Just went sale agreed on a house in the country .I advertised on daft.ie and got 2 signs made "house for Sale + mobile no." . Daft got 40 to 60 hits a day during the Oct. peak , the signs brought in just as much genuine inquiries during their 1st month .
An advert in the local newspaper was as expensive as daft and brought 5 inquiries . IMO if your EA gets you to pay for part of his weekly advert , all you are paying for is his brand awareness .
Why I didn't use an EA
1. they get a fixed % comission , if the EA sell at €330k instead of €320k his comission increases to say €4950 from €4800 (@1.5%). The sellers vital interest is in getting the last few thousand out of the sale , but there is no incentive for the EA in the hardest part of the price negotiation .
2. Will they arrange visits ( in the countryside ?) to suit buyers , weekend and pm suit most people .
3. When you ask for a valuation , they tell you what they think you want to hear
4. so many EAs with crap photos , wet day with dark house and sky , anybody can do better on a sunny day , but they cant be ar$d.
5. they are not real professionals , no "body of knowledge" , no long years of study , Primetime and Senator Ross have the size of them.
6. the most difficult part part in the countryside is valuation , in towns it is easy as there are similar houses .
On the other hand , talking money is difficult .... its best to be at a distance , tell people that your partner has the final say as she put up most of the money for the house . This gives you time to think and allows for an easier conversation if you have to refuse a request " I could not persuade her to leave the workbench and garage shelves".
Then again , noting people's bids and communicating it to other interested parties is not so difficult that you should pay thousands to avoid it . The human contact part is actually quiet pleasant even though we had a few setbacks on the way .
pjq