What are estate agent fees actually paying for?

Written by Posted On Wednesday, 23 January 2019 03:11

For those who’ve been through the process before, it should come as no surprise that moving home is one of the most stressful life events you can experience, often said to rank just behind the death of a loved one and divorce. 

The challenges of moving to a new house

Not only is finding the right property a challenge in itself, but selling your existing home can present its own array of hurdles, too. With such strict and well-defined property law in the country there are no corners to be cut during the process, and that extended period of waiting for conveyancing work to be completed before the transaction becomes legally binding can be somewhat excruciating. 

Far from an irrational fear, there are plenty of house moves that fail during that time, so it’s completely understandable how pressured people can feel with such a large investment, borrowed money and life decision essentially being taken out of your hands.

Given the level of jargon involved in moving house, it’s sometimes difficult to know where your money is going exactly, with fees, searches and Land Registry charges all quickly piling high, and often being dropped on you from out of the blue. One such significant outgoing are estate agents, who often structure their fees in a complex and somewhat ambiguous manner, making it difficult to know which services you’re paying for and why.

Understanding estate agent fees

Most estate agents will base their fees on a percentage of the overall purchase price, taking commission from the work they do. Occasionally complicated by how many agents are actually involved in the chain – sometimes this can be more than one – percentage figures can range from anything under 1% to something closer to 5%, so it’s always worth checking before you decide which agent you’re going to go with. 

While it’s cliché to say that you get what you pay for, that really is true of estate agents too, with the cheapest often taking longer to sell and market your property, while being less adept at liaising with conveyancers and helping the deal progress as smoothly as possible. 

Getting the best deal

You can, however, find some agents that’re willing to work for a fixed fee, and that can sometimes be a smarter path forward and way to save on costs. Allowing you to budget in advance, rather than having to wait and see what price they manage to secure for your property before selling, it can be a better option for those who wish to keep on top of their expenditure. Alternatively, you could try to secure a ‘no sale no fee’ deal with an agent, which protects you in case they fail to find a buyer within  a certain timeframe, or there are online estate agents to explore, who will usually undercut their high street competitors. 

Rate this item
(0 votes)

Realty Times

From buying and selling advice for consumers to money-making tips for Agents, our content, updated daily, has made Realty Times® a must-read, and see, for anyone involved in Real Estate.

Joomla! Debug Console

Session

Profile Information

Memory Usage

Database Queries