Estate Agent in Drumcondra/Phibsboro Area

STaN

I've had Lisney out in December who valued the property at 10% less then what i had it valued it at yesterday.

They were offering to sell for €450 advertising costs + 0.95% of the sale price (ads running in the Times and MyHome)

Hooke & MacDonald have asked for €450 advertising costs + 1.25% of the sale price but have justified this as their not a 'mickey mouse company' and will try get you a better price. (ads running in the Indo and MyHome)

The difference between the two in total based on the latest valuation would be €1500

Now i dont think buyers are hard to find and i think that charging that much money is absurd.

Anyone any tips before i choose one?

I have Sherry Fitz out on Tuesday.

Victor

STaN wrote:

I've had Lisney out in December who valued the property at 10% less then what i had it valued it at yesterday.

So?

Realise that these are educated (or not) guesses, not science.

lomb

STaN wrote:

I've had Lisney out in December who valued the property at 10% less then what i had it valued it at yesterday.

exactly, so what? prices have risen by that in the last 5 months, and as victor says it isnt a science anyway.

what estate agents get paid depends on how much they charge competitively their perceived service and what sellers are willing to pay them based on the above.

personally i think they are all cowboys but probably because they have to be to survive..

Ballyman

Cowboys. All of them. And you're the fool to entertain them.

Send 'em packing and put an ad in www.daft.ie yourself. Save yourself thousands in fees. All you have to do is arrange viewings for evenings and weekends so you're there yourself to do them.

They will not get a better price than you will manage yourself. That is a fact. They will encourage you to accept the highest price after two weeks as all they want to do is receive their sales fee. A few thousand extra to you makes little difference to their final fee so you will be told the eternal words "you should accept that bid as you won't do much better than that" as soon as they are ready for their sales fee!!!

Also, it matters not one jot what you value you're house at. It's the market that will decide. Not you and definitely not your EA, who I hope, you will have the good sense to employ yourself for this role!

sapper

I would go with HOK, Mason, Sherry Fitz or DNG in Phibsboro. Funny how that they are charging advertising + commission though. When I had them out in March they all offered to take the advertising out of the commission (unless you pulled out altogether in which case you paid advertising). Back in March they were all pretty desperate for business - tell them what the best offer is and they should be able to match it.

I was getting quotes of 1% + VAT. 1.25% is way too much (unless VAT is included)

I wouldn't be swayed by press ads though - anyone looking for a house these days looks at myhome.ie first and foremost. Once you use an estate agent who advertises there you'll be alright. The estate agents mentioned above all part-own myhome and can put in as many photos as they want in the ad, whereas I think punters like lisney have to pay for each photo.

I wouldn't go the daft.ie/for sale by owner route - too many things can go wrong when buying a house and you don't want to be communicating directly with the buyers when that happens.

The market will be the best judge of the value, and eventually the offers will dry up at whatever price that is - you just don't want an asking price so high/low that it puts potential bidders off. Bidders expect houses to go about 10% higher then asking these days. If your dream price is 550K, put it up for 500K and see what the bidders think....

Ballyman

OK. If you really want to employ someone to sell your house for you then I'll do it for 1/2 the price of the cheapest estate agent. And I guarantee I'll get at least what they would and probably a bit more for you.

2 grand. All in.

How does that sound??

Let me know.