Estate Agents Fees

[MsWoolf]

Hi! So I'm about to put my house on the market. It's my first home, so I've never sold a house before and I'm a bit nervous! Moving abroad so won't be buying another place for a while.

My question is really about estate agent fees. I plan on getting a couple round to value the house and then find out their fees. Some people have told me that it is normal to negotiate on fees, is that true? I was thinking could it be a higher percentage if they sell it within a set amount of time for example? No idea if this is normal so I'd really appreciate some insights!

Thanks!

Not sure about negotiations but if it helps, we paid 2k for ours back in 2015 but he got us about 4/5k more than we expected so it may be they have a buyer waiting and can get you more. House itself sold for £112 I think so whatever percentage that is. He actually got a buyer on his valuation visit. No hassle etc

Ours quoted us 1.25%. I said I needed some wiggle room on it and they offered 1% as sole agent. So we went with that.

Priced correctly you will find a buyer very quickly. It is all the other stuff that takes the time
Don’t get me started on mortgage companies who take so long to ask for all the relevant documentation that by the time they get in the last piece a lot of what they have asked for is more than 3 months old and needs redoing

The last place i sold took under 24 hours to get the buyer (who had already found a potential buyer and had been approved for a mortgage) and 28 weeks and 3 days to exchange.

Buyer had to resubmit more up to date pay slips etc to start off with and then one at a time was asked for all sorts of other stuff Then when they thought they had given them all they had asked for so much time had passed that they had to submit more up to date payslips etc for a 3rd time.

Thank you so much, this is really helpful to know!

Get more than 2 round to quote. They can be very different both in terms of valuations, fees and approach. We eventually went with one who we negotiated the % depending on the offer. He got a higher % for getting a better price. We did the maths and were happy with the threshold we set and we basically paid him slightly more if he got what we considered an aspirational offer.
One estate agent refused to budge on fees but most were willing to and/ or change their terms and conditions. For example we also reduced the term of our contract with the estate agent so we weren't stuck with the same estate agent for 6+ months if it wasn't selling or we were unhappy with their service.

I would look to see which agent is selling the most in your area and of your type of place. Some will over value to get the business. It’s not so much getting the buyer. It’s moving it along at pace that is key.