Estate agency fees explained

With house prices staying low for the foreseeable future, it is important as a seller to be aware of the costs of selling a house. Between legal fees, minor repairs, estate agency fees and the stamp duty on the purchase it can be hard to swallow the cost of moving home and for some UK home owners the cost of selling a house is too much for them to consider moving. However, for those that have no choice in selling their home, they will be looking to sell their house cheap.

What you get for the estate agency fees

Estate agents’ fees for selling a house in the UK can run into the thousands. It can be difficult to see how house-selling fees by estate agents can be justified. Realistically, by paying for an estate agency to manage the sale of your house, you are paying estate agents’ fees for:

Someone to come and take photos and measurements of your house and the cost of travel
Someone to write up the details of your property to make it sound appealing
Someone to come out and to install a For Sale sign outside your house
Someone to answer the phone to people who are interested in viewing your house
Someone to show people around your house
The cost of the estate agency’s prime location high street office
The cost of the estate agency’s unnecessary fleet of cars
The cost of marketing your house on the internet
The cost of newspaper marketing (even though often unproductive)
The cost of producing glossy coloured window cards and brochures to market your property
The cost of negotiation
The cost of weekly progression of sale to check the process is running smoothly

How much will it cost to sell my house?

Selling via the high street

UK estate agents charge anywhere between 1.5% - 4% of the property’s ‘sold’ price in house-selling fees not forgetting the additional 20% for VAT. With the average UK home now costing approx £160,000, a typical estate agent’s fee could total around £7,680 after VAT, in London the average House price is approximately £350,000 which could equate to commission as high as £16,800. Add to this a solicitor’s conveyancing fees, which average around £1000. That is a huge bill to be deducted from the final sale price of your house. The cost of estate agency fees on your house sale could be the difference between affording (or not) a new kitchen or even a new conservatory on your new home.

Selling your home online

The cost of selling a house online is typically between £350 and £1000. Property owners looking for a cheap house sale can save themselves many thousands of pounds in estate agents’ fees by using an online agency instead of a traditional high street agent. Online companies are able to offer cheap estate agent fees and fixed rates because they are able to reach out to a nationwide audience via the internet and do not have the same overheads as traditional estate agents, such as paying a premium for a well-located high street office.

HouseSimple also provide a much discounted conveyancing service to complement their cheap estate agent fees.

How to minimise estate agency fees

The cheapest way to sell your home in the UK and minimise your house-selling fees is to sell your house online using an online estate agency like House Simple. Using a reliable online estate agent is recommended to ensure that you have the support you need when you are looking for the cheapest way to sell house, flat or apartment.

To help you keep within your budget, House Simple offer fixed fee packages no matter what your house is worth. They currently offer a sliding scale of fees where you can choose to pay everything upfront and save the most amount of money assuming you sell, if you are less certain of a sale they also offer 2 other options where you can pay less upfront and more on completion of the sale. House Simple now offer a bespoke ‘build your own’ online house-selling service so that you may choose the sales and marketing support that best suits your property and your lifestyle. The following points will help you to cut down the estate agency fees.

Be realistic.

Be realistic about the time and valuation when you choose to sell your house online, based on what you know about the area and the condition of your property. If you are not realistic it doesn’t matter who you choose to market your property the viewers will not want to pay over the odds. An online house-selling package will be the cheapest way to sell your house and if you are realistic with the price then there is no reason why you would not sell.

Play by the rules.

When you have marketed your home with an online estate agent, make sure you are regularly available to check emails and phone calls in case any queries arise or potential buyers put in an offer. Reacting quickly will ensure that your house sale runs smoothly and you will be able to take it off the market as soon as possible, saving you money on fees.

The true cost of online estate agency fees

If the savings you could achieve by selling your house online sound too good to be true, take a look at the facts and figures:

The lowest possible amount you can pay to sell your home online with House Simple is £395.
However you can start at £95 with a higher completion fee when the property sells.
You can also save money on your conveyancing or solicitor fees, which start at just £399.

What you will get for your online agency fee

Professional photographs and floor plans of your property
Property valuation guidance
A professionally written sales description of your house, to help people find it on the internet
A full-colour brochure that anyone can print out when viewing your house online
A smart ‘For sale’ board installed outside your property
Full telephone support from the customer service team
Your home advertised online to millions of potential buyers through services such as Rightmove, Find A Property, Primelocation and Globrix
Full control over viewing appointments
Feedback from viewings
A choice of services to suit your budget
The protection of the Property Ombudsman scheme, and
A professional agent to negotiate a sales price on your behalf once offers are received, and to carry out the entire sale progression to completion.

There are so many benefits of selling your house online – call House Simple on 0845 603 9909 today to find out how we could help you.