quality service. It is not like buying a television. Your solicitor is also acting for your lender, if you you need a mortgage.

We have to ensure that the client is purchasing a marketable title with all of the relevant planning permissions/building regs etc and obtaining and advising on the results of searches. We can and would be sued (rightly) by a client who purchases a property with problems with the title or if we don't pick up on something in the searches that could be relevant.

If you are buying a leasehold property we have to check the lease and advise clients on the terms of this. For example if the rent has doubling provisions, what the risks of this are (if it goes over £250.00 outside of London this means that your lease falls within an Assured Shorthold Tenancy which some lenders will not lend against).

I appreciate that estate agents have expenses to pay but it might be more constructive to explain to clients what the fee is and why it is at the level that it is at and how this is broken down. Explaining why the fee is more that PB might charge tells the client what they can expect for the additional money that is being charged and not just a flat percentage, regardless of the work required.

It is a similar situation to the upcoming change of fees that is going to be charged by the Probate Registry. At the moment it is a flat fee. They are changing it to a banding system and the fee will be determined by the value of the estate. No more work is required for the Probate Registry whether the estate is worth £100,000 or one million pounds. Clients are rightly upset by this.

MissDew · 15/08/2019 12:00

Honestly, if I hadn't been so mad keen to ensure we got the sale on the house we were buying, I'd have told her to go piss up a rope.

Hilarious. Comedy gold. I just stifled the urge to laugh out loud at work !!

madcatladyforever · 15/08/2019 12:00

Meh I get exactly the same in my job OP, private podiatrist.
People often ask for a half price appointment if it hasn't taken the full half hour and create quite a scene.
I always so so, whether your appointment is for 10 minutes or 40 minute you are paying a fixed price for my expertise in the field. It's irrelevant how many minutes the appointment was.
I've found more and more people are trying to get a bargain and I get this most days.

Scratch22 · 15/08/2019 12:06

I think people don't realise how much estate agents do. The cost of agents subscribing to Rightmove is extortionate. Then for each property you have the initial outlay of producing brochures including photos and floorplans, booking a regular spot in the local newspaper as well as the time and petrol showing people round. This is all before you know if it will even get sold.

TeaForTara · 15/08/2019 12:09

If 0.35% is an insult but you are prepared to negotiate, how far would you be prepared to reduce the 1% to?

jimmyhill · 15/08/2019 12:25

It's more about not driving up fees, or, at the other end of the scale, ending up working for nothing in a race to the bottom.

A tacit agreement between competitors not to raise or lower prices is called a cartel!

DollyPomPoms · 15/08/2019 12:35

As a Conveyancer I think you are being VU. Have you seen what I have to charge? A fraction of your fee.

herculepoirot2 · 15/08/2019 12:37

I think some people are very cheeky, yes. You have set a price which you think is realistic. Demanding a discount of that size for no reason whatsoever is indeed very cheeky, and talking to you like you’re an idiot just compounds the cheek. But you won’t get people on here to agree.

FatherBuzzCagney · 15/08/2019 12:53

The last time I sold a house the EA was excellent - did a brilliant job of selling it quickly for the price I wanted. She put up with me proof-reading the brochure (what is it with EAs and their weird use of language?) and was always quick to get back to me when I had any queries.

Generally, and this may just be my experience rather than anything more widespread, female EAs are much better to deal with than male EAs, at least as a female seller/buyer - they speak to you as if you are an intelligent adult. The male EAs I've dealt with have all been patronising twats.

Bearbehind · 15/08/2019 12:55

OP, could you respond to the question about why you believe you deserve to earn a fixed percentage of the sale price when the work involved in selling a £100k isn’t 10 times less than selling a £1m house?

Why should EAs get paid based on the house value when everyone else in the process, solicitors, conveyancers etc, don’t?

As others have said, surely EAs are going to have to wake up to the reality that people won’t accept this much longer. Especially with house prices as high as they are; 1% plus VAT is a considerable sum that people simply won’t be prepared to keep on paying when EAs do so little for it nowadays.

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