ARRRRGHHHHH..... The stress begins....

[jonny jeez]

best of luck.

we are at the other end - buying for the first time and having a nightmare finding out the information we need (like can I get the trike into the back garden other than through the b****y house)...

Have you considered retaining an agent to act for you.

Pay them a finders fee (like Kirsty and the Phil). They will do all the leg work, get to know you.and your needs and...importantly..will.have a good relationship with agents who will be on the phone to them before anyone else with a good buy.

A really good one will negotiate your purchase price to cover their fee ...if so, then offer them an incentive, ie, share any savings they can make from.the price you are happy to pay

 

[jonny jeez]

One of our town's estate is a school mate.... so don't mind giving him the business.... but no mates rates

This is a great start

 

[simon the viking]

Every property...EVERY...will.sell if the price is right.

If your house failed to.sell 4 years ago it was because you were asking the wrong price.

If it takes a year this time, then you are still asking the wrong price.

Personally I always make agents earn their money. Never negotiate on their fee but instead.offer to increase it of they sell the house at the asking price, with a cash bonus of £500 to the negotiator who finds the buyers and...importantly...only sign a limited 4 week sole agency with a board...you MUST have a board, there is literally no reason on earth not to have one...other than pride.

Forget about how.much that lot costs you, it'll dwarf in comparison to the amount the government will tax you for the pleasure and also.be meaningless once you have a complete chain and can negotiate on your purchase.

think of the goal...not the process.

I promise you, if you follow my advice your home will be pushed to every single.applicant who.calls, walks in or even so much as looks in the window of the agents.

So many people.don't help themselves to sell their homes.

Oh and I would.avoid self- sell online agencies. I would not want to do the viewings.myself, nor would I like having unknown people wander around my house, agents will have the details of all viewers and probably know them pretty well....if they are serious.

No property I.have ever sold...even in the depths of a recession, has taken longer than 3 months to sell.

Good.luck...oh and Ps, one extra bedroom in my neck.of the.woods is nearer £100k. So consider yourself.on a winner already.

Cheers some good advice there... to be honest don't think our heart was in it last time... drawn on to the market by a couple of cheap bargains which sold quickly and new properties came on a lot dearer.... problem is location can only be half mile in any direction from where we are... as Mrs V does school run on foot as she can't drive and then cycle commutes to work...

This time we have looked at finances differently and put our budget up and our rock bottom price down....

 

[jonny jeez]

Cheers some good advice there... to be honest don't think our heart was in it last time... drawn on to the market by a couple of cheap bargains which sold quickly and new properties came on a lot dearer.... problem is location can only be half mile in any direction from where we are... as Mrs V does school run on foot as she can't drive and then cycle commutes to work...

This time we have looked at finances differently and put our budget up and our rock bottom price down....

Excellent approach and i suspect you are right, your heart most likely wasn't in it. Lots of people "try" the market, to see if it will tempt them to move. Nothing wrong with that at all but it is a different approach to going all guns to achieve a goal.

As you will probably have guessed, I spent a lot of time as an agent in my yoof. I loved it, in hindsight it was the most enjoyable job I ever had (if not the most financially rewarding) and without sounding arrogant, I was really good at it.

Good agents can get you past all the negative crap and help to get you on board and to feel part of their team in achieving your goal.

Bad agents do bugger all and just wait for a fly to fall into the web..

Scuse the pun

I often consider starting a boutique agency in my area, very small client base, with extremely personal...upfront, frank advise and support. Celebs love that approach (I had many celebrity clients in my day) so why wouldn't everyone.

 

[mustang1]

What annoys me about estate agents (well, one if the things) is their commission is based ona percentage scale.

If they sell a house for £100k or 500k, they still do exactly the same amount of work yet get more money for the more expensive house.

 

[mustang1]

Have you considered retaining an agent to act for you.

Pay them a finders fee (like Kirsty and the Phil). They will do all the leg work, get to know you.and your needs and...importantly..will.have a good relationship with agents who will be on the phone to them before anyone else with a good buy.

A really good one will negotiate your purchase price to cover their fee ...if so, then offer them an incentive, ie, share any savings they can make from.the price you are happy to pay

What kind of numbers are we talking about here? For finders fee, incentives etc?

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

We sold out house within 2 weeks of it going on the market for the asking price.
We then bought a house the next week for £50k under valuation.

No stress.
I'm a nobber tho

 

[i hate hills]

Best of luck with the selling....my thoughts are with you . Very stressful.

 

[Hill Wimp]

I did my 11th house move last year. Apologies @jonny jeez but i have yet to find a decent estate agent. I have no doubt they are out there somehere

I have always sold within a month, mostly within a week but i really studied my area as to when to put it on the market. I have never signed with an agent for longer than 6 weeks despite a lot stating they only do 12wk contracts. You would be surprised who comes back after you have told them are not interested in 12 wks and you will go elsewhere.

 

[Pale Rider]

Deceitful, money grabbing monsters who will have you over given any opportunity.

And that's just the sellers of the houses.

Buyers don't behave much better.

Given that raw material to work with, it's hardly surprising some estate agents behave as they do.

 

[jonny jeez]

What kind of numbers are we talking about here? For finders fee, incentives etc?

Probably reflective of an agents fee, so perhaps 1-2%. keep in mind, that you could just do a deal with them that costs. Nothing and offer them 10% of whatever saving they can negotiate below the price you are prepared to pay.

the latter incentive is usually attractive eithe second time buyers or to those paying cash (or with a large deposit)at higher prices, typically actors/performers or retired folk, It's no good for first time buyers, where raising the cash to pay the fee is more trouble than mortgaging a higher buying price....that's my experience at least.

 

[jonny jeez]

What annoys me about estate agents (well, one if the things) is their commission is based ona percentage scale.

If they sell a house for £100k or 500k, they still do exactly the same amount of work yet get more money for the more expensive house.

Yep, that is true. A banding system would perhaps be appropriate but then what happens on the fringes of each band. It is true that the bigger the estate, the more work is involved in proacting the sale...or at least the people involved are more demanding of levels of service.

Perhaps an individually calculated flat fee is a better idea...one that illustrats everything that is included and what steps will be taken. works for professional services industry

Plenty of things annoy me about estate agents...laziness being the worst.

 

[Pro Tour Punditry]

We sold out house within 2 weeks of it going on the market for the asking price.
We then bought a house the next week for £50k under valuation.

No stress.
I'm a nobber tho

Oh, and I managed to get the fees back from the solicitors as they made a bit of a cock-up, no hassles involved - error highlighted, fee paid back same day. Cost me half the fee paid back to rectify the matter.

 

[Cuchilo]

One of our town's estate is a school mate.... so don't mind giving him the business.... but no mates rates

I went to school with you so have £XXXX's from my house sale . Are you mental ?

 

[simon the viking]

I went to school with you so have £XXXX's from my house sale . Are you mental ?

He's had his own business for 20 odd years... One of the towns best independents and my experience of the chain agents when we moved here left a lot to be desired......
So I'm going on his reputation rather than him being a school chum..... Because you're right that would be ridiculous reason