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We are about to put our first house on the market. We are expecting it to sell very quickly and the agent we have (almost) appointed is gagging to get it listed for obvious reasons. Nothing is signed for yet.
We are just reviewing the contract, one thing we going to question is the tie in period which they have put as 12 weeks. This seems very long to me. How does this compare to what other people have found?
We are in a fairly good position to negotiate I think, as our house is definitely saleable, and we also have an offer on a house with the same agent.
I've said that appointing them to sell our house is conditional on our offer being accepted. Seemed clever at the time, not sure if it's actually helping us!
Any other selling tips most welcome!
Haggle on the %age they charge - we sold ours in 4 days, first person to see the house bought it. It hurt handing over a couple of k fees for **** all [u]apparent[/u] effort on their behalf.
Probably best not to use the same agent - too much information on the buy and sell side to one party plus their interest is getting the whole thing wrapped up quickly and not necessarily for the best sale price
It's fairly usual in my experience.
We are in a fairly good position to negotiate I think, as our house is definitely saleable, and we also have an offer on a house with the same agent.
If it sells too quickly, it's underpriced.
They've already offered us the same rate as two other good local agents. 1% +vat
We looked at a house we really liked without ours being on the market. Using the same agent seemed to be a good way of making our offer more attractive, especially as there are other offers from buyers ready to sell.
Although it seems like a conflict of interest I can't see what it is. If anything should it not make the chain a bit more secure?? The agent has more reason to make sure both sales go through smoothly.
Although it seems like a conflict of interest I can't see what it is. If anything should it not make the chain a bit more secure?? The agent has more reason to make sure both sales go through [s]smoothly[/s] [b]quickly[/b].
Which may mean you don't get top dollar for your place.
Just put my third house on the market, they wanted 12 weeks we have signed for 5, they also wanted 2% which we have reduced to 1% with no vat.
You can negotiate the shit out of agents as they all want your property to market.
If it sells too quickly, it's underpriced
We have seen several houses around here sell on day 1, well over the asking price. There is simply a shortage of properties to buy. The agents pack in 20 viewings back to back, and by Monday it's gone. It's just mad really.
We are not in a mad rush to sell or buy, and I don't want to get too caught up in the frenzy. If that means we wait a bit, we don't really mind, but we have seen a place we like so took a punt 🙂
I've absolutely no idea why people still use estate agents to sell there own houses. Fair enough if you live somewhere else, then it's more of a necessary evil, but when there's so much free advertising available why bother? If someone is serious about moving they're not just going to look at rightmove, there's tonnes of other websites. Scum of the earth. Right up their own holes they are
I've absolutely no idea why people still use estate agents to sell there own houses.
Because we have a life and can afford the relatively small amount we are being charged for someone else to do it.
Which may mean you don't get top dollar for your place
True, but we don't have to accept an offer we don't want. I see your point though, and actually the agent is trying hard to get it listed, tomorrow in fact! We are not ready yet...
I definitely wouldn't consider not using an agent. I think what makes the most difference to the selling price is multiple offers on the table, and that would be hard to achieve without experience and a long mailing list of potential buyers. If they can get you an extra £5-10k they've covered their fees. painful as it will be to hand over £3000 commission to some sharp suited wideboy, it's probably worth it
Because we have a life and can afford the relatively small amount we are being charged for someone else to do it.
But it's not relatively small though is it! People seem to put the blinkers on when it comes to selling. It's the conveyancing that's the difficult bit, and am happy to pay £750 for that.
So you can afford 1-3% of the value of your property? Well done you! £2500 to actually be in contact with potential buyers? Be in for viewings? You must have an awesome life if that's too much for you.