Estate agents

FixdePitchmark · 19-09-2018 6:50pm #1

Looking for a bit of help on first time selling.

Any pros / cons of any of the main estage agents.

We were thinking of using Sherry Fitz ?

What sort of charges should we expect and is there much difference between different estate agents on charges

Thanks for any input.

uck51js9zml2yt · 19-09-2018 10:15pm

Where are you based?

My local charged me 1% and did individual viewings.

She's totally against open viewing.
All you get is tyre kickers and people in the way of those who are really wanting to buy.

FixdePitchmark · 19-09-2018 10:19pm

Amos Scarce Ramrod wrote: »

Where are you based?

My local charged me 1% and did individual viewings.

She's totally against open viewing.
All you get is tyre kickers and people in the way of those who are really wanting to buy.

D5 / D3 area

Interesting

uck51js9zml2yt · 19-09-2018 10:24pm

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

D5 / D3 area

Interesting

Mine is D7.
Get a small local one who knows the area.
The big ones just give you a junior EA and charge through the nose.

FixdePitchmark · 19-09-2018 10:27pm

Amos Scarce Ramrod wrote: »

Mine is D7.
Get a small local one who knows the area.
The big ones just give you a junior EA and charge through the nose.

How much extra do they charge ?

Likes of Sherry Fitz

Gumbo · 19-09-2018 10:36pm

Most are about 1% plus vat.
Some a little less, some a little more.

A Law · 19-09-2018 10:37pm

Sherry Fitz in swords is 1.5%. Morton and Flanagan 1.25% and DNG 1%

bleary · 19-09-2018 10:55pm

I only ever saw my house at open viewings. Im Working long hours usually and could see a few houses every weekend using open viewings.
I didn't bother going anywhere that didn't do it

FixdePitchmark · 20-09-2018 9:43am

joefuss1986 wrote: »

Sherry Fitz in swords is 1.5%. Morton and Flanagan 1.25% and DNG 1%

1 % for DNG seems very good , was always impressed with them as a buyer as opposed to Sherry Fitz

Why do people pay the extra for Sherry

Thanks for info so far

_brendand_ · 21-09-2018 10:31pm

<SNIP> who work for them. Sherry Fitz are not as professional as their big name suggests, a colleague of mine had the selling agent disappear on him in the middle of the transaction.

Personally I'd go for a smaller one (might be operating under a brand such as Re/Max or REA, but essentially a small business) or DNG seem to be not bad.

A Law · 22-09-2018 12:01am

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

1 % for DNG seems very good , was always impressed with them as a buyer as opposed to Sherry Fitz

Why do people pay the extra for Sherry

Thanks for info so far

I reckon it's like comparing VW and Skoda. Same thing essentially, the perception of what other people think about the car you have is difference.

Juwwi · 22-09-2018 12:25am

joefuss1986 wrote: »

Sherry Fitz in swords is 1.5%. Morton and Flanagan 1.25% and DNG 1%

Do you know what Flynn's in Swords charge as a matter of interest they seem to get a lot of the houses ?

Thanks

q85dw7osi4lebg · 22-09-2018 12:31am

Ask people on your road who have sold. Can recommend Sherry Fitz.

utmbuilder · 22-09-2018 12:50am

id love someone to try yourbricks or auctioneera and let us know the outcome

600 euro aparently

22-09-2018 1:15am

joefuss1986 wrote: »

I reckon it's like comparing VW and Skoda. Same thing essentially, the perception of what other people think about the car you have is difference.

Is that true though? I don't think it really matters? DNG, REA, Sherry, O'Brien, etc. etc. are all just a name on a sign to most people.

Nobody will buy a house based on who the agent is. Much like no one will avoid one based on who the agent is, either.

If a house comes up, that you're interested in, the name on the sign is the least of your concerns I'd imagine?

Toulouse · 22-09-2018 12:00pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Is that true though? I don't think it really matters? DNG, REA, Sherry, O'Brien, etc. etc. are all just a name on a sign to most people.

Nobody will buy a house based on who the agent is. Much like no one will avoid one based on who the agent is, either.

If a house comes up, that you're interested in, the name on the sign is the least of your concerns I'd imagine?

For me it is! I’m sale agreed on a property, exchanging next week but I’ve been looking a long time and am familiar with a lot of estate agents around here.

I’ve not looked at houses being handled by one agent in my locality as I know for a fact that he’s a liar, inflates house prices in the area and he’s an odious toad that I’d rather not deal with. If that means I miss out on a house then so be it, life is too short.

Then there’s another who made an absolute balls of a property she was handling and even though we were offered the property in the end and had already gone sale agreed elsewhere it wouldn’t put me off viewing a house she was showing. It would put me off selling a property with her and her agency though.

starbaby2003 · 22-09-2018 9:46pm

[Deleted User] wrote: »

Is that true though? I don't think it really matters? DNG, REA, Sherry, O'Brien, etc. etc. are all just a name on a sign to most people.

Nobody will buy a house based on who the agent is. Much like no one will avoid one based on who the agent is, either.

If a house comes up, that you're interested in, the name on the sign is the least of your concerns I'd imagine?

When we were looking we refused to view any houses xxxxxx estate agents were selling. Awful trouble on a house we originally bid on so I think the poster has a point.

A Law · 23-09-2018 12:25pm

Juwwi wrote: »

Do you know what Flynn's in Swords charge as a matter of interest they seem to get a lot of the houses ?

Thanks

Think it's 1% but could be 1.25. not totally sure.

FixdePitchmark · 27-09-2018 9:13pm

An estate agent just quoted me 1.75 %

nuts ?

blindside88 · 27-09-2018 9:19pm

We’re looking at selling in Carlow, all the agents seem to be at 1.5%. We’ve gotten one down to 1.3% as we’re buying our new house through them

caviardreams · 27-09-2018 10:56pm

I think it depends on the individual EA. As a buyer, several EAs didn't return my calls or follow up after bids, left me waiting etc. If I was the vendor I would not be happy with an EA treating potential buyers like that, it caused me to lose interest in the properties.

The guy I bought off was very responsive, always got back to me, there were some issues but he dealt with them very speedily, and kept me on board. If he had been slow at getting back to me and stringing me along I would have not been happy and possibly pulled out of buying.

As a seller, I would want an EA with good customer service to keep good buyers on-side, and also one who can spot and deal with weeding out a buyer who might half-heartedly go sale agreed but not be serious and be stringing me along as a vendor. Very much down to the individual EA rather than the "brand" as such imo.

Loves_lorries · 28-09-2018 9:48am

I've never had as much trouble with estate agents as I have solicitors, the amount of duds in that sector who can't conduct business properly is shocking.

blue note · 28-09-2018 12:40pm

I'm a buyer, not a seller. But from my experience you get the difference from person to person as opposed to company to company. There was only one individual I'd strongly advise against someone going with and he was with DNG. Sherry Fitz tended to be good, one woman in Flynn was excellent, Savills always seemed decent.

As someone else said, it is nice when you can get an estate agent who can tell the real offers from the people who are maybe just throwing in bids that they don't intend to follow up on. However, what you don't want is an estate agent more interested in a quick sale than getting you the best price for the house. I know of one sale where the buyers bid had been accepted, he was a couple of days late sending the initial deposit and when then when he paid it over the estate agent said the sellers had gone with someone else. Presumably the estate agent went back to the seller to say he wasn't a real bid or something and they went to the next bidder. The outcome of that was that he knocked on the sellers door, asked the sellers what the story was and they went back to the estate agent and told them they wanted to accept his bid (as they originally had done).

But looking at it from an estate agents point of view - they're interested in quick sales. Having to show a place repeatedly is no good for them. And even getting an extra 10 grand for a place isn't worth much to them, certainly not worth any extra work. Just bear that in mind when engaging with them and dealing with them. They work for you, but you're a commodity to them that they want as much money from as possible with as little work as possible.

One way of tackling this and I'm not sure if they do it in Ireland is increasing their commission past a certain point. So for example, if you expect your house to sell for €400k - give them 1% on the first €400k and 5% on everything after. That would actually encourage them to get the highest possible price for your house. A guy I know sold his place in Australia and that's the way commission worked there.

FixdePitchmark · 28-09-2018 3:14pm

blindside88 wrote: »

We’re looking at selling in Carlow, all the agents seem to be at 1.5%. We’ve gotten one down to 1.3% as we’re buying our new house through them

Guys when we are talking %

Do you add vat on to that

so 1% + Vat @ 23%

uck51js9zml2yt · 28-09-2018 9:13pm

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Guys when we are talking %

Do you add vat on to that

so 1% + Vat @ 23%

Yes

blindside88 · 28-09-2018 9:32pm

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

Guys when we are talking %

Do you add vat on to that

so 1% + Vat @ 23%

Yes sorry it’s plus vat so the rate I’ve been given is 1.3% plus vat

CeilingFly · 28-09-2018 9:39pm

blindside88 wrote: »

We’re looking at selling in Carlow, all the agents seem to be at 1.5%. We’ve gotten one down to 1.3% as we’re buying our new house through them

An agent will also look at the overall fee -

1% on an easy 400k sale in Dublin will be more attractive than 1.5% on a 200k sale in Carlow.

1.3% is quite good for rural towns

FixdePitchmark · 30-09-2018 6:54pm

Guys anyone got on views on placing the house on the market price wise
Low End
Average
Top end

Pros and cons ?

Thanks for help so far

Sleepy · 01-10-2018 2:44pm

Looking at the percentages it amazes me that there aren't more houses on Daft being "sold by owner"!

It'd kill me to pay someone the guts of 5k to take a few photos, stick up ads on Daft & MyHome, host a couple of open days and take a few phone calls. Seriously, is there even 10 hours work in that for an ordinary property in any area of normal to high demand?! €500 an hour? Nice money if you can get it!

astrofool · 01-10-2018 10:54pm

A good salesman would easily be able to get 2% more for something than a bad salesman.

If you think you're a good salesman, then do it yourself, otherwise pay someone else to get more money for you.

With houses, one extra bidder will usually cover the EA costs, so you're betting on their ability to get that extra bidder in.

bilbot79 · 01-10-2018 11:08pm

Dng want to pitch the house below market rate to get people in the door and start a bidding war. Sherry Fitzgerald want to pitch at market value.

Sleepy · 02-10-2018 11:31am

astrofool wrote: »

A good salesman would easily be able to get 2% more for something than a bad salesman.

If you think you're a good salesman, then do it yourself, otherwise pay someone else to get more money for you.

With houses, one extra bidder will usually cover the EA costs, so you're betting on their ability to get that extra bidder in.

I've worked in Sales (pre-sales consultancy) and I'm not sure I agree with that premise at all tbh.

What, realistically, can an estate agent do to drive up a price?

Get more prospects out to see the house? - it's a sellers market and most agents do little more marketing of a property than list it on Daft / MyHome and hold a few open days anyway.

Help advise on staging? A quick Google would teach anyone how to do that.

JustMe,K · 02-10-2018 11:39am

Sherry Fitz in my experience (and a few other people I know) are appalling to deal with, price high also.
Ray Cooke expect 10% above asking price on everything and are good at driving the price up.
Castles are ok but as far as I know are independent franchises so it really depends on who you use.

Have a look at the PPR website, look at your area and look up the addresses that have sold recently and try work out who sold them, what they sold for vs asking price, and how long it was between the initial listing and the sale completion date. Its very easy to get all that information.

astrofool · 02-10-2018 10:59pm

Sleepy wrote: »

I've worked in Sales (pre-sales consultancy) and I'm not sure I agree with that premise at all tbh.

What, realistically, can an estate agent do to drive up a price?

Get more prospects out to see the house? - it's a sellers market and most agents do little more marketing of a property than list it on Daft / MyHome and hold a few open days anyway.

Help advise on staging? A quick Google would teach anyone how to do that.

I think you're letting the reputation of the Estate Agent profession colour your views, but you're basically arguing "why have people specialising in making sales?" There is a technique to it, and you can have good and bad, but someone doing it day in/day out will, on average, sell for a higher price than someone who does it very occasionally (even with the internet to help them).

If someone came up to you and said they could do your job as well as you after looking up how to do it on the internet, would you take them seriously? (bearing in mind that there will be some super talented people out there who easily could).

Sleepy · 09-10-2018 4:20pm

astrofool wrote: »

I think you're letting the reputation of the Estate Agent profession colour your views, but you're basically arguing "why have people specialising in making sales?" There is a technique to it, and you can have good and bad, but someone doing it day in/day out will, on average, sell for a higher price than someone who does it very occasionally (even with the internet to help them).

If someone came up to you and said they could do your job as well as you after looking up how to do it on the internet, would you take them seriously? (bearing in mind that there will be some super talented people out there who easily could).

Honestly, no. I work with specialised software in niche areas where knowledge of particular database schemas are required. It's not something you can learn on-the-fly or get support for on Google.

The selling of a house isn't really comparable with most other sales jobs ime. There's less "moving parts" to the deal, no tendering process, etc.

I'm curious as to how you think an EA can drive a price up? There's the obvious element of staging a house (which has been covered to death on the various property programs on TV and vast amounts of free advice available for on-line- the main points being to clean, de-clutter and depersonalise the property).

Next, there's the issue of setting an asking price which is, in the age of the PPR, quite straight forward: find the closest equivalent property and adjust your asking based on the difference between your property and theirs.

Advertising the property? That's only really a matter of getting some good photos taken (or doing them yourself if you're capable) and putting an ad up on Daft. It's a seller's market, unless you take utterly awful photos or can't accurately complete a form, prospective buyers will find your listing pretty easily.

So, unless you believe an EA can really "cajole" a few thousand (say 5k or more so that it's above the cost of their fee) more out of a prospective buyer
I don't really see what value they're offering their client?

Maybe I'm underestimating the gullibility of the general public but (unless you're being presented with phantom bids), what can an estate agent really do to make you offer more than you would have otherwise?

astrofool · 09-10-2018 6:39pm

Sleepy wrote: »

Honestly, no. I work with specialised software in niche areas where knowledge of particular database schemas are required. It's not something you can learn on-the-fly or get support for on Google.

The selling of a house isn't really comparable with most other sales jobs ime. There's less "moving parts" to the deal, no tendering process, etc.

I'm curious as to how you think an EA can drive a price up? There's the obvious element of staging a house (which has been covered to death on the various property programs on TV and vast amounts of free advice available for on-line- the main points being to clean, de-clutter and depersonalise the property).

Next, there's the issue of setting an asking price which is, in the age of the PPR, quite straight forward: find the closest equivalent property and adjust your asking based on the difference between your property and theirs.

Advertising the property? That's only really a matter of getting some good photos taken (or doing them yourself if you're capable) and putting an ad up on Daft. It's a seller's market, unless you take utterly awful photos or can't accurately complete a form, prospective buyers will find your listing pretty easily.

So, unless you believe an EA can really "cajole" a few thousand (say 5k or more so that it's above the cost of their fee) more out of a prospective buyer
I don't really see what value they're offering their client?

Maybe I'm underestimating the gullibility of the general public but (unless you're being presented with phantom bids), what can an estate agent really do to make you offer more than you would have otherwise?

I think the fact you don't know indicates you should use an EA

A lot of it is in how they interact, when to pursue vs. not pursue a higher offer, when to settle on the existing offer, how long to wait on the market for a better offer.

Freakonomics has a good section on it (you sound like a person who has read it, or should read it), an EA will, on average, get 10% more for their own properties, vs. one they are selling for someone else (where they will already be getting more than that person themselves would if they were doing a private sale).

As an engineer myself, I can see where you're coming from, however, I think you're wrong in your opinion, but it's fine for you to hold it

Niche database schemas are also something I've worked with for years, so unlikely to frighten me if I had to take on more of that type of work, and there are people much more talented than me who would make your work look easy.

As an engineer you're also more likely to be cold with people when taking bids, and not reading into the emotional aspect (you could be an expert on it for all I know, but, in general), so when selling your own property, will be more likely to agree with the buyer on issues with the property (because you'll know they are issues yourself) and more likely to adjust your price down to compensate, whereas an EA would know how to play it to keep the price higher (intonate there's other interested parties, vaguely claim the seller already fixed that issue, or had someone look at it, and it was fine etc.). You're also making light of a profession that people study for years, which means you'll take the role less seriously (maybe even subconsciously) and do yourself out of a higher price.

When you bought your last car, did you get it for the lowest possible price, ditto with selling, could you have done better? When buying your own property/rental, did you negotiate it down successfully and get a bargain? Maybe you are better than an EA, but on average, you (as in everyone) will not be.

utmbuilder · 25-10-2018 1:12am

sherry can go up to 2.75

most agents outside dublin at 1.5 and charge for photos etc

kitten_k · 25-10-2018 11:51am

We recently sold with Sherry and the prices were:

Up to and including €280,000 - 1.25 on entire price + VAT
Excess €280,000 and up to and including €300,000 - 1.5 on entire price + VAT
Excess €300,000 - 1.75 on entire price + VAT

We found them very good to deal with

miss misty · 26-10-2018 8:18pm

Ditto for Sherry Fits... excellent. Dealing with their Castleknock branch

the_syco · 27-10-2018 1:40am

Sleepy wrote: »

It'd kill me to pay someone the guts of 5k to take a few photos, stick up ads on Daft & MyHome, host a couple of open days and take a few phone calls.

I guess people are afraid of showing their emotions, or they know they have a "tell" that shows when they lie.

uck51js9zml2yt · 27-10-2018 9:04am

It took 21 individual viewings to sell my house. That was a lot of my time which I put a price on.
Getting an EA to do the work for me was much better and it closed the deal at the price I wanted.

jimwallace197 · 27-10-2018 5:44pm

Sleepy wrote: »

Looking at the percentages it amazes me that there aren't more houses on Daft being "sold by owner"!

It'd kill me to pay someone the guts of 5k to take a few photos, stick up ads on Daft & MyHome, host a couple of open days and take a few phone calls. Seriously, is there even 10 hours work in that for an ordinary property in any area of normal to high demand?! €500 an hour? Nice money if you can get it!

Doesnt sound like you really know what you are talking about.

Photos: You really think you would be able to take better photographs than a professional photographer which is what all good estate agents should use.

Daft/Myhome: Do you know anything about premium/featured adds on these platforms among many other things you can do to promote your property more effectively.

Signage: Would you plan on using any sort of signage for a property. I hope you realise alot of enquiries and potential buyers still come from this. Would you know where to put it not just outside the house.

Viewings: Would you know the best time to carry these out, when you can be confident of a good turnout instead of 1 or 2 turning up which will have more of an negative impact on the property than positive.

Timewasters: Knowing how to deal with these, how to weed them out so they dont end up wasting your time and the time needed to sell your property.

Price: You mention the property price register which is extremely vague and is nowhere near accurate enough. What about cash transactions, extensions to properties, garages, etc.

Potential buyers: Would you have a list of these by any chance, people who have been checked already and can be informed of your property coming on the market adding to the interest instead of just relying on someone looking on daft/myhome at the right time.

Security: EA are bound by the PSRA and in terms of a potential purchaser putting down a booking deposit with you, do you think they would feel more secure doing that with you or an EA who could lose his licence if he doesnt handle it properly.

Conveyancing: Assisting in this process with solicitors, would you know anything about this?

Sounds like from your posts you are quite ignorant of the work involved in selling a property and you seem like the type of person who would be patting themselves on the back for selling their house for 275k without using an estate (saving around 3k in fees) then letting a good agent carry out this work and more than likely achieving 10k more but each to their own

awec · 29-10-2018 11:46am

Having to deal with every tyre kicker under the sun would be reason enough for me to use an EA. No way I could be bothered with that.

beaufoy · 29-10-2018 8:06pm

awec wrote: »

Having to deal with every tyre kicker under the sun would be reason enough for me to use an EA. No way I could be bothered with that.

Strange how people will clean their own car to save 50 euro
Install their own new tv to save 50 euro
Clean their own upstairs windows to save 20 euro

However are willing to pay a few thousand euro to someone for doing a much lower skilled job like selling a house

uck51js9zml2yt · 29-10-2018 8:08pm

beaufoy wrote: »

Strange how people will clean their own car to save 50 euro
Install their own new tv to save 50 euro
Clean their own upstairs windows to save 20 euro

However are willing to pay a few thousand euro to someone for doing a much lower skilled job like selling a house

I had 21 viewings before my house sold.thats a lot of time i saved by paying someone else who does it every day and isn't attached to my house. I was then free to do other more productive things which I'm skilled at.

blindside88 · 29-10-2018 10:47pm

beaufoy wrote: »

Strange how people will clean their own car to save 50 euro
Install their own new tv to save 50 euro
Clean their own upstairs windows to save 20 euro

However are willing to pay a few thousand euro to someone for doing a much lower skilled job like selling a house

Do you really believe that selling a house is a lower skilled job than washing windows????

Would you be willing to give a €5k booking deposit to a home owner?

Personally I would think that anyone not willing to pay an estate agent will have skimped in other things in the house (first impressions matter hugely when buying anything especially a house)

beaufoy · 30-10-2018 8:14am

blindside88 wrote: »

Do you really believe that selling a house is a lower skilled job than washing windows????

Would you be willing to give a €5k booking deposit to a home owner?

Personally I would think that anyone not willing to pay an estate agent will have skimped in other things in the house (first impressions matter hugely when buying anything especially a house)

I consider there is a certain amount of skill to stay alive and uninjured if you are 15-30 feet in the air on an unsecured ladder

There are escrow accounts for the deposit

FixdePitchmark · 30-10-2018 10:32am

After getting an estate agent - and not having much time during a house move.

I couldn't fault it

20 viewing in 3 weeks and 6 offers - an offer after 1 week.

Mariomaker · 02-11-2018 1:32am

FixdePitchmark wrote: »

After getting an estate agent - and not having much time during a house move.

I couldn't fault it

20 viewing in 3 weeks and 6 offers - an offer after 1 week.

Out of interest what estate agent did you use and did you get the price you were looking for?

bri007 · 02-11-2018 9:34am

Stay clear of fl#nn estate agents. Have been trying to purchase properofrom the the last 6 months, friend of a friend was interested in same house we were bidding on turned out they were telling a different story to each person that viewed it.

We recently found out the house went less than we bid on it, as we know who bought it in the end..... strange!

beaufoy · 02-11-2018 10:08am

Mariomaker wrote: »

Out of interest what estate agent did you use and did you get the price you were looking for?

The last estate agent we used for selling was in england...we left the house empty and told the agent that every time she took someone to view the house she should pick up the mail and forward it to our thailand address. She failed to do as requested but she did deposit the cheque given to her for doing said task...no we did not get the correct price...it was sold to a property speculator/maybe friend of agent

Estate agents

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