Can you negotiate fixed estate agent fees?

[Alexatancu]

We had a few estate agents (haart and bairstow eves) that came for a market appraisal and have told us they have a fixed rate. Does that mean that their fees are non-negotiable?

I'd say you can try. It depends how much they want your business I guess. If all estate agents are charging the same they might not budge. I've always tried to negotiate though.

It means that if you want professional help selling your home, you have to pay for it. Like anything else. Agents have to pay extortionate amounts to advertise, produce brochures etc. They need to make some kind of profit- if they don’t sell it they get nothing.

I wouldn’t use either of them
Go for a smaller agent, they have less files, so can devote more time to you and they usually charge less
I had 3 local small agents out on my last sale, the cheapest quote was .75% and the agent I preferred dropped from 1% to .80% to get the sale
As long as they are on right move, as that’s where most people look
i haven’t had a sale board up on my last 3 sales

If you choose an agent who can find you the buyer who is willing and able to pay the highest price, and ensure the transaction gets to exchange of contracts and completion, then the price increment you may secure can more than pay for the commission.

If the market is "hot" with short supply of properties like yours, then an agent with high local market share in properties like yours will know all of the currently active buyers, and will be able to help by advising on what is the right asking price to set, in order to potentially secure multiple offers at asking price, which could then get you to "best and final offers" with a chance to sell above asking price. If they are any good then they will also help you to choose a buyer who is likely to proceed, and they will help shepherd the transaction through to completion. In a cooler market the required approach by the agent might be totally different. But agent quality matters in any case - if you can find a good one then they can deliver enough value to justify the commission.

We sold through Savills and they wouldn’t negotiate at all. We tried but they have fixed rate fees, where we were selling at least.

The last time we sold we’d actually bought the house 18 months prior (change in circumstances) so when we came to sell it we managed to knock the EA down from 1% to 0.75% on account of the fact we’d changed nothing in the house and the EPC was still valid so they could just use all the info they had on file - less work for them and I knew they were ok as I’d been on the buying side recently.

My dh negociates the price of everything. I've learnt a lot watching him.

I have used 2 agents recently and both negotiated down, one to 0.5% plus vat and the other down from 1%, plus vat to fixed price which saved a few hundred.

The reality is that whether estate agents will negotiate or not depends very much on area. I sold in Central London and most of the agents there do not negotiate on fees and charge a lot higher than 0.5%! You can walk away from the deal and they still won't budge on their fees. That said, the agent we eventually picked did work hard for their commission and it wasn't an easy sale to get to Completion so in the end I didn't begrudge paying it. I doubt agents charging 0.5% commission will work as hard to get the sale to Completion.

All you can do @Alexatancu is try to negotiate with your local agents and see what happens. Asking for advice on here will not really help you as the markets in different parts of the country will vary wildly.

I have sold 4 times now and always bargained down the %, except the time we used the cheapest in the area (Haart). I say I want to go with them but can they match ‘competitor’ rate. They usually come down by .5 or .25 % , depending.

No, we’ve always negotiated down.

I’ve found it helpful to wrap any fee negotiation with the exclusivity period. A shorter period helps the agent focus their efforts and you know if their valuation is accurate or they were trying to hook you with a higher valuation and then expect you to reduce six weeks in. If you are stuck with them for 12 weeks it gives you less flexibility.

(P.S my sales were all in London. Never spoken with an EA that charged as low as or under 1%)

Yes. Always. Every time we've sold. Takes negotiation and it has to be a sellers market to get this.

As Pp says negotiate with a period of exclusivity. This gets them keen to market and sell within a tight time line.

We got Savills down a little bit but they were still higher than comparable agents in SW London. However they gave the impression of being more professional. They certainly conducted very thorough due diligence on potential purchasers and provided buyer profiles, got high prices and their service felt very end to end. During an 18 month window house 1 was under offer within 24 hours of going to market; house two was under offer before the brochure was drafted/posted on Rightmove.

In my view estate agencies have a bad name because people want their services for peanuts. A really good agent may achieve a price higher than a bad agent. They will also give good advice in relation to price.

For anyone selling best advice I've ever had: have windows professionally cleaned inside and out and replace all low wattage light bulbs with wattage as high as the fittings can take.

Agreed - it’s not always about getting the lowest fees but sometimes it’s worth paying more to get the best service. I rate Savills highly in this regard though only have experience of using them in central London.

What is an exclusivity period? I don't know all this it's the first time we're selling so some advice would really useful. They are charging over 1%

They're basically the only people allowed to sell your house and if it sells another way they're still entitled to their fees - generally for the first 10 weeks or so.

We agreed a flat rate of £1200 with our EA. It meant they're not so bothered about how much the house sells for but if the house is priced right that doesn't matter.

Of course you can negotiate if you've got enough leverage.