Estate agent fees - how much did you negotiate?

[OhpoorMe]

I'm about to get my flat valued for listing and wondering what people are paying in fees at the moment, and how successful you've been in negotiating them? I'm zone 2 London if it makes a difference, flat c£500k

the good ones won’t negotiate on their percentage. they have no need

Really? I thought it was standard to negotiate?

any of those agents the likes of savilles? foxtons? etc

i doubt it. they won’t negotiate

unless at very very top end

But Foxtons are known for being rubbish?

I'm more likely to go with a local estate agent who specialises in the borough. Seems to be how it works best in London.

indeed

but irrelevant to the question!

if local and independent - then more likely to
but the really popular well regarded ones will believe in their value and they won’t, nor will they need to.

Unless you’re coming up with a very very tasty property

what value property out of interest?

I did a deal where I paid for online listing, energy efficiency cert, photographers etc and then a flat £500 fee to the EA to vet buyers (ie check they are proceedable)
i did viewing and negotiated final sale price.

i could have paid £1k and they’d do viewings or I could have paid for them to do viewings on an ad hoc basis.

unused a small independent
my flat was £500k zone 3.
I think I paid about £1-1.5k total

foxtons kfh and winksworths all wanted between 1 and 2.5% of sale price… so significantly more

so you paid for credit checks and references?

It varies so much no one can really tell you @OhpoorMe

Savills in central London wouldn’t negotiate at all even when we threatened to walk away. Yet other EAs we’ve used in other areas have been open to a small negotiations. You need to get 2 or 3 EAs round and try it, the worst that can happen is they say No.

We didn't.
They offered 0.66% all in and we jumped at it.

Wow that's amazing!!!

Yep and for them to list it on zoopla and rightmove (which was basically all I needed) you can’t do that as a private individual.

Does everyone thing the rest of these fees are in the right ballpark or am I way off on any?

We sold a flat valued at £600k in zone 2. We used an agent in SE London with a few branches. Can’t remember the percentages but it would have cost roughly £12,500 and we negotiated it to £7k. In the end had a private sale so didn’t pay anything.

I'd say your conveyancing fees are probably a bit low for the prices you are looking at, but given the stamp duty, it's probably neither here or there as to the total cost!

Fees were 1.5%

We negotiated them down to 1.5% if they achieved valuation or above. 1.25% if within 97.5% of valuation. 1% if within 95%. 0.75 % if within 90%. 0.5% if less than that.

good heavens

london conveyancing on £850k property… unless you’re getting mega mates rates… no chance £1k.

Our conveyancing fees were about £4k in total on a much less valuable sale not in London so they look extremely low.

I have a friend who is an EA and he advises you shouldn’t pay more than 1.25% in EA fees.

I would aim for 1% if they are good agents and all other costs are included. Some seem to charge more for better photography etc

I negotiated 0.75% on the sale of v well presented house at 500k in Bristol. The house sold the day it was opened for viewings and I told the agent that I wouldn't approach another agent if they sold at my request rate.

If you know the market and what your house is worth is easy to negotiate rates.

Thanks everyone - you're right re conveyencing, I've only just thought to see what I paid before and it was £3k inc all searches and VAT so will up my budget.

God stamp duty is so unfair!