When it comes to buying or selling a house, it can get a bit confusing. Not only do you need to actually find your perfect house, you need to have surveys done on it, and deal with lawyers and estate and lettings agents, both of whom have fees.
Often people forget to include the estate and lettings agents’ fees in their financial plans when buying a home, and end up with a bigger bill than they thought.
Here is a quick guide to making sure you get the best value out of your estate and lettings agents’ fees. There are also many online sites that can provide help, these sites include www.findaproperty.com.
All agents charge for their services, but how much they charge depends upon whether you use a sole agent (one estate and letting agent) or use a multiple agency.
Most sellers go with the sole agency as it is the cheaper option, charging in between 1% and 2% of the sale value.
Multiple agency sales tend to cost between 2% and 3.5% – which is paid to the successful agent, but this is the best option should you need a quick sale.
Estate and letting agents will work on a percentage or fixed fee basis. For large houses, they often choose to work on a percentage-based fee as it can be larger than that of small houses.
Properties at the cheaper end of the market tend to be sold on a fixed fee basis – but do your math beforehand as this can often work out to be more expensive than the percentage-based fee.
It’s important to remember that valuing houses is an art not a science, there is no formula for estate and letting agents to use. Because of this, it is important to check with different agents for valuations and to discuss their charges. Be aware that the norm is to have a 10% to 15% difference between agents recommended selling prices; be suspicious of anyone giving you a higher price.
