Which estate agent dilemma

[isthesolution]

I'm wondering if you can advice as hubby and I keeping going back and forth.

House will go on the market soon. Estate agent A came out and said they'd charge £4000, B said 1%. We hope to sell for over £675,000 so clearly A is better price. Both local agents been around for quite some time and the packages are the same.

Someone more local has just set up a new estate agent. It's brand new, maybe trading 3 months. We sort of know the owner (not well but to say hello to - small village) They only have a handful of properties on the market.

I don't know their rates yet. I realise there is a downside to them being new but wonder whether less houses on the books and keen to make a good impression etc would mean they are a good choice? Obviously they are on zoopla rightmove etc and I guess that's where most people look. And hubby is a photographer and will do his own photos anyway.

Thoughts?

I'd ask the new agents what they would charge and also ask the 1% people if their fees are negotiable. Many agents charge 1%, the ones I'm with at the moment reduced their fees to 0.8% when I asked them about it.

IMO it's all about their standard of customer service and professionalism. One agent has been pestering me for months to give them the instruction - when I rang their office the girl who answered sounded half asleep and they took ages to return my call (and took 2 weeks to come out to do a market appraisal!) That was enough for me - they'll never get my business. Get a friend to enquire about a house they have on their books and see what their first impression is like - are they friendly, helpful, knowledgeable or just get your name etc for their mailing list. Also look at their ads on Rightmove etc and see how they present their properties - agents can vary greatly in what they say about the houses they're selling - some are hopeless.

PS Agents who charge a fixed fee have no incentive to get the best price.

I would look at how many they have on their books both sold and unsold. Look at how long they have been listed. If they have lots unsold that have been on a while, they are overpricing. Ask for recent examples of sold properties and what % they achieved.

DO NOT SIGN A CONTRACT FOR MORE THAN FOUR WEEKS UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES.

They need you more than you need them, put your foot down and negotiate.

If B sell more houses at a realistic asking price than A, you can try to negotiate. I have read people on here getting rates of 0.75 or even 0.5.

I am dumbstruck that someone started a new agency three months ago. Those in business for years are already in the doldrums. I would not touch them with a ten foot barge pole.

Also, what do you get for their fee? For those amounts I would want good quality photos (15-30), a floor plan with measurements, possibly a 3D viewing to filter out wasting buyers time, and probably them doing viewings.

Thank you for the advice. Wasn't sure whether haggling was a thing for this type of thing!

That's a good idea to ask someone to phone.

They all seems similar in terms of descriptions on rightmove and photos, floorplans etc.

Yes all of them seem to offer the same in terms of photos (although we want to do our own), floor plans, viewings etc.

Can you say why you would avoid the new agent?

Thanks

Because apart from the 07-08 crash, this is pretty much the worst possible time to start an estate agency. Long established businesses are fighting for customers, laying staff off and resorting to doing shitty things like strongarming sellers into modern method of auction so they get high fees to keep their heads above water.

It’s as stupid as opening a new pub in the middle of a lockdown, imo.

People are absolutely desperate to get their houses sold and the only way this agency will survive is to offer 0.25 - 0.5% selling fees. But folks just won’t trust a new agency if they are that desperate. They will resort to online agencies. As a buyer, I would absolutely no way view a house advertised by an agency who has been in business <1 year. I would worry they might fold mid purchase.

I'd agree with Kiev that they really need your business (big time). Also re a fixed period - I haven't had to agree any minimum at all, so I'd strongly suggest either no specified time limit or max 4 weeks.

As regards my house, apparently it's a 'statement house' - (roll eyes), but at least I knew that all the agents would want it as it's prominent and photographs well.

I have to say tho' that I don't trust estate agents as far as I can throw them. I had one last year who told me a blatant lie (about marketing) and I pulled them up on it and they lost the instruction. The ones I have now seem to be good, but if they slip up, there will be trouble and I've got my beady eyes on them!

Also look at Rightmove and Zoopla for houses around your area, what the prices have been in the past and what's under offer - the information on just those two websites can vary greatly re reductions, listing dates etc.

Thanks everyone.

Honestly when I'm looking online at properties to buy I've never even thought about the agent they are listed with. If I like the property I will just ask to view it.

It's so long since we bought and last time was at auction so everything seems v different!

I got a good feeling from the agent who quoted £4000. There was no minimum term etc so may just go with them.

I really thought the new agency may just be very committed to pushing the small number of properties they had. And with it being new that they'd be really keen to prove themselves to both buyers and sellers.

So much to get my head round!

I would have a chat with the new agent and see what sortnof vibe you get. I agree with your theory that they are likely to be focused on service, their own reputation and getting you the best price they can.

There has been a rise in self employed Estate Agents this year and despite market conditions the good ones seem to be doing very well.

Go for the estate agents you prefer and ask them to match the rate and price you prefer.

There has been a rise in self employed Estate Agents this year and despite market conditions the good ones seem to be doing very well.

That's interesting. I wonder if that's ones with decades of experience fleeing before the house gets burned down. I suppose if you are good and can cut overheads by WFH AND have good contacts, you stand a fairly good chance of success.

I can't say I go out of my way to study agents before viewings, but I actively avoid: Yopa, Purplebricks, Strike, The Square Room. I know that once they've had offers, their customer service falls away to nothing, and they're not capable of holding a chain together if there are problems (in most instances).

There's a few in my area that try to push really shitty properties on us, ones where sales have just fallen through and they're desperate, who whilst having a stranglehold on the market, don't have enough agents to service the numbers on their books. I don't want to wait five days for a viewing, that's idiotic, by the time you make time for me, I've already seen another three and am quite likely to offer! Also, they just don't GOSH. 'Can we do Saturday at 2pm.' 'Sorry, we're conducting, we're full, how about Weds at 3pm?' 'No we can't do midweek, ever, how about next Saturday' 'No, sorry, can't.'

So the answer is, no you cannot see this house that you may want to buy rather than 'we'll ask the vendor if they can make an exception.'

Shitty agents like that are why people get friends to mystery shop looking at houses to see what agents say.

It's interesting what @WorkCleanRepeat says about self employed agents. I'd classify those a bit differently to bricks and mortar high street agents starting up in this economy. They're probably ones with the balls to jump the burning ship and may have excellent experience and contacts.

I have no idea how you go about finding an indie though!

@KievLoverTwo I'd say most of the self employed agents are experienced agents that have decided to go it alone. I know eXp insist experience to operate under their branding.

OP I would definitely ask the agents about their Sales Progression process. The likes of Yopa, Purplebricks and Strike basically don't have one and hope the chains will hold themselves together.

A few things. Check out the UK Property Market Stats Show on Youtube. Ask each EA to show their stats (see examples at the end of the show where they review EA's for a given town).

Don't agree to more than 4 weeks contract.

If you are really, really serious about selling, ask the EA if they will give you a fee reduction if you provide your conveyancing data, survey and searches up front. That indicates that you are prepared to have skin in the game and are very serious about selling.

Ask the EA if they outsource the pipeline process following an agreed offer. EA's are great at selling and useless at the basic admin required to get a contract through to exchange. If they outsource then they are more likely to get you across the line.

Good luck!

I'm a little bit arrogant, but I reckon that you and I could set up an EA and outperform most of them. I'd offer a competitive fee, only take on serious sellers (sensible prices), outsource the pipeline admin, share the EA performance stats, etc.

Yeah, but their job involves lying or avoiding the truth for 80% of their day; would you really want to?

Personally I wouldn't be able to cope with the anxiety of absolutely desperate buyers or sellers.

Can you summarise that youtube channel in a nutshell to me pls re: if it's worth watching? I already have Charlie and now Sacha, the OH might leave me if I start with a third! :)

Yeah, but you and me wouldn't lie and we wouldn't be wearing polyester suits, shoulder pads and winkle picker shoes.

The show is the opposite of Charlie. They "hate" the doom-mongers and present the stats that EA's use. They are the leading edge figures, e.g. number of new instructions, fall thru's, net sales for each week and YTD. I like to watch all views so that I don't get sucked into a single view such as Charlie's.

I'm sure that I heard Chris Watkins say that they would be interviewing the YOPA boss-woman, boys and girls, this week. So your ears will be bleeding at the hideous EA speak by the end. But God loves a trier.

I would have a look at the listings for each agent on Right Move and compare how they describe the house, what details they give, floor plan style or even if they do it, do they do a virtual tour. We’re in the process of moving and I was amazed how differently agents do their listings.

Our local agent (international chain, good reputation) just quoted me 1.25% plus VAT. It's a reasonably expensive house so won't be a small fee.

Thus far they've stuck firm with you get what you pay for (in fairness, they've impressed when I've been on the other side as a buyer). Think I knocked a local agent down to 1% including VAT for my last sale but I went to school with him.

None of our local agents charge anything like 0.5%, even if you push.

Try my approach. Offer to get the searches and surveys done before going on the market and pricing it at a very competitive price.

I hear you. But I won't sell under a certain price as I don't need to move, in which case I'd have wasted that money.

Negotiate your fee, you should be able to get 0.8%
I’d get all of them out to value the property
Round here, we all know that the independent agent, picks and chooses what he sells (only takes on what he can shift quickly) and underprices to do so. Nothing wrong with that if you need to move fast, and you can achieve what you need to.

A long standing agent, will price middle of the road. And will take all properties on. Will negotiate price on what they see as an “easy sell”. May offer a sliding scale of fees, E.g. 1% if you achieve full asking, 0.9% if within a set % of asking price, and 0.8% if less than a set % is actually achieved - gives THEM an incentive to achieve the best price they can for you. Note, that a fixed fee gives the agent no incentive to get YOU the best deal you can get.

Another long standing agent will tempt you to sign up with them, with a higher asking price, but may ask you to consider reducing fairly quickly after going on the market.

Look at Rightmove sold, for yourself. Put in your postcode, look at what houses in your area have been achieving. Remember that you will need to be flexible over your asking price. It’s a buyers market right now, but that can help you in your own onward purchase.

To add, virtually all estate agencies will use Rightmove, Zoopla and On The Market. Ask what other avenues they use to sell your house. They should be regularly matching your property out via email, and ringing people who have registered an interest in similar properties to encourage viewings. Definitely ask a friend to register a week or two after you put your house on the market and see whether they are encouraged to view your own.

I’m an estate agent and as someone who has been in business almost 2 years, I’d give them a chance especially if you know of them. You can do a short contract of 8 weeks or so and then give notice if you’re not getting the interest that you hoped. They’re likely to do a better job as they’re probably very experienced already and they will want to make a good impression. Leave them a google review too, it will really help their business.
A good agent will be proactive, calling their database to encourage viewings, a lot of the more established agents get lazy and aren’t as proactive. They also have huge stock levels and a lot of stock will just sit there unsold.
I have won a lot of business from international brand agents as they just weren’t proactive and I got them sold very quickly with good offers

Property developer here. All estate agents will over-value your house to persuade you to use them, and then wear you down. Estate agents who only sell, and don't do rentals are all struggling now. In some areas, there will be closures due to lack of profit. They will pick on your house, supposedly feedback from viewings. This will be to reduce the price once you have signed up. They are purely interested in making their commission and most will sell their soul to the Devil to make that happen. A start up estate agent may not have the funds to allow your house to remain on sale for a long period, and maybe more pushy towards reducing it. This is the buyers market. Cash buyers like me know we can make cheeky offers as some sellers are hard pressed due to probate, mortgage arrears, interest, cost of living and so on. Read the contract carefully who-ever you go with, and any negative feedback on viewings should be taken with a pinch of salt. What one buyer likes, another will detest. Go on rightmove, search your area for similar properties and click the sold STC box. Then make a note of the associated EA...you will get clues as to who is selling effectively then. The bottom line is that as long as your house is on rightmove, buyers will find it.

I do agree that as long as your house is on Rightmove, Buyers will find it. But the best EA are also good at progressing the deal to make sure it gets to Completion. This is where the cheapest EAs often fall down as they don't make as much effort, particularly if the % you have agreed is ridiculously low. I don't scrimp on using the cheapest EA I can find, I always use the one I think is best by looking at the other properties on in my area and seeing which agent gets the most properties sold.

The % you can negotiate varies somewhat with location btw. Hence you need to get 3 valuations done and listen to what they tell you. People on the internet may tell advise you that you can get a good EA at 0.8% for example, but that won't be possible in certain areas like Central London. You will need to do a lot of research specific to your area to make the best decision.