What Should You Pay An Estate Agent To Sell Your Home?

If you need to sell your home you may be worried about the estate agent fees that apply to a sale. There’s no doubt that times are very difficult of late, the financial climate is still looking dismal and you definitely do not want to spend an extortionate amount of money on estate agent fees.

Estate Agents Fees

Recent studies have shown that there is a substantial variation in the amount of fees that estate agents will charge for the selling of the same house. Typically, a fee of around 1.8% of a properties’ total value is the national average for estate agent fees, however, it has been found that fees can vary from 0.75% to 2.5% and in the case of fixed estate agent fees you could end up paying even more.

What Should You Be Paying An Estate Agent?

So what should you pay an estate agent to sell your home? It’s certainly a great question and unfortunately there isn’t a definitive answer; estate agent fees will differ depending on the estate agents that you use. However, there are a few tips that you can take onboard to ensure that you don’t end up paying higher estate agent fees than you need to.

Top Tips

The first tip is to decide whether you want to use a sole estate agent or a multiple estate agency. Sole estate agents are generally the cheaper option; on average charging between 1% and 2% per cent in fees, whereas multiple estate agencies can charge from 2% to 3.5% for the same or similar service. To this end, you will need to shop around and get a few quotes.

You should also consider whether or not to choose a percentage fee or a fixed fee. This may depend on the price of your house; if you are selling a cheaper property, both options can be viable, however, if you are selling a high-worth property, a percentage fee will most definitely work in the favour of the estate agency! Make sure that you take sufficient time to calculate your options; it can make a huge difference in the amount of estate agent fees that you have to pay.

Also remember to read any small print in estate agent agreements; many people fail to do this and end up seriously out of pocket. Always remember that you are signing a legal and binding document, so take your time to review it thoroughly.