It’s been a while since we’ve put a property on the market and I have few questions I would like answering.

We have agreed commission rates 1% which I still think is far too much (£6500+vat) I may try to get it down slightly…

Once the property is on the market with all their fancy photos and rightmove what happens if after four weeks there are no takers and we think let’s take this off the market are we liable to pay them anything? ( this isn’t the plan btw)

I’ve not got the paoerwork yet, I’m sure last time we sold there wasn’t a charge.

This is just a general thought – how easy is it to do your own legal work ? Searches etc again not planning this

Seems a lot of money passes hands for not doing much ! Stamp duty being the biggest con !

Thanks in advance

It all depends what it says on the contract, and how long your initial term is, what cancellation notice is required etc.
Depends where you are in the country but EAs are gagging for properties to sell at the moment despite the market apparently being slow.
Give them 6 weeks with 2 weeks notice, and no sale, no fee. It will keep them focused.
1% really ain’t bad. Years ago I had a mate who was an EA and he was constantly moaning about other firms only charging 1.5% !

Or use one of the online ones for a lot lot less. Given how crap most estate agents are and how much marketing is done online these days I would not pay estate agents huge fees

Don’t pay their extortionate fees. All you really need is a listing on rightmove these days and it can be done much cheaper than that.
https://www.housenetwork.co.uk/

These guys are great. Recommended.
if you like, send me 10% of the difference in fees towards my new 29er.

As above really.

You need an estate agent to get a listing on right move etc, which is what you need, and what I guess leads to nearly all sales these days. So why not use an internet only (local) agency and fixed fee. Most are around £400 down here in Devon. That’s a massive saving.

Conveyancing I would leave to a solicitor but shop around. Shouldn’t really cost that much. I paid £600 a few months ago plus standard search fees (plus VAT)

Yes, as above, try not to use a High St. EA.
Think about how most people nowadays will look for a property – it’ll be an online search. Online Agents are the way to go.
£6.5k to take photos, put a sign up, and spend a hour(probably less) to write a web page.It’s a lot for not very much. Yes, they have Clients waiting, but if there are people looking for your type of house, then they’ll find it anyway without any Agent involvement.

Pretty much as coomber said. Although as a buyer EA’s are nice but as a point of contact to chase when the seller or their solicitor is being useless.

That and they’re salespeople. We saw a couple of houses via online agents and while they both had issues that ruled them out, we did look at other houses with EA’s and got a lot further before discounting them. Depends how compettative your market is but that could be a difference between selling and not.

‘aaaaaang on.

Your gaff is valued at £650k?!

(Not trying to be a ****, and know you live in the SE, but I am smacker-gobbed if that’s the current state of affairs)

1% is OK I reckon. My agent earned his fees to be fair to him, but it was a bit more complicated than most sales. Next time I would likely go online due to the current house being more straightforward.
I wouldn’t accept anything other than no sale, no fee but they do normally get a period of exclusivity. After that you can sack them or list with as many agents as you like.

Thanks for all help

…yes in the south east -London bought 9years ago and have doubled our investment.

House we want is another 100,000 – I’m scared.

Estate agents fees are the same percentage wise as 20 years ago. I doubt their service has increased by the same amount as property prices.

I sold a house last year with no agent. Not a huge amount of work, saved a fair few quid (don’t believe they would have got a higher offer, we got more than 4 out of 5 estimates, and the top one was bonkers). Wasn’t the original plan but the agent we were going to use moved jobs before we signed a contract, and we were keen to sell quickly. All done and dusted in about a month or so.

what about Eemove or whatever its called? a flat in my block sold quickly with them and went for good money (if you are a seller) the fact it was on Location Location Location may have helped though!

The one I recommended above also have a sales team, they will try their hardest to get the best price for you even though you’ve paid them a one off fee.