Estate agent commissions - negotiation on %?

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Durran

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Hi All,

Currently looking at selling my house in the east of JHB. Got the proposal from the estate agent and they are asking 7.5% comm ex vat.

From experience out there, is this the average comm or what would be reasonable, seems very high to me?
 
You bet it’s negotiable. Some disrupter type agencies will take your job for 2%. Check Leadhome and if you really wanna use traditional agency, use their cost as a starting point to negotiate.
 
Negotiate. Even better ask other agencies what their comm is, and use it to bargain with the ones you want to list with.

Or sell privately, but i have no idea whats involved or how to go about doing it.
 
Durran said:
Hi All,

Currently looking at selling my house in the east of JHB. Got the proposal from the estate agent and they are asking 7.5% comm ex vat.

From experience out there, is this the average comm or what would be reasonable, seems very high to me?
Click to expand...

Commission is usually negotiable
 
Sold our home recently and commission was negotiated based on the offer price we got.

Also take note - the commission is VAT excluding. Don't let the extra 15% be a nasty surprise when it comes to the final payout.
 
Superman-7 said:
Sold our home recently and commission was negotiated based on the offer price we got.

Also take note - the commission is VAT excluding. Don't let the extra 15% be a nasty surprise when it comes to the final payout.
Click to expand...
Thanks, what % did you manage to agree on?
 
Durran said:
Hi All,

Currently looking at selling my house in the east of JHB. Got the proposal from the estate agent and they are asking 7.5% comm ex vat.

From experience out there, is this the average comm or what would be reasonable, seems very high to me?
Click to expand...

I found the east rand highly NON negotiable.

But as an estate agent myself. I am very happy to negotiate my salary on presentation of an offer. Average around 5 to 7.5%

My suggestion is interview a few of the prominent agents in the area and find one agent you trust and negotiate the rate with them.
 
Last edited:
3WA said:
You bet it’s negotiable. Some disrupter type agencies will take your job for 2%. Check Leadhome and if you really wanna use traditional agency, use their cost as a starting point to negotiate.
Click to expand...

Key pointer here is you get what you pay for. A home is generally your most valuable asset, why would you even think of skimping and bringing in a Pick n Pay type of agent? With regards to leadhome why even consider this approach, as you will still be showing the home yourself to potential buyers. Rather pay a R1200 and list the home yourself on Property 24
 
7.5% is usually what the ultra premium estate agencies charge. We managed to knock Seeff down from 6% to 4.5%
 
Durran said:
Thanks, what % did you manage to agree on?
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6.75.

Could probably have negotiated lower, but our estate agents were decent enough and they were severely hampered with the lockdown and did everything they could given the circumstances. Also got full asking price which meant we could afford a decent commission.

Either way, it's a lot of money.
 
Ecco said:
Negotiate. Even better ask other agencies what their comm is, and use it to bargain with the ones you want to list with.

Or sell privately, but i have no idea whats involved or how to go about doing it.
Click to expand...

Some people are just not good sales people. I see it so often on the My Broadband sales forum, especially with their sarcastic/caustic comments to buyers questions.

I get a fair amount of my business from private sellers who frustrate themselves so much. Private Property was started 12 years for the exact same reason. it was bought over by Property24 last year because there were so few private sellers advertising.
 
Superman-7 said:
6.75.

Could probably have negotiated lower, but our estate agents were decent enough and they were severely hampered with the lockdown and did everything they could given the circumstances. Also got full asking price which meant we could afford a decent commission.

Either way, it's a lot of money.
Click to expand...


Your nick definitely suits you :p
 
You can sell privately, but advertising is the main thing. I know a couple of people now who have sold just with word-of-mouth, never even bothered to take pictures or post online. So it can be done.

I guess it depends on where you are. I get estate agents phoning me at least twice per month asking if I would like to sell. I suspect if I were to list on Private Property I'd get responses fairly quickly.

A while ago while I was looking for houses, I noticed that Eazi has a fairly attractive model, they have a flat rate of ~R40k IIRC, which in my mind is a very reasonable price for the amount of actual value added.

Sure, an estate agent adds value, but property is getting so expensive these days that 7.5% of the average selling price of a house ends up being a crapton of money. Also I've seen some listings where the agent was clearly incredibly lazy - poor quality photos, complete lack of information, not helpful at all. So I can completely understand why someone might try to sell privately.

There was a thread on this a few years ago - I can't seem to find it now, but one forum member put together a bit of a how-to.
 
newby_investor said:
You can sell privately, but advertising is the main thing. I know a couple of people now who have sold just with word-of-mouth, never even bothered to take pictures or post online. So it can be done.

I guess it depends on where you are. I get estate agents phoning me at least twice per month asking if I would like to sell. I suspect if I were to list on Private Property I'd get responses fairly quickly.

A while ago while I was looking for houses, I noticed that Eazi has a fairly attractive model, they have a flat rate of ~R40k IIRC, which in my mind is a very reasonable price for the amount of actual value added.

Sure, an estate agent adds value, but property is getting so expensive these days that 7.5% of the average selling price of a house ends up being a crapton of money. Also I've seen some listings where the agent was clearly incredibly lazy - poor quality photos, complete lack of information, not helpful at all. So I can completely understand why someone might try to sell privately.

There was a thread on this a few years ago - I can't seem to find it now, but one forum member put together a bit of a how-to.
Click to expand...

The photos and descriptions for some listings is shocking. Paying 7.5% for that level of service is definitely a rip-off.

Our agency had a professional photographer take some very good photos of our place. Also compiled a video of the property that we used during lockdown when viewings were suspended.
 
Skywalker786 said:
Key pointer here is you get what you pay for. A home is generally your most valuable asset, why would you even think of skimping and bringing in a Pick n Pay type of agent? With regards to leadhome why even consider this approach, as you will still be showing the home yourself to potential buyers. Rather pay a R1200 and list the home yourself on Property 24
Click to expand...

To save a fee close to a hundred thousand rand, I'll show them the home and even make them coffee.

Going with a low-fee agent or private sale also lets you list the home cheaper than similar places in the neighbourhood to give you the competitive edge if you want a quick sale. Makes sense to me.

In any case, if an agent wants to charge 7.5%, it must be clear to me what they're doing for that extra 5% beyond what Leadhome does. Just showing people the house isn’t worth it to me.
 
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