Sole or Joint Sole agents? Also agent fees & structures in SW London

[SoTiredNeedHoliday]

Hello,
first time selling a property and need a little education on how to proceed. Should I go Joint Sole or Sole? I can see arguments for both sides.

I've spoke to 5 agents and been given proposals between 1-2% with most of them around 1.25-1.35%.

I am also looking at using a sliding scale i.e
say 1.25% for my target price
1.1% for anything £50,000 below my target price and
1.95% for anything above my target

Any thoughts, advice or opinions?

Have you included the VAT in the % fee?
Why would you want joint agents?
Most people looking will look at all the agents and hopefully all the online portals
It does vary and some don't advertise everywhere now

@Digimoor I've been told that having 2 agents can increase their focus on getting the house sold for the top price.
If you only have 1 they have the commission 'in the bag' with what is their "top offer" but have they worked hard to get the best offer?

Two agents would hopefully have 2 different buyers books of people actively looking from day 1 of the property listing?

Though I am in 2 minds still.

Yes vat within the %

You are massively overthinking. Go with a good local agent rather than one of the bigger chains. Sole agent 1% plus VAT is what you should be aiming for. Unless your property is especially niche it will basically sell itself. What is your price point?

In my opinion as a buyer coming on the market with two agents = desperate to sell, may accept lower offers.

We sold within a few weeks and when the sale fell through we were very tempted to do a multi-agency as the 12 week contract was up but we stuck with the same agent and sold again within a few weeks.

People use online portals, you dont need multiple agencies. You need one professional agency who advertises across all sites, great photos and some luck!

agree about multiple agents = desperate to sell

Yep, joint agents looks naive and desperate. It all goes on PrimeLocation/RightMove anyway.

What size is your property?

I always assume any house with multiple agents has been on the market forever and either has something wrong with it or sellers who won't accept offers.

Why would they have 2 different buyers books? When we were looking for a house we registered with every local agent but basically saw everything on Rightmove

Everyone just looks on Rightmove anyway so no need to pay extra for multiagency. It suggests the sellers are in a big hurry so invites somewhat lower rather than higher offers

If you go for joint agents they will charge a higher percentage.
Find one agent. Be flexible on viewing times and give them a key. Have a sign out if allowed. The sliding scale thing? The percentage they get is not enough to make much difference to them unless you are talking several million.

Definitely agree with PP who’ve said multiple agents=desperate to sell.

Gah meant to say “looks like they’re desperate to sell”

thanks all, really interesting responses.

In your opinion, What makes a single agent push for the highest price?

The agents really do bang on about their off market buyers list being the key, but as someone said above I'd be registered with them all too as a buyer.

based in SW london price range £1.8-£2.1 level

@mondaytosunday I disagree on the sliding scale, a difference of 0.5% to 0.75% makes a big difference to their commission and I think it might be a good way to incentivise. Even on a 400,000 property the commission difference between 1.25% and 1.75% is £2000 (£5000 at 1.25% and £7000 at 1.75%)

Off market buyers thing is a fallacy unless you own a multi million pound property that will appeal to international buyers that use agents to source properties.
Vast majority of people use Rightmove, it’s that simple.

TBH your desperation for the highest price is palpable and I would urge you to take a step back. No one buys a 2m property because of a particular agent. The market in SW London is very mature and the buyers know that there will always be something else around the corner as there are streets and streets of the same sort of properties. Depending on what area you are in there will be a very good established local agent dealing with that part of the market, go with them. And focus less on squeezing out every last penny, it’s not that type of market right now. A good buyer is much better than a high bidding flaky buyer and that is where good agents come into their own

I’m in SW London. At that price point just go for one of big ones in - Savile’s, Winkworth, Hamptons etc. They’re all good and have high visibility.

The main consideration when selling is not hairsplitting over the commission but who will get you the best price, push the sale through smoothly and quickly.

thanks @Twiglets1 I think you are right that most use zoopla or right move etc.

@Eastangular2000 I think what you are hearing from my messages is that I am a novice in selling properties in the UK. I am quite experienced elsewhere though. I know what is a fair price and have a set figure in mind (its even lower than most of the agents expectations, as we all know they quote high to get your business) with that and anything more than my fair price is a bonus.
I just want to ensure I understand the process here and the pros and cons of what different people are advising me to do.

A good agent will not quite high to get your business, that is pretty much the marker of a poor agent. The SW London market is very well established and property basically sells itself so there is no need for agents to push certain houses. Indeed it f they do appear to be pushing certain properties, which is what I assume you are hoping for with your sliding scale, then this is more likely to raise alarm bells for buyers.

If you know what your bottom line is then it doesn’t really matter which agent you choose

main agents won’t hVe sliding scale commissions and won’t even entertain is as they are fixed by their practices as fair as I am
aware.

When I sold I went with an agent that was known in the area. A good property priced well will sell.

Very simply - choose one agent, list for a price and see how it works. If it’s a popular property then you may get offers over asking and if not then you will get under asking price. The market is seeing a shift with interest rate rises so be aware it may take longer to sell a property compared to say when the stamp duty reduction was in place.

I agree with PP that multiple agents looks desperate- either that a property has something wrong with it or the seller needs to sell quickly (eg because they're about to default on the mortgage). This goes double in these days when everyone uses Rightmove so potential buyers see the same property listed twice or more.

All serious buyers will be registered with all the relevant agents.

We went with Savills when we sold my Dads 1.2 million flat in London and they wouldn’t negotiate on their commission at all - not sure if that’s a central London thing or not. The commission seemed painful at first but in the end we felt they earned it.

I agree that you should pick one agent with a high profile in your particular area. Don’t worry about relatively small differences in commission. A good agent will help you throughout the process - not just securing a sale but getting it to the finish line which is often harder!

Would also recommend Douglas & gordon, their % is higher but very worth it. Extremely professional. They also don’t negotiate on the rate either, I think its fair that way. As other posters say a reliable buyer isn’t always the highest bidder.

You can negotiate commission with some EAs and not others. Agreed that the house will basically sell itself. If you are looking as well, you can get an idea of what the buyer experience is like with a particular agent — how easy it is to get viewings, how positive they are about their houses, etc.

As for local agents, I was quoted 3% commission when selling a couple of years ago. This was an independent local agent. I went with a chain and haggled them down from 2 to 1.5% (which was the lowest percentage I’d been quoted by other agents).