Agent or No Agent?
November 15, 2008
By John Cagney
Often the first consideration for those selling their property is finding a good estate agent, who on average charges a fee of 1.5% plus vat. This means handing over more than €7000 to sell a house worth €400,000. Unwilling to part with this amount?
I spoke to Anne-Marie Doyle of Sellityourself.ie about the alternative.
Sell It Yourself is bringing a relatively new concept to Ireland – and its arrival is well-timed. With house prices falling, Doyle offers sellers the opportunity to recoup that loss by avoiding estate agents fees.
“We charge a single fee of €195 to customers who want to sell their property themselves” explains Doyle. But why pay a fee to anyone if you’re planning on doing all the work?
In return for this fee customers will receive their “For Sale” and pointer signs (pointer signs can be placed on a nearby main road and will provide extra exposure), extensive listing on SellitYourself.ie and some newspaper advertisement. They will also be advised and informed on how to make the most of their sale.
After this viewing, negotiating and selling are all your own responsibility. So this is the crux of the matter - if you think an estate agent can sell your property for more than you would manage alone, even after his fee is subtracted, perhaps you should take the orthodox route to your local property shop.
But if you are somewhat clued in to making a good sale, or even just willing to do the research and actual work involved, consider selling that home yourself. Remember nobody will take the sale as seriously as you.
According to Doyle “For Sale by Owner” accounts for 20-30% of the American market and the practice is also quite popular in the UK.
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