Do I really need an agent to sell my house?

[Saracen]

Totally new to all this, so I'm ready to be told I'm wrong!

I'm considering selling without an agent, or using an online agent who offers minimal services. This isn't just because I'm a cheapskate - though I absolutely am! - but it seems to me that an EA would actually get in the way rather than being helpful. Here's my situation:

No chain, house empty and ready to sell. There's no great hurry, so I guess if it isn't selling I could instruct an agent later.

I live locally and have time to do viewings at short notice at almost any time. I expect buyers would rather talk to the seller directly if possible. I've had the house for 25 years, so I know the house and area well.

House is nothing special, not a period property. Nobody is going to fall in love with it, but there's little to dislike either. The only obvious drawback is that it's on the main road. Decent area, not the worst or the best. So I can't see that it needs marketing beyond professional photos, floorplan and good description on Rightmove and Zoopla. Its main selling points are easy to grasp from a listing: handy location, garage plus additional parking, excellent bus service to major nearby employers, bigger than many 2 bed houses.

It's a "starter house", among the cheapest available in the area (you can buy flats cheaper, but not houses). There's a shortage of such houses at this size and price point here. Everything is 3+ beds, whereas this is a modest sized 2-bed suitable for a small family. So I think the interest will be there.

Admittedly there are a couple of plus points which can best be appreciated on viewing: first it's perfectly functional, newly decorated, and needs absolutely nothing done before you move in; second, it's bigger than it appears from the kerbside.

Am I missing something? What does an agent have to offer in this situation?

The only thing I can think of is that I imagine an EA is quite good at sussing out how proceedable a prospective buyer is. Have they arranged a mortgage in principle, what's the state of their chain, how long should I hang in waiting after an agreed sale if the buyer struggles to complete on the sale of their own house. I don't have the experience to know what sort of delays are to be expected.

Any thoughts would be most welcome!

With estate agent or seller viewings - one will be very predominant. We have NEVER been shown a house by an estate agent. All have been by the seller, so if this is typical round you it's not a problem.

Yes to being careful about the portal and bookings with an online estate agent.

And yes to the value of the estate agent actually being post offer accepted. But then our fees were .66% - not much more than PB fixed rate. So cost it carefully

I wonder if this varies between areas but we bought and sold early last year and all 6 of the houses we saw had the viewings conducted by the owner. We also had to conduct our own viewings, we could have had the EA do it but she convinced us it was better if we did (maybe just lazy/not wanting to work evenings!). We sold to our 1st viewers.

She definitely just said that for her own benefit not yours as a seller.

I imagine it was a fairly cheap estate agents as the more expensive ones tend to do the viewings and that is partly what you pay extra for.

We are looking at properties to flip at the moment. We viewed two at the weekend and were showed round by an EA, although owners were at one but stayed outside. I personally thought the young EAs were clueless and added nothing to the viewing, had no knowledge of local area. I personally don't care who shows me around. I do think selling privately is a good idea and could save thousands. I think Facebook market place and local groups are a good way to market the property. I have heard purple bricks have terrible after sale service so I'd avoid them. Good luck

She would have done it if we wanted, but as we have never been shown around a house by an EA it just doesn't seem to be a thing around here. Maybe it's due to living in a low cost area, so 1% of a sale is pretty small compared to places where everything is £500k.

I'd never trust anything coming out of the selling party's mouths - EA or owner. Nobody's going to say anything other than how great the house/local area is, isn't it? Also I prefer the answers in writing.

Did you do all evening viewings?
IME estate agents don't work evenings and arrange viewings based around their availability. It's easier if the owner doesn't mind doing viewings as it can be whenever.

The real value of a decent agent is in handling the progression. The last time we sold, our agent was incredible- pushing the chain forward, and even stepping in to help look when the people above us lost their property. He also found us buyers quickly when ours pulled out, as he had kept another couple on his books just in case.

He was exceptional, but really proved the value of a good agent

Well we sold to our first viewer who made an offer by phoning the EA as soon as they got to their car! 😁 It was still office hours but only just iirc.

Yes, I was thinking that was the case. I'm hoping chains won't be such an issue because this is one of the cheapest properties around, so might appeal to a first time buyer - though of course the combination of first time buyer and first time seller might not be ideal for smooth progression! It may be naive of me to think there are many FTBs who can afford to buy at all in this area. If I were trying to get onto the property ladder, I think I'd accept that it's necessary to start in a cheaper part of the country.

Hmm.

PB disclosed our recent search history to a vendor after we pulled out of purchasing their house. They disclosed that we had been looking at rentals in the area. We were doing that because the second bedroom was tiny and south facing and we were thinking 'worst case, maybe we can rent it out and buy somewhere else bigger,' which we never told them or PB because they both behaved very poorly.

Their own conveyancer was also shit and it was v frustrating for mine.

Personally I find it useful meeting the vendor at a viewing; we were travelling long distances and I wanted to get the important questions with financial implications out of the way before considering an offer. EAs know nothing about boiler age or history of subsidence or flooding in an area.

You can always tell them to help themselves, open cupboards then come to you with any questions: 'I will be in the garden' so they feel comfortable talking quietly.

People are right about the dealing with everything part tho. Our vendor was an absolute nightmare and dealing with her was 50% of the reason we pulled out of the purchase.

Don't underestimate FTBs. We are in the process of spending 465k as FTBs in our 40s; as the rental market gets worse and worse we will see even more people being forced to buy because other options are pretty bad, possibly looking at areas not known for starter outers.

Just make sure you get the best possible conveyancer you can afford.

You need to be certain of their finances. I would ask for a broker agreement in principle to be provided prior to viewings and I would ask them to provide a copy of their credit report before you accept any offer.

A decision in principle a bit further down the line from the mortgage lender will help reassure they are quite likely to get the mortgage.

An AIP is far less certain these days. Ours said we could buy up to 523k but an absolute ton of lenders didn't want to loan over 400 and our pool for the 440ish we need is very small. We have fab credit ratings. It is because the banks have quietly changed their algorithms and DOUBLED the cost of living for each mortgage applicant and all their dependents.

We may be on the lucky end of this, but we had a very good experience working with a full-service and full-price Estate Agent when selling a London property during 2022. We chose a local owned and operated one who had a very high market share in our specific neighbourhood, and who does really not operate anywhere else. I am quite sure that we ended up with more money (net of fees), less stress, and faster exchange and completion than if we had done it another way.

The already knew a lot of the buyers on the market for properties like ours, and where houses were trading price-wise, so they helped us to set the highest price that would still quickly attract multiple asking-price offers, getting us to a "best and final" situation with a final price well above asking price. They knew which information to ask of buyers in order to assess whether they were both able and also willing to proceed, and transmitted that information accurately to use. They also seem to have known exactly when and how to push or prod a solicitor or surveyor to move things forward.

The market may be more difficult for sellers today, but I expect it is still the case that a good agent adds enough value to more than justify their fee. The main issue with EAs is that one hears a lot of horror stories about the bad ones. But if I could develop confidence that a particular EA firm is good, then I would work with one any day of the week rather than using a DIY approach.

I wouldn't consider properties sold by online agents and definitely wouldn't be comfortable being shown around by the owner or negotiating with them directly.
When we were considering putting our house on the market, we asked 3 RE agents to come over- online agents, agent charging a medium % and a more expensive agent.
We decided to proceed with the highest priced ones due to their capability to push the property more than other two. They did a great sales job, sold it at unexpectedly high price to the first person viewing it (other two valued the house at 5% lower) and were putting a lot of work in to push the sales through- we were in a tricky chain that was close to collapsing a couple of times.
What I'm trying to say is using a cheap online agent might cost you more in a long run than hiring a proper RE agent to sell your property.

You'd be surprised. We are currently selling to FTBs, and that is at a level that really surprised us (everyone else, including the agent, saw it as a step up it two up from FTB).

FTBs can be...difficult and unpredictable, and a good agent who develops a relationship with them, helps guide them etc is really, really useful.

Now is a good time to haggle fees- 1.1% was the highest we were quoted recently, 0.5% the lowest (you can usually negotiate them down a bit)

Like others, we have always refused to see properties on with PB etc, as we know the process will be a nightmare. At the end of the day, you don't want to be mates with your buyers- you want to be able to have a smooth sale, and a good team around you to facilitate that.

Another one saying that the real benefit to an agent was holding the chain together, finding properties for sellers to move into and whipping things along at a good pace. They generally knew the solicitors involved as well.

Also their photographer was amazing, which frankly is half the battle to getting sold.

but it seems to me that an EA would actually get in the way rather than being helpful

Estate agents aren't one great big homogeneous group.

Some are inexperienced and/or ineffectual.

Others might be incompetent or deceitful.

But there are some that would be a great asset and incredibly influential in a sale progressing to a successful conclusion.

I think a time using an “agent” like PB really has to understand that you don’t get something for nothing. They are the equivalent of a DIY sale and more or less only list the property. Not much else.

The joke is that PB is looking for a buyer! See attached and read the whole article!

The joke is that PB is looking for a buyer! See attached and read the whole article!

Their shares have lost 98% of their value over the last 5 years!!