Estate agent fees

Annasopra

I spoke to an estate agent this morning. They said to me that their fees are roughly ?500 for brochures, website ads, photographs etc etc and then 2% of the sale value.

Is 2% average? I read somewhere else that 1.5% is the going rate.

ThisRegard

So they're charging for websites, photos etc on top of 1.5%? If you shop around you should be able to get 1% all in, depending on where you are I suppose. Brochure, if needed, may be a bit extra alright.

Carnmore

Some agents are prepared to offer a fixed fee rather than commission for selling a house.

What would be a reasonable fee to suggest to an agent for selling the house? There's a possibility to sell the house off-market but it may well go on the market.

Also, is it possible to have a dual-agency - two estate agents selling the house and the selling agent only gets the fee? This is commonplace in the UK.

Would appreciate any advice / details experience.

irlrobins

2% seems very high. I would be looking for something closer to 1%, maybe 1.5% at max. And if it's property in a sought after area/market segment, it's not as if the EA will have to do a lot of work to shift it in the current market.

tradesman

Carnmore wrote: »

Some agents are prepared to offer a fixed fee rather than commission for selling a house.

What would be a reasonable fee to suggest to an agent for selling the house? There's a possibility to sell the house off-market but it may well go on the market.

Also, is it possible to have a dual-agency - two estate agents selling the house and the selling agent only gets the fee? This is commonplace in the UK.

Would appreciate any advice / details experience.

You can have 2 or 3 agents - but they will charge the higher fee - 2%. If you give a sole agency you might get it for 1-1.5%. It is like any business deal. An agent will have his cut off fee where it just is not viable for him to take it on. That said a sale is a sale is a sale -

ct5amr2ig1nfhp

1% plus VAT is what we were quoted by most EA's we contacted recently (Dublin). One EA quoted 2.25% plus VAT.

2% seems high, especially when the marketing blurb isn't free. Definitely shop around.

What area of Ireland are you in?

wordofwarning

irlrobins wrote: »

2% seems very high. I would be looking for something closer to 1%, maybe 1.5% at max. And if it's property in a sought after area/market segment, it's not as if the EA will have to do a lot of work to shift it in the current market.

If you are selling a €400k house in Dublin, which is not abnormal. Is an EA on 1% going to work as hard as the agent on 2% to get that final few thousand? An EA squeezing €3k more out of the sale only gets €30 more. Whereas an agent on 2.5% will get €75 in commission.

Low fee agents have an incentive to get houses off their books ASAP. Those additional few thousand is worth very little to them.

Mucco

wordofwarning wrote: »

irlrobins wrote: »

2% seems very high. I would be looking for something closer to 1%, maybe 1.5% at max. And if it's property in a sought after area/market segment, it's not as if the EA will have to do a lot of work to shift it in the current market.

If you are selling a €400k house in Dublin, which is not abnormal. Is an EA on 1% going to work as hard as the agent on 2% to get that final few thousand? An EA squeezing €3k more out of the sale only gets €30 more. Whereas an agent on 2.5% will get €75 in commission.

Low fee agents have an incentive to get houses off their books ASAP. Those additional few thousand is worth very little to them.

1% of 400k is 4k, whereas 2.5% is 10k, so your agent would have to add 6k to the price just to break even.
I'd prefer escalating fees: eg 1% up to 400k, 10% for the next 50k and 20% above that.
There'd be a big incentive to pursue the higher price. If you know the market rate for your house, it should be possible to structure something that works.

CeilingFly

Maybe suggest 1% up to xxx and 5% of anything above xxx.

So if you think 300k is the price, then hitting that = 3k for the agent whereas 350k = 5.5k for the agent.

2% is crazy unless its in a slow selling rural area and potential price is low.

NinjaTruncs

The percentage quoted is usually ex vat too isn't it? Just something to consider.

Askthe EA

It really depends where you are. In a city 2.5% sounds heavy but it also depends on the value of the property.

Sure 2.5% of 500k is a lot but 2.5% of 120k isn't.

And yes, all subject to VAT @ 23%

mloc123

Remax quoted me 1.1% + Vat and DNG 1.25% + Vat. Both had a 300e up front flat fee to cover photography, signs, advertising etc...

Carnmore

CeilingFly wrote: »

Maybe suggest 1% up to xxx and 5% of anything above xxx.

So if you think 300k is the price, then hitting that = 3k for the agent whereas 350k = 5.5k for the agent.

2% is crazy unless its in a slow selling rural area and potential price is low.

Good idea - 47.5k net gain for 2.5k outlay (selling price of 350k vs 300k)

gargargar

We were quoted 1.25 by DNG.
Sherry Fitz gave us bands from 1.25 up to 1.75 (of total) on hitting amounts.

DNG wanted to pitch it 10% lower than Sherry. We went with Sherry Fitz and were happy with result.

One thing people say is that the market decides, and obviously it does. However, don't underestimate the psychology of framing the discussion over the price. If you pitch it at 300, your first offer it likely to be under that amount, regardless of the market value. If you go in at 350 then you are more likely to start bididng at a higher value. This is especially true in a sellers market. Personal opinion only!

mloc123

gargargar wrote: »

We were quoted 1.25 by DNG.
Sherry Fitz gave us bands from 1.25 up to 1.75 (of total) on hitting amounts.

DNG wanted to pitch it 10% lower than Sherry. We went with Sherry Fitz and were happy with result.

One thing people say is that the market decides, and obviously it does. However, don't underestimate the psychology of framing the discussion over the price. If you pitch it at 300, your first offer it likely to be under that amount, regardless of the market value. If you go in at 350 then you are more likely to start bididng at a higher value. This is especially true in a sellers market. Personal opinion only!

DNG wanted to pitch ours 20% lower than Remax... despite all others on the market being priced in line with Remax values. In general I did not have great feedback on my interaction with DNG, skating by on brand name perhaps.

bbari

I was told that they put the asking price lower on purpose to attract more people ?

Askthe EA

bbari wrote: »

I was told that they put the asking price lower on purpose to attract more people ?

Thats not unheard of, mind you OP, another agent you mentioned is known for pricing high to get the business.

Sleepy

It's truly staggering that estate agents can still take a percentage of sale price in this day and age. With the advent of property websites like daft and myhome they really don't offer anything like the value to the sales process that they used to in pre-internet times.

syndrome777

Sleepy wrote: »

It's truly staggering that estate agents can still take a percentage of sale price in this day and age. With the advent of property websites like daft and myhome they really don't offer anything like the value to the sales process that they used to in pre-internet times.

and they don't even know anything on the properties they are selling.

numerous times we had questions, regarding internet in the properties. Is there fire or structural issues, whats included in maintenance fees...basically any question that hasn't been covered on the add they didn't know. Sometimes they even almost got offended by the questions.

very unprofessional

Askthe EA

syndrome777 wrote: »

very unprofessional

That's a big generalisation.

syndrome777

Askthe EA wrote: »

That's a big generalisation.

i am only referring to the ones I meet with, not all of them

Askthe EA

syndrome777 wrote: »

i am only referring to the ones I meet with, not all of them

Hey. Understandable we have a poor rep 🀔🀢

Askthe EA

syndrome777 wrote: »

i am only referring to the ones I meet with, not all of them

I think a lot depends on the age of the EA. The younger ones tend to be more professional from my experience. It's a different game now since the days of nod, nod, wink, wink.

Zelda247

Negotiate, we got quotes from 1% to 2.5%, in the end we got 1% including VAT and house sold fine, no problems at all with EA.

jsd1004

Ask all agents how they plan to market the property and why you should choose them over another agent or indeed yourself. The extent of most agents marketing is to put the property on daft with a few dodgy photos.

jsd1004

Askthe EA wrote: »

Thats not unheard of, mind you OP, another agent you mentioned is known for pricing high to get the business.

It is laughable that any estate agent could value a property with any confidence. They value a property on recently sold properties in the area that anyone can access. The PPR. People are no longer ignorant or clueless be buyers or sellers. Ultimately the value of the property is what someone is willing to pay for it. The agent does not market (bar putting an ad on daft.ie) or improve the property as such so as no influence on the sale price, that is determined by buyer. A low guide price will always work in the sellers favour..never a high guide price. A low guide price does not suit an agent as they have to do a lot of work and deal with a lot of viewings. Remember a price never is binding be it 100k over or under the asking price until both parties agree and contracts are signed.

shelby67

What are peoples thoughts if I had a property up for sale without the use of an EA, my issue is that I am missing out on their ability to advertise on myhome or possibly they have people registered for interest. Its a Dublin City centre apartment ?

danko82

so, if i understood well the Estate agent fees is between 1-2 % plus 23%
so for example
200k cost of the property
200000/100*23= 3000
3000 + 23% = 3690 total cost...
is there something other to add?

thanks

1641

danko82 wrote: »

so, if i understood well the Estate agent fees is between 1-2 % plus 23%
so for example
200k cost of the property
200000/100*23= 3000
3000 + 23% = 3690 total cost...
is there something other to add?

thanks

Advertising and promotion costs, eg, Daft, local newspaper, MyHome. There will usually be a menu to choose the level of promotion that you want (size of ad,number of ads, etc). Expect somewhere between €300 and €700. In my view there is not much point in going with both Daft and Myhome.

danko82

1641 wrote: »

Advertising and promotion costs, eg, Daft, local newspaper, MyHome. There will usually be a menu to choose the level of promotion that you want (size of ad,number of ads, etc). Expect somewhere between €300 and €700. In my view there is not much point in going with both Daft and Myhome.

sorry I meant, when i buy a home...

does the buyer pay all that as well?
or is just the seller who is paying that?

I am looking at all kind of expenses who the buyer has to pay in order to buy a property.

Cheers

1641

danko82 wrote: »

sorry I meant, when i buy a home...

does the buyer pay all that as well?
or is just the seller who is paying that?

I am looking at all kind of expenses who the buyer has to pay in order to buy a property.

Cheers

Sorry danko. No, seller is responsible for all Estate Agents fees. So Estate Agent is working solely on behalf of seller. Some buyers seem to forget this.

As a buyer you are responsible for your solicitor's service fees (negotiable), set fees the solicitor will have to pay on your behalf (they can outline how much in general), stamp duty at 1% on purchase price and a Surveyor's Report.

Askthe EA

danko82 wrote: »

sorry I meant, when i buy a home...

does the buyer pay all that as well?
or is just the seller who is paying that?

I am looking at all kind of expenses who the buyer has to pay in order to buy a property.

Cheers

The buyer doesnt pay any fees to the estate agent Danko. The vendor pay their fees.

You will have to engage a solicitor to act on your behalf. You're looking at approximately €2,000 for that. Stamp duty of 1% of the sale price. Engineers report is advisable €300 - €500. If you're getting a mortgage, you will require a valuation. Some banks pay for this themselves but if you need to pay it you're looking at €120 - €150.

Hope that helps