Estate Agents Prices - Increase of 33%

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Niallymac

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Estate Agency industry body is quoted as saying that agency prices/commissions will rise 33%.

When asked how they could justify such a price increase, he stated that agents would now have to work much harder to sell homes in the current market !!!! As against doing sweet FA to sell homes for the last ten years !

Is April Fools Day upon us already ?
 
so does this mean you can ask for a 33% refund in any fees that were paid over the last 10 years as the agents didnt have to work as "hard"?


meanwhile...Im sure this will be moved to LOS..
 
Any concerted attempt to jack up prices in the industry will, I'm sure, be watched closely by the Competition Authority. My own suspicion is that the talk of a price increase is a stunt designed to stabilise rates which would otherwise be expected to fall as agents find themselves having to compete with each other for market share in a declining market.
 
According to Finfacts:
A study released yesterday by the Confederation of European Estate Agents showed that Irish commission averages just 1pc, giving us the lowest rate among the 17 countries surveyed. Most of the Irish agencies included in the survey are Dublin-based.
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which might be pertinent in this context?
 
Its not like we have to use them though. There is plenty of competition in the sector and they can be avoided completely if you prefer to do a private sale. Shop around!
 
ClubMan said:
According to Finfacts:

which might be pertinent in this context?
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1% of telephone numbers though.

I nearly crashed this morning when I heard this...it's as if they thought "hmm, what can we propose which will annoy people the most?"
 
"...Irish commission averages just 1pc"

If you shop around it's easy enough to get offers of 0.7% or 0.6%, doing a bit of haggling it's possible to get this down to 0.5% (possibly even lower??).

A 33% increase on a 0.6% commission [happen to use this as this is the rate I agreed for the sale of a family property, did get a 0.5% offer but didn't go with that agent for other reasons] is still below 1% (0.8%) so far from out of the question given the rates from the survey.
 
Satanta said:
If you shop around it's easy enough to get offers of 0.7% or 0.6%, doing a bit of haggling it's possible to get this down to 0.5% (possibly even lower??).

A 33% increase on a 0.6% commission [happen to use this as this is the rate I agreed for the sale of a family property, did get a 0.5% offer but didn't go with that agent for other reasons] is still below 1% (0.8%) so far from out of the question given the rates from the survey.
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I see a big sign in the windows of Keenan Property Management/Auctioneers in Upper Abbey Street offering to sell houses for 0.5%. My sister in law's husband (is that my brother in law? :confused: ) is an estate agent and says that people tend to drive hard bargains down to 0.5% these days. I'm sure that terms & conditions apply to such rates but it sounds like they are out there to be had by shopping around.
 
ClubMan said:
I see a big sign in the windows of Keenan Property Management/Auctioneers in Upper Abbey Street offering to sell houses for 0.5%. My sister in law's husband (is that my brother in law? :confused: ) is an estate agent and says that people tend to drive hard bargains down to 0.5% these days. I'm sure that terms & conditions apply to such rates but it sounds like they are out there to be had by shopping around.
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Don't go near these guys Clubman.
 
You mean I should take a more circuituous route from the job into the city centre? :(
 
ClubMan said:
You mean I should take a more circuituous route from the job into the city centre? :(
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You should be ok if you cross the road just before you pass by...they were the guys mentioned in the Primetime programme about auctioneers and management companies. Primetime got insurance quotes for half the amount being charged by KPM's broker for 5 different complexes.

I have some experience with them shall we say!
 
ClubMan said:
According to Finfacts:
A study released yesterday by the Confederation of European Estate Agents showed that Irish commission averages just 1pc, giving us the lowest rate among the 17 countries surveyed. Most of the Irish agencies included in the survey are Dublin-based.
Click to expand...
which might be pertinent in this context?
Click to expand...
That's more likely because our house prices are much higher compared to other European countries and EA's here probably wouldn't get away taking 3-5% (or whatever the higher European average is) of Irish sales.
 
ClubMan said:
My sister in law's husband (is that my brother in law? :confused: )
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If it's your sister in law, wouldn't her husband be your brother?
Are they still brother/sister in law if they remarry (which may explain this)? :confused:

Back on topic...
The offers of 0.5% are available from many EAs, not just some of the dodgy ones. We got opening quotes of 1%. 0.8% and 0.7%. We finally got the one we wanted down to 0.6% (others offered 0.5 but it was decided to pay the extra 0.1 for piece of mind etc.) and advertising [myhome.ie] was included [also, if we changed EA no (re)payment of advertising fee(s) - gave us even more confidence in the EA]. Were more than happy with the EA at all stages through the sale (frequent contact, always honest [even when it didn't serve him to be so], etc.).
 
ButtermilkJa said:
That's more likely because our house prices are much higher compared to other European countries and EA's here probably wouldn't get away taking 3-5% (or whatever the higher European average is) of Irish sales.
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Houses should be sold on a flat-fee basis similar to the way solicitors have gone. If there's anyone with any sympathy for EA's out there I'll be amazed. The chickens...they're coming home...they're roosting...hooray
 
KalEl said:
Houses should be sold on a flat-fee basis similar to the way solicitors have gone...
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LOL :D but yeah, I completely agree, a flat-fee should be used. I'd imagine it takes the same amount of work/skill/approach (whatever?) to sell a €2m home as it does a €300k home. Ok, maybe the €2m home is on the books a little longer but that shouldn't affect anything.

It just seems a bit strange to work off a precentage when the gap between property prices here is so astronomical.
 
Auctioneering may not be a suitable business for flat-fee deals as a % fee structure gives the agent an incentive to get the highest possible price for their client. The higher the sale price, the higher the fee. Without such an incentive, an agent will hardly be motivated to achieve the maximum possible price.

Also it doesn't make sense to say that it it takes the same amount of work/skill/approach to sell a €2m property as it does a €300k property. For example in most cases there is no shortage of potential buyers for a €300k property while candidates for a €2m property will by definition be more thin on the ground.

That said, I think there is plenty of room for downward pressure on the typical %s being charged by agents at the moment.
 
ClubMan said:
You mean I should take a more circuituous route from the job into the city centre? :(
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Satanta said:
If it's your sister in law, wouldn't her husband be your brother?
Are they still brother/sister in law if they remarry (which may explain this)? :confused:
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Guys stop. Your cracking me up here.........People are wondering what i am laughing at !
 
ubiquitous said:
Also it doesn't make sense to say that it it takes the same amount of work/skill/approach to sell a €2m property as it does a €300k property. For example in most cases there is no shortage of potential buyers for a €300k property while candidates for a €2m property will by definition be more thin on the ground.
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Funny, I wouldn't agree. There's less legwork involved in selling a €2 million house. Less viewings, less paperwork and probably less spoofers/tyre kickers at this level. Plus, the fact that the EA only gets €5 for every €1000 added to the purchase price can sometimes make them take the qiuck easy buck and move on a la Carlos Kelly and the Primetime EA's from hell
 
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