Not using an estate agent

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RebelRebel73

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Hi All, we will be putting our home on the market by the end of the month. We’re currently getting it ready for sale. We haven’t engaged with an estate agent yet, but we plan to in the next couple of weeks. In the meantime one of our neighbour’s friends has shown an interest in the property. I told her what we’re looking to sell for. I also told her that we will need to see proof of funds if we are to agree not to put our property on market and sell directly to her. I am thinking about it, but I have concerns. Can anyone give me some advice?
 
My biggest one is that they could end up being a time waster. The other would be that I may not maximise the sale agreed amount without a bidding process.
 
gianni said:
Sounds like you're not interested in handling the sale
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Oh, I am, that’s why I am going to the trouble of asking for advice about it. What makes you think I’m not interested? It would save me about €5k in EA fees. Of course I’m interested
 
RebelRebel73 said:
My biggest one is that they could end up being a time waster. The other would be that I may not maximise the sale agreed amount without a bidding process.
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I'm in the same position with a property that I'm selling and I decided to go with an agent and sell on the open market in the hope that an open market bidding process will yield more (even after EA costs) than I was offered directly by one local interested party. Time will tell.
 
ClubMan said:
I'm in the same position
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Good luck with the sale. I hope you get the best price. I have told my neighbour’s friend what we’re looking for price wise, but I’m thinking of telling her we want another 10k if she wants us to promise not to put it on the market. I kind of feel like I sold myself short when I spoke to her.
 
Are you happy with how you came up with the valuation? It's a seller's market right now, so be cautious you haven't under-valued.

If you are happy then proceed, the lack of an agent at that stage will make no difference. When using an agent, once an offer is accepted it's all handed over to the solicitors anyway.

Have the neighbour's solicitor confirm they have sufficient fund, get your solicitor to draw up a contract and place a closing date that suits you in there that is also reasonable to allow the purchaser time for surveys, etc.. Instruct the purchasers that if they can't close on the specified date, you will put the property on the open market.
 
If you want the maximum amount of money for your house, get an EA & put it on the market. If you want to get what the house is really worth in terms of valuation, and with less hassle (possibly, I don't know your neighbour friend!) then sell it privately. Show them around, talk it through & see if you can agree. That's it. After agreement, solicitors take over.
As per previous threads, I bought & sold privately a few years ago. Both worked out great. I only wanted what the house was valued at, the buyer was happy with that & we went sale agreed on first viewing at that price - I've had more back & forth with an item on adverts for 20 quid before!! Same when we bought, the seller initially wouldn't tell us what she wanted, we made a low ball offer, she said no, we asked straight up what she wanted, she gave a figure, we were happy, sale agreed there & then.
As mentioned its a sellers market & anything looks like it sell for over the value right now.
 
RebelRebel73 said:
Good luck with the sale. I hope you get the best price.
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Thanks @RebelRebel73. Good luck to you too whatever you decide to do. For what it's worth I went with Auctioneera for their fixed price service (in my case €3K + VAT all in other than an extra c. €200 + VAT for an optional video walkthrough) on the basis that I decided to use an agent and against DIY selling, I've seen lots of other EAs in action and didn't see them do anything that merited 1% or more plus outlays plus VAT (bar one who was excellent), and (as mentioned above) properties are generally selling themselves in the current market. So far my dealings with them have been excellent. Fingers crossed! ;)
 
I recently listened to a fascinating podcast from the Freakonomics series - they were describing the estate agent business (or, racket) in the USA. Both the buyer and seller are expected to engage estate agents who will split the fee paid by the seller which is usually around 6%.

If you try to sell or buy yourself without an agent, to save on fees, you may well find the estate agent for the other party will avoid engaging with you! The association of realtors had to make a very large settlement in recent times for uncompetitive practices, however this may not change practices on the ground very much.

I live in an EU country, not Ireland, where if the seller chooses to use an estate agent the cost to the seller is frequently around 4%, though some smaller agencies will go down to 2.5% or maybe even 2% for a higher-priced property. My point is that, viewed from such perspectives, estate agent fees in Ireland are very competitive! On the other hand, in country areas (I'm referring to Ireland), I've found some estate agents, or "auctioneers", pretty lazy. Not long ago I viewed a property, the agent opened the door, got back into his car and waited for us to finish. The place was in need of some work but he made no effort to "talk it up". As a seller, I'd want a lot more than that!
 
patfert1 said:
Not long ago I viewed a property, the agent opened the door,
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I've been viewing properties with a family member over the past year or so and that's all that most EAs have done bar the one that I mentioned earlier was excellent and very proactive in providing information about the property. She was from a smaller agency in Galway but was a friend of the family and doing them a bit of a favour by handling the former family home in Dublin. Maybe the EAs do more/the main work in the background in terms of fielding bidders etc.
 
I think the general perception in Ireland is that viewers looking round a property don't want the agent following them into every room and trying to talk up the quality of the cornices, or whatever, while distracting their attention from the suspicously fresh paint on one wall. They don't want the sales pitch; they want to look around unsupervised, discuss it between them if they are a couple, and then approach the agent, put any questions they may have and discuss the property with the agent at that point.
 
TomEdison said:
They don't want the sales pitch; they want to look around unsupervised, discuss it between them if they are a couple, and then approach the agent,
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Yep, the goal of an agent is to make prospective purchasers feel at ease in the property so they can start to visualise themselves living there. Leading them, or otherwise controlling the experience takes away from that. It can also make people a little wary the agent might be trying to guide them past a problem.

I always advise people to view houses for sale in their area to vet agents before committing to sell with one. Seeing how they operate when they think you're a prospective purchaser will let you know how they operate.
 
mathepac said:
Until contracts are signed, a property is always on the market.
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As much as any possession which has never advertised for sale on any public platform is. Pretty meaningless in the context of the topic here.
 
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