Buying house with no estate agent.

Klb1978

Has anyone any advice on buying a house without an estate agent. I want to have some info before I put an offer in.

Peregrinus

It's normal for the purchaser not to retain an estate agent. Are you looking at buying from a vendor who isn't using an agent?

Muppet Man

Shouldn't matter. Buyer and seller should both have solicitors though. Don't pay a deposit to the seller. Pay it to their solicitor via your solicitor.

Muppet man

CPTM

I find it so strange that estate agents still exist. With the internet to connect buyers to sellers and extortionate fees they charge I really don't know how they've survived. Essentially all they do is open up front doors. Why have a gap between a buyer and a seller anyways? Surely the seller knows more about the house.

snowcat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116362#Comment_118116362

Its a strange one all right. Its like giving your car to an agent to sell for you. He advertises it for you and has no knowledge of the car for the buyer and can accept whatever he thinks is quickest best offer to get his cut. With the internet now and whatsapp video for virtual viewings I cant see the advantage of an agent. More of a hindrance than anything.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116391#Comment_118116391

We have a different view of them, in a slow housing market I think they're pretty important if you want to sell quickly. Also, I think your comparison is incorrect. An EA cant accept an offer for a house, the offer is put to the seller and they decide.

Del2005

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116362#Comment_118116362

If you have ever sold something online you'd know why people still use intermediaries. You don't want to deal someone offering a polo and a pair of socks for your home.

JPA

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116391#Comment_118116391

If you had a car worth €200,000 you might go through a specialist to sell it for you.

snowcat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116465#Comment_118116465

Indeed, but a standard home for 200k does not need a specialist. It is your 5 year old Mondeo except it has a huge cohort of waiting buyers. It will sell in a matter of days to the highest bidder from an ad on daft.ie. Agent or not. As well a specialist car dealer will offer finance, a trade in and warranty and stand over their sale. An Agent explicitly will NOT. They clearly state on documentation that you have to do your own checks and they are not responsible for any errors. Everything falls on the buyer and seller. The agent just takes their cut and walks.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116362#Comment_118116362

Having just sold, EA was able to tell me who were tyre kickers, he told bidders that increments were in €5ks, no one in a chain etc. And he only phoned me with updates. Just one increased bid was enough to cover his fee. Would I want to be answering calls, dealing with twits who don’t understand the rigours of property sales, showing people through a property, taking time off work etc? No I would not, the value of the property was too much, the sale too important to have an amateur (me) dealing with bidders.

horse7

The problem I have is I can't take time off work to view a house and the auctioneer doesn't work on a Saturday.

snowcat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116592#Comment_118116592

There is a place for estate agents but for the vast majority of easy sales they do not make sense. As well their commision is too low for them to have any great incentive to get max price. Id rather pay an estate agent 10% if they would do professional photo shoots, look after minor touching up of property, rented furniture placement etc. Indivudual viewings not these pack them em 'open viewings' because they could not be bothered weeding out serious buyers and meeting them individually. More like the show 'million dollar listing' on tv.

Bargain_Hound

We advertised our house with an estate agent, only for a cash buying elderly couple to knock on the door and offer exactly what we were after the first day it was listed. They had been through the run of problematic sales previously so got in ahead of the EA viewings by calling to the door directly. I appreciate this would be uncomfortable for most people, but I have no issues dealing with people. We agreed a deal, I withdrew the EA listing (No questions asked), initiated the sale both sides via our solicitors and sale completed within 4-6 weeks. Looking back on it now, it is pretty unheard of, but saved us a couple of thousand in terms of EA fees and delays schedulng viewings, offers etc., We were in a massive rush to sell as quickly as possible so it worked in favor of both parties.

snowcat

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116569#Comment_118116569

Thats all ok and yes an estate agent suits some people well. But remember 1 increased bid gets you an extra 5k but the auctioneer nets about 70 quid before tax on that bid. He wants that sale agreed asap. He has no real incentive to wait a week or two for another bid. But i betcha you would wait another week or two to see if you could get an extra 5k.

SteM

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116702#Comment_118116702

I've never felt under pressure to sell by an EA. You must have been unlucky with your choice of agent.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116702#Comment_118116702

I’ve never had that experience, never had an EA try and pressure me to sell.

C14N

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116362#Comment_118116362

I've viewed one or two properties where the sellers basically just put the house up themselves without an EA, but using one still definitely is the norm. I suppose that it's partly down to outsourcing the diplomacy of selling to someone else, as well as having some expert advice on the process (since an EA will generally have some better idea of who seems like a good buyer or a timewaster, and how much a realistic starting price would be). You might also have more confidence in the sales and marketing talents of a professional than you would in yourself that they would be able to drive the price up a bit or to paper over some issues with the house. They can also be handy in a chain, since they can make things a bit smoother if you're buying and selling from the same agency.

To some extent, it's probably just inertia too. People feel like getting an EA is part of the process of selling a house and just don't really question it. Tbh, it did feel a bit strange to be bidding on somewhere that didn't have one. In a less hot market it might seem a bit unprofessional and put more discerning buyers off.

horse7

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118116644#Comment_118116644

A little difficult to know what your saying.